Hi everyone,
Kilkerran proved to be one of my new favourites when it first appeared a few years ago now. The 12 and 8yo cask strength really impressed me, while a rum cask sample I got to try (that I assume is still in a cask somewhere) was incredible. The future looked bright…
To celebrate their 15th anniversary, Kilkerran decided to release a load of single casks, all 15 years old to different markets. Other 15 year olds have started appearing in other special editions and have received mixed reviews.
The distillery is not only small, but is barely running at all. I believe they were running 3 months of the year—then it was reduced even further.
Anyway, here’s some new ones.
Kilkerran 8 Cask Strength 2019 57.1%
Colour: Amber
Body: Full
Nose: Chocolate coated cherry, mocha, a bit of rubbery/spicy thing going on, some plastic, dirty orange, a little soot. Nice nose though, despite the off notes. Chilli and liquorice, darker as it opens up.
Water: More soapy.
Taste: Dry, cherry stones, old wood, soot and chilli chocolate, orange and ginger, quite spicy and dry, liquorice, a little soap?
Water: Less spicy, more oils, better balanced but a lot more soap comes out towards the end.
Finish: Long length. Dry spices and wood, chocolate, a bit of soap.
Full eight years in recharred sherry casks. This isn’t actually released yet but is on the way. An odd one. From the notes it probably sounds like it doesn't work but it kinda does. Its good stuff and mixes things up from the usual 8 CS, although I preferred that. This will sell like hot-cakes though with that colour.
77/100
Kilkerran 15 Single Cask 53.1%
Colour: Gold
Body: Medium/Full
Nose: Plastic sheets, creamy vanilla, austere, light peach, light ash, chalk, more smoke as it opens up, quite peaty for 15 though.
Taste: Smoky initially, austere, a little malt, some orange then spice and malt, more smoke but a little plastic again. Surprisingly peaty.
Finish: Long length. Plastic, orange and malt.
10 years in a Bourbon Puncheon (wait...what?!) then 5 in a refill Hoggie. Exclusive for the UK. A little sharp in places and not what I was expecting, much more peat and more plastic. Think this has already sold out everywhere anyway though.
71/100
Thanks for reading!
Scotch Reviews #796-#797
Whisky Network Reviews #948-#949
Network Average: 75.1
Best Score: 94
Worst Score: 12
0-49 Terrible
50-59 Bad
60-64 Just About OK
65-69 Ok to Good
70-74 Good
75-79 Very Good
80-84 Excellent
85-89 Superb
90+ Magnificent
Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as the Global Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.
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