Kilkerran 16 Year

I finally managed to get my hands on a sample of the Kilkerran 16y. When it was released last year, it was sold out in such a short time I didn’t even realize it was finally there. I’m having a dram of the 12y right next to the 16y to have a proper comparison. The 12y is one of my favorite whiskies. It has everything I like in a whisky and satisfies in every stage. So I am was super curious about the next age statement release. Nose: Campeltown DNA right up front. Driftwood aromas, mineralic rock & sand, bright fruits and a nice subtle chewy fresh peat. Lemons and yellow pears. Vanilla. Malt. Not too sweet at first. Palate: the characteristic peat is really nice right from the start, following along are sour fruits, bright nuts, lemon & grapefruit peel, roasted wheat bread, all with a silky mouthfeel. Finish: nice and medium long but a little strange (slightly fermented orchard fruits) and quite sweet in the end followed by a slight barky bitterness. Compared to the 12y the nose is a lot more intense and present. But is also fruitier and sweeter. And different. Even thought nose of the 12y is slightly weaker, I like it more (it is way more unique and has a intriguing caramel note along all those nice peat and wood aromas). It is interesting how different the two noses are. Same for the palate really. They are both nice but the 12y is more characteristic and interesting. Verdict: the 16y is a nice whisky but very sadly nothing special. It reminds me too much of a standard Glen Scotia which I found slightly boring when I had a few expressions. This whisky falls right in line which is very different to the 12y which seriously stands out and brings something completely new to the table. It is mind boggling how different they are. Honestly - blindly I wouldn’t recognize the 16y as a Kilkerran bottling. Campeltown for sure. But not Glengyle. So since my 12y bottle is nearly done I will (contrary to my previous plans) buy another 12y instead of the upgrade to the 16y, which honestly isn’t really an upgrade. Still good though. Glad I finally had it. Not so glad that it doesn’t feel like an improvement.

Tasted at The Oak Barrel Springbank evening, May 28 2022. This is a tasting of the second batch of the 16 year old. Nose: Floral (bergamot) and grassy (hay) notes with a light coastal influence. Summer fruit salad (peaches, apricots, pears and cherries) but it’s graceful and delicate rather than demonstrative. Pineapple and beeswax on the sidelines and there is the tiniest imaginable hint of peat. Toasty cereal notes like shortbread, but again they are subtle. With water it gains sweetness and depth. Palate: Honey and orange liqueur in the arrival with a spicy peaches and cream quality coming through in the development. A touch of brine, toffee and tannin and it has a warming, full texture. Water brings heft to the palate and the longer it sits after watering the better. There is a light peppery peat presence which is very suave. Finish: Medium. Waxy, mildly tannic but retaining cereal sweetness, a touch of briny minerals in the aftertaste. The finish could be a little longer but what it has is exquisite. I’m not surprised that this has not been more widely popular. It does not have a typical west-coast profile, which would be disappointing for those who believe in and crave “Campbeltown funk”. This is far more in line with a north-east highland character and it is akin to Clynelish in many respects. In fact there is a faint resemblance to old Brora. A fine, elegant and poised whisky with an old-fashioned profile that will probably not appeal to palates that prefer a more contemporary style of whisky. In time, however, this era of Glengyle’s production will be more appreciated. “Very Good” : 87/100 (4.25 stars)

Another of these bottles I've been saving to review and I guess I'll just do it. Also I never reviewed the 12? WTF? I'll have to fix that too. Nose - I get a glue like note with sharp sour and then some alcohol soaked apple, barely off the still (really 16 years?), a touch of perhaps a white wine note, and some yeast esters. It's a sweet, not overly oaked or even slightly cask forward expression, these better not have been first fill bourbon casks, if they were they originally had some YOUNG bourbon. Taste - A general sweetness with some ever so light peat, salt, and just a buttery vanilla slightly funky and off distillate. There's not really here guys. It's got some milk going slight bad notes, some cheese (white curds if you will) and funk. Now all this like sounds worse than it is. It isn't a bad whisky. It's just not good either. Every time I go back to this it disappoints me more and this is the most disappointing pour yet. I'm scoring it a 2.0 and I'm going to do the 12 next. If the 12 scores under a 2.5, I'm admitting I'm done for the night as to be honest I thought this would be 2.25 with me debating a 2.5 but not going there coming in. But I've had this next to all the whiskies I've had tonight on different tastings as well as by itself and nothing as really changed the overall final note of this isn't worth 140 bucks and it isn't better than the 12.

The Kilkerran 12 quickly became one of my favorite single malts when it was released so I was eager to try the new 16-year-old edition. It’s a permanent addition to the range but the blend of casks will change each year. For the debut release, there’s a small amount of Madeira casks in the mix, an intriguing choice. My sample was part of a Kilkerran tasting pack released for the virtual Whisky Show in October but which I cracked open only last night for another quarantine session. The nose at first reminds me more of a Springbank Local Barley than the Kilkerran 12, with notes of grass and barley. There’s lemon too, which harks more to its younger sibling. More strikingly, a rich apricot aroma develops over time. Flavor wise, it’s creamy and malty, with a spritz of orange rind oil and a touch of oak spice. The finish leans towards sweet tea and a gentle oak spice. This is very different from the 12 and it’s clearly due in part to the Madeira casks. The tasting pack included a single Madeira cask distilled in 2014, and the apricot aroma is very apparent. I much preferred the single cask to the 16, in part due to the oily texture of its higher ABV and a musky grape note. But overall the triumph of the 12 proves hard to beat, relegating the 16 to the status of Difficult Second Album. In time I might love it, but for now I'll stick to the smash-hit debut.

Nose - earthy peat, charred orange zest, light sulphur, peach, lemon meringue, grape, spoiled cream, hay, sugar cookie, pineapple, mild to moderate ethanol burn. Taste - citrusy peat, peach, spoiled cream, lemon, orange zest, sulphur, brine, caramel, mint, decaying floral notes, sour apple, mild to moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium long with fresh peat, lemon, and light sulphur flavors. Other than a single taste of the Kilkerran 12 Year a while back, this is the first real experience I’ve had with the brand. I’m anticipating something Springbanky, but probably not quite as good. And I think that’s what we have here. The nose is Campbeltown funk lite. There’s earthy peat, a hint of pencil eraser sulphur, overripe stone fruit, and rotten citrus. The palate brings some spoiled cream and fruit, a touch of brine, and generalized notes of organic decay. This is slightly more challenging than the Glen Scotia 16 Year, but I like it about the same. However, it falls short of the majority of Springbank products I’ve tried, including the standard 10 Year. It hits a lot of those classic Campbeltown aromas and flavors, but they’re shallower, sourer, and more incomplete than I had hoped. And while the finish lingers nicely, the mouthfeel is on the thin side. A big thank you to @Richard-ModernDrinking for providing the generous sample!

The nose starts with a mix of gooseberries, baby formula and very light farmyard funk then some light smoke, earthy minerality and prunes followed by sour apples, lemon pith and orange zest that transitions to ocean brine, soft vanilla and light peppery oak spice with light ethanol burn. The taste is a thin mouthfeel starting with a mild bitter spice that slowly fades to a mix of gooseberries, baby formula and very light farmyard funk then charred hay bales and sea side rock minerality followed by sour apples, lemon pith and grapefruit that transitions to ocean brine, soft vanilla and light peppery oak spice with light ethanol burn. The finish is short with lemongrass, sour apple, ocean brine, charred hay bales and ashy oak. This is my first Kilkerran and I was hoping for something similar to a Springbank profile, but this comes across to me as more of a watery Springbank. The flavors are very light with an odd milk flavor along with sour fruits, mild farmyard notes and ocean brine. Overall, it's not a bad dram, but this comes across as just slightly better than average for me. A huge thanks to @Richard-ModernDrinking for the generous sample.