The Malt Cask

Once a very popular whisky producing region, Campbeltown went from over 30 distilleries in the 19th century to only 3 today. However, these three, spearheaded by Springbank, seem to have gathered quite a following. The Glengyle distillery, which is of interest to us today, was founded in 1972 but went silent after WWII. It was renovated and rebuilt by the Mitchell's Glengyle Ltd company in the early 2000s and started production again in 2004. So why is the distillery called Glengyle and yet it's whisky is called Kilkerran? Simply because the Loch Lomond group still owns the name Glengyle. So after a series of 'Work in progress' bottles showcasing bourbon and sherry maturation, they released their first 12 year old in 2016. They have since launched a yearly 8 year-old cask strength, some heavily peated and some 15 year-old single casks, all very well received by whisky enthusiasts across the world. Today, I am looking at the standard 12 years old. 70% of it h...

Today I am reviewing a sample sent to me by Stuart @whisky_whims. He got in touch with me on Instagram and offered to send me a sample of Longrow 18 (review to follow) and of the brand new Kilkerran Heavily Peated. I guess I could not pass on the opportunity! Kilkerran comes from Campbeltown. It is produced by the Glengyle distillery and is one of the new kids on the block having only started production in 2004 (even if the distillery was actually founded in 1872 it had stopped production in 1925) I have tried their standard 12 and their 8 year-old cask strength which are fantastic so I am looking forward to pour this Heavily Peated sample into my glass! A little leak in transit but nothing too serious fortunately! There is no nonsense here as far as the presentation is concerned. This Kilkerran is presented in its natural colour, unchillfiltered and at the cask strength of 59.3%. The whisky has been aged for 55% in ex-bourbon casks and 45% in ex-sherry casks. Nose: Q...