Review #159 - Kilkerran Work In Progress 7th Release - Cask Strength Bourbon Wood
While the Glengyle distillery was building their stocks up in anticipation of releasing regular age-stated products, they released several 'work in progress' whiskies along the way. This is one of them - the seventh release, in fact, from 2015 - and it's a cask strength bottling that was aged in ex-bourbon casks.
Strength comes in at 54.1% ABV, and as always with this brand, there's no chill filtration or fake coloring to worry about. By the time that this was released, the distillery was 10 or 11 years old, so there may actually be some whisky in the mix that isn't especially young - we're guessing there's a range of ages in the recipe.
Kilkerran Work In Progress 7th Release - Cask Strength Bourbon Wood
Scotland/Campbeltown - Single Malt
Current Locally Available Price: USD 367 (2023)
Age Statement: NAS
Strength: 54.1% ABV
Cask Makeup: Ex-bourbon casks
Details: 7th release, bottled 2015; not chill filtered, no color added; 6,000 bottles
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 2 times over 1 month (from a sample bottle); bottle at 90% fill level at time of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes
Nose: Strong and quite woody, with a mixture of chemical, vegetal, and funk notes. There's sweetness from buttery brown sugar, but also some semi-savory mushroom, dry vanilla, and hay; sharper notes of pepper and balsamic come later.
Palate: Medium-thick mouthfeel, with more smoke and more sweetness: vanilla, brown sugar, molasses, and candied pecans are balanced by anise, black licorice candy, juniper twigs, and spiced oak. Later, it becomes more nutty, and we get cardamom and clove, along with a creamy texture.
Finish: Pleasantly warming, with hints of peat and strong oak - this is medium-long, and the texture is still creamy. Vanilla and honey give way to creme brulee, burnt sugar, almost a custard taste; there are bits of tangy yellow and orange fruit as well. The aftertaste is an interesting mixture of almond, sweet perfume, and melon.
Final Note: Nice, not the most complex, but there's a solid underlying character that's hard to deny. After tasting the Kilkerran 12 Year, the lineage becomes more clear, and it seems they made a nice transition from these 'work in progress' bottlings to their 'final product' - they have that same strong Campbeltown character, with hints of umami and slightly funky notes. Price here is somewhat of a formality - as this is a long discontinued release, it's very hard to get ahold of these days, and therefore commands a pretty penny.
Our Average Rating: 7.3 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 4.05
Check out our other Kilkerran reviews:
