Kilkerran 14yo Virtual Open Day 2020

Kilkerran 14yo Virtual Open Day 2020

Official bottling

Single malt - Campbeltown
Bronze

57.8% ABV
Dram

Nose: Peanuts, wet stones, clay dust, toffee, gooseberries,  coffee, vanilla. With water, fresh baked bread, wet stones, peat. 
Mouthfeel: Medium body, tingly, astringent, warm. 
Tasting:  Bitter sour. Wet stones, clay dust, vanilla, fresh baked bread, sultanas, nutmeg, hints of orange peel. With water, peat, wet stones, gooseberries, hints of clay dust. 
Finish: Long. Menthol, orange peel, fresh baked bread, gooseberries. 

Comments: 

Feinty and minerally, lots of fruit notes but those fade a bit into the background. Not as stellar as the Springbank virtual open day bottles, but good nevertheless.

Verdict:

I like this.

Kilkerran 8yo Cask Strength

Kilkerran 8yo Cask Strength 

Official bottling 
Single malt - Campbeltown

Amber copper
56.9% ABV
Dram

Nose: Lemon sweets, green tea, fresh cut grass, leather, sandalwood, hints of peat. With water, lemon zest, toast, germolene, honey. 
Mouthfeel: Heavy body, hot, astringent, tingly.  
Tasting:  Sweet salty. Fresh baked bread, honey, leather, fresh cut grass, sea salt, toast, germolene, hints of lemon zest, hints of peat. With water, sea salt, honey, germolene, peat. 
Finish: Long. Sea salt, germolene, toast, fresh cut grass. 

Comments: 

Quite complex, the higher strength really intensifies the peaty, leathery, antiseptic notes. There’s a lot of sweetness here too, honey and a bit of citrus. Very nice indeed. 

Verdict:

I like this.

Kilkerran Triple Distilled 2006/2 Cask Sample

Kilkerran Triple Distilled 2006/2 Cask Sample

Official bottling
Single malt - Campbeltown
Pale gold
Around 58% ABV
Dram

Nose: Lemon juice, sea salt, honey, caramel, leather, hints of fish sauce. With water, vanilla sponge, butterscotch, porridge oats. 
Mouthfeel: Light body, hot, astringent, tingly. 
Tasting:  Bitter sweet. Vanilla sponge, raisins, caramel, sea salt, lemon juice, hints of fish sauce. With water, sweeter, fresh baked bread, butterscotch, porridge oats. 
Finish: Long. Black tea, raisins, ginseng, lemon juice. 

Comments: 

Thanks Eddie for the unofficial cask sample. It's great! Pale gold loveliness, saline and slightly fishy neat, but opens up to great whiffs of cereally spirity oomph with quite a few drops of water. It gets sweeter too, less savoury.

Verdict:

I like this a lot.

Kilkerran Heavily Peated

Kilkerran Heavily Peated

Official bottling
Single malt - Campbeltown
Golden
59.3% ABV
Dram

Nose: Pears, peat, smoke, raisins, ginseng, lemons, hints of fresh cut grass. With water, burning leaves, lemons, pears. 
Mouthfeel: Medium body, loosens, slippery, watery. 
Tasting:  Bitter. Lemon juice, raisins, peat, smoke, fresh cut grass, ginseng. With water, ginseng, burning leaves, lemon sweets, butterscotch. 
Finish: Long. Peat, pears, ginseng, lemons. 

Comments: 

There's a lot to this whisky, but it doesn't change much between the nose and the tongue. Citrusy, herbal spirit, cut with peat, smoke, and some sweet notes that switch between butterscotch and raisins, depending on the sip. With water, it gets more earthy, and the character of the spirit is more obvious.

Verdict:

I like this.

Kilkerran 12 yo

Kilkerran 12 yo 

Official bottling
Single malt - Campbeltown
Golden
46% ABV
Dram

Nose: Malted grains, driftwood smoke, raisins, honey. 
Mouthfeel: Light body, static, tingly, slightly astringent . 
Tasting:  Sweet salty. Honey, raisins, driftwood smoke, lemon zest, hints of fish sauce. 
Finish: Medium. Malted grains, honey, apples, hints of walnuts. 

Comments: 

Glengyle's latest Kilkerran. I tasted a number of the Works in Progress expressions, and I do think that the finished work didn't quite fulfil their promise. Don't get me wrong, this is still good whisky, slightly smoky and sweet, but in the end, it turned out, well, a bit Springbank-ey, perhaps a bit lighter. It's a decent enough dram, and a good start.

Verdict:

I like this.

Kilkerran Work In Progress 7 - Bourbon Wood Cask Strength

Kilkerran Work In Progress 7 - Bourbon Wood Cask Strength

Official bottling
Single malt - Campbeltown
Golden
54.1% ABV
Dram

Nose: Smoke, peat, raisins, cod liver oil, orange peel, egg white. 
Mouthfeel: Light body, loose, tingly, turns watery. 
Tasting:  Bitter sour. Smoke, peat, cod liver oil, vanilla, coffee, chocolate, hints of oranges. 
Finish: Long. Coffee, chocolate, egg white, oranges. 

Comments: 

Fishy, eggy, odd whisky. Lots of bitter sweet notes, but the sweet doesn't come out much. Another of Glengyle's works in progress releases, showing how the maturation is going, but we must surely be coming to the end of the series. Must try the sherry wood version next.

Verdict:

I like this.

Kilkerran Work In Progress 4

Kilkerran Work In Progress 4

Official bottling 
Single malt - Campbeltown
Golden
46% ABV
Dram

Nose: Bananas, iodine, chillies, carrot cake, grass, apple juice, hints of leather.
Mouthfeel: Medium body, slippery, airy, loose, static.
Tasting: Bitter sweet. Vanilla, bananas, apple juice, lemon juice, hints of carrot cake, hints of cinnamon.
Finish: Short. Cookie dough, vanilla, bananas, apple juice, carrot cake.

Comments:

These early releases showcasing maturation progress are a bit hit and miss - of course the bottler will want to show good progress, but occasionally later releases don't quite live up to the promise of earlier releases. I'm happy to report that this Glengyle isn't one of them. I like the cinnamon carrot cakeyness of the whisky, and although it's a bit one dimensional and not very complex, that's probably to do with its young age rather than the quality of the spirit. Quite tasty, this.

Verdict:

I like this.

Kilkerran Work In Progress

Kilkerran Work In Progress

Official bottling
Single malt - Campbeltown
Green gold
46% ABV
Dram

Nose: Grass, lemons, rhubarb and custard sweets, apple juice, hints of oranges.
Mouthfeel: Light body, watery, a little volatile.
Tasting: Sour bitter. Rhubarb and custard sweets, peat, apple juice, lemons, hints of smoke.
Finish: Short. Lemons, walnut skins, peat.

Comments:

The first official bottling available from Glengyle distillery. Apparently, around 5 years old. Definitely tastes young, and a little harsh. The lightness and airiness seems to be the type of whisky they're aiming for though. Like a slightly peaty Rosebank, without the brassiness.

Verdict:

I like this.