Review #49 - Kings County American Single Malt
Peated American Single Malt Mini-Series: Part 3 of 4
Our next stop in the USA is New York, where Kings County Distillery resides. They make a single malt with imported barley from Scotland, which has been lightly peated. There isn't any age statement on the label, but like many American single malts, we're guessing it is relatively young, especially if new charred oak barrels were used. The bottling strength is one good starting point here, though - we get 47% ABV, higher than the 46% that many people consider to be a quality bottling strength for single malts.
Kings County American Single Malt
USA - Single Malt
Current Locally Available Price: USD 67 (2023)
Age Statement: NAS
Strength: 47% ABV
Details: Made from imported lightly peated Scottish malt
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times over 10 months; bottles at 90%, 60%, and 30% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes
Nose: Quite malty to start, a decent amount of grain, sweet barley sugars. Peat is light, not too pungent, and it's sort of grungy and rubbery in character. There is some fruit here as well, citrus like orange, maybe a slightly meaty orange; then some wood notes, like wood char and spices of cinnamon and nutmeg. Later on, just a bit of sulfur develops, maybe a hint of a wine influence is there as well.
Palate: Malty and rubbery again, and the grainy barley sugar is one of the main focuses. Nice peat, a little stronger than the nose, but there is a little bit of heat to go along with it, too. Dry overall, dry oak and slightly bitter or astringent tannins, and once again that mild sulfur note comes back. It does taste a bit young, a decent amount of grainy spirit, but then some nice unripe nectarine comes in. The mouthfeel is medium-thin.
Finish: Medium-short finish, light bodied, and some heat to go along with it - probably could have used more time in the casks to mellow out. There is some wood influence, along with a hint of red wine, nectarine, and some vanilla. We end with a bit of sweetness like peach ring candies.
Final Note: This is alright, there are some nice flavors just starting out in the nose and palate with orange fruit and a bit of stone fruit, but this needs a little more time to develop in the cask. If over-oaking is a concern, perhaps some refill casks could help give this the time it needs to become more mature. Still, it has some tasty flavors, especially if you like spirit-forward and malty whiskies. If available for a reasonable price (we'd probably pay $40-50), it could be worth picking up.
Our Average Rating: 6.0 / 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: 5.96
