Kategoriarkiv: Kilkerran

Campbeltown, Kilkerran

Kilkerran 8 YO Cask Strength (2018)

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ABV: 56.5 %
Origin: Campbeltown
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first there’s a thick vanilla and honey sweetness. Underneath, a young and vibrant distillate peaks through with a very noticable peatiness. When it settles there’s a mix of rye bread, malt and sweet liquorice added to the mix. In the background there’s a lemon note and a gritty complexity with hints of rubber and motor oil. It takes a while for a fruitiness to show up, and when it does, it has a mild and sweet apple character with a hint of tropical fruits. There’s a fresh menthol layer hovering above everything else. This is a great nose overall with a nice balance between the different components.

Mouth: It starts out with a lemon note in the back and a big vanilla sweetness in the center. It has a nice spicyness and it’s a powerful impact from the get-go, but it’s not attacking the palate. In the background it feels dirty and interesting and the gritty note from the nose carries over. The peatiness is coating the palate together with a fresh oakiness. After a few seconds the lemon note merges with the oakiness and creates a tropical fruitiness in the background. The vanilla sweetness evolves and sweet liquorice and honey are added to the mix.

Finish: The fresh lemon and tropical fruitiness surge through the transition and becomes the main attraction for a few seconds. The outside now consists of a chili spicyness, a mineral rich peat and a fresh oakiness. The oakiness moves inwards, slowly taking over the center part. The sweetness disappears and soon it’s just a fresh oakiness with coconut and sawdust mixed with the tropical fruits in the center, while the peat and spicyness stays at the edges of the palate. This is a great whisky. It’s the opposite of discreet and refined; It’s young, rowdy and it was aged in very active casks.

Additional information
The Kilkerran is made by the Glengyle distillery. This was aged in ex-Bourbon barrels. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Campbeltown, Kilkerran

Kilkerran 8 YO Cask Strength (2021)

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ABV: 56.9 %
Origin: Campbeltown
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is dark and dried fruits and peat. At first there’s a dark and thick fruitiness with liqeuer-soaked raisins and cherries. There are notes of sulfur and leather attached to the fruitiness which creates a bridge over to a mild and slightly savory peatiness. With time in the glass the fruitiness becomes a bit brighter with some mixed dried fruits on the outside edge. There is also a quite complex background with a lot of gritty notes floating around. They are hard to pinpoint due to the heavy cask influence. Oak and a mellow menthol note comes through out on the edges as well. This is a great nose with a nice array of things to discover.

Mouth: It starts out with a mix of assorted brighter fruits and a mild spicyness. After a few seconds the background slowly fills with dark high percent bitter chocolate, leather, molten plums, raisins and a nice mix of peat, sulfur and leather. It feels nice and oily with just the right amount of spicyness. It ends up with a mix of just about everything everywhere on the palate. There’s also a hint of motoroil coming through as well. It feels a bit unbalanced overall.

Finish: At first there’s a sour lemon on the back part of the palate but it soon gets overrun by the massive complex center part with all the dark and gritty flavours intact. The bitter chocolate note has moves back into the background and the brighter fruits show up in front. The center consists of peat, sulfur, leather, molten plums, raisins and a lot more of subtle notes swiftly passing by like pipe tobacco and heather. The oakiness comes through like it’s been a part of everything all along and it matches the heavy character very well. It’s a fresh yet nutty oak with a hint of hazelnuts and some sawdust too. This is a great whisky with a very demanding character. It comes through as a bit too bitter and hard to approach though.

Additional information
The Kilkerran is made by the Glengyle distillery. This was aged in first fill ex-Oloroso sherry casks. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

Campbeltown, Kilkerran

Kilkerran 8 YO Cask Strength (2019)

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ABV: 57.1 %
Origin: Campbeltown
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is dark and dirty. At first it’s just a thick layer of dark fruits and high ABV. When it settles a gritty background noise of oil, rubber and soot reveals itself and creates a nice complexity. The dark fruits, overripe plums, blueberries and raisins, are joined by vanilla and black liquorice. The high ABV turns into a pleasant menthol cloud with time in the glass. There’s also an oakiness floating around outside of the core. This is a wonderful nose which offers more the longer it’s explored.

Mouth: It starts out with a heavy dose of black liquorice and liqeuer-soaked raisins. The ABV then hits the mouth hard as the base flavour changes to vanilla and the oily, sooty rubber notes. When it settles a slightly fresher fruitiness ends up on top, but it still consists of dark fruits. There’s a complex correlation between all the parts and it creates a fantasticly rich experience.

Finish: Once again the ABV makes its presence known. After it once again settles, the sherry notes completely takes over and everything else takes a step back. After a few seconds the soot and rubber starts to grow and brings the oakiness along. It’s slightly astringent and there’s a slight hint of tropical fruits connected to the oakiness. There’s also a black coffee bitterness and some hazelnuts showing up in the late finish. The entire finish is kept together by a black liquorice ceiling. This is absolutely amazing from start to finish.

Additional information
The Kilkerran is made by the Glengyle distillery. This was released in november 2019 and this is aged in re-charred ex-Oloroso casks. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

Campbeltown, Kilkerran

Kilkerran 12 YO (2019)

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ABV: 46 %
Origin: Campbeltown
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and slightly fruity. At first there’s a big honey and vanilla sweetness up front with a subdued fruitiness in the back. There are also floral notes with heather and a hint of violets somewhere in the background. A mild peatiness sneaks around in the back as well as sulfur and rubber. It takes a while for the sherry fruitiness to come through, but when it arrives it sort of fills the gaps between the other layers. It’s a mix of fresh summer berries and darker dried fruits like plums and raisins. It’s leaning towards the fresh notes though. This is a very nice nose. It has a light character with a robust behind.

Mouth: It starts out with the honey note but it’s not as sweet as on the nose. The floral notes arrive early out towards the edges. A salty note comes through in the center and a mild black pepper spicyness slowly builds up. It takes a few seconds for the robust rubbery, sulfur notes to come through but when they do they create a much needed third dimension. The fruitiness is still in there but it’s not making any attempts to be in focus. It stays on the edges with the floral notes.

Finish: A quick burst of red berries goes by and when it settles it lands in the middle of a mild peat with the rubbery and oily notes close by. There’s a hint of bitterness and it’s also slightly savory. It stays like this for a good while before the oakiness start to take over. It’s a nice oakiness with hazelnuts and a touch of vanilla. The floral notes hang on throughout the finish making it a long and rewarding experience. It feels somewhat indecisive in what to deliver at certain points and the light character is a bit flimsy. It still is a great whisky with a lot of things to discover.

Additional information
This is the 2020 release (bottled in 2019). It’s aged in ex-bourbon barrels (70 %) and ex-sherry casks (30 %). It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.