As I get closer to the end of this leg of the whisky journey focusing on funky malts, the hulking reputation of everything Campbeltown and Springbank-related looms large. Before getting to the obvious concluding highlight, today I review the Kilkerran 12 year old, a whisky that has become one of my favourites… and then some. It is going to be a tough one to be objective about.
TL:DR: A great expression of Campbeltown – Funky, maritime, lightly peated and wrapped in a layer of sherry fruit and spice. One to discover slowly, layer by layer.
Score: 7.5 Very good stuff verging on something special
Glengyle and Kilkerran
If you only have a superficial knowledge of what Kilkerran is, let’s clear up some potential naming confusion. Kilkerran is a whisky brand produced by the Glengyle distillery. Usually Single Malt Brand and Distillery names match. So, while this is not a unique case (Knockdhu and anCnoc for example), it is nonetheless a rare situation. The reason is that the Glengyle distillery does not own the rights to the Glengyle brand (owned instead by the Loch Lomond group). Those rights were acquired in the long years from 1925 to 2004 when the distillery had been dismantled, around the 1940s. So with the GLengule name unavailable, Kilkerran, the original name of Campbeltown, was chosen as a brand for the single malt produced here instead.
Modern Glengyle has been operating only since 2004. As the Malt Whisky Yearbook states, the Scottish Whisky Association threatened to stop using Campbeltown as a region around the turn of the millennium. Its only two operating distilleries (Springbank and Glen Scotia) were not considered enough to keep the region alive. Springbank’s owner, Headly Wright, noted that the Lowlands, with only three distilleries at that time, was not at risk of losing its status.
Saving Campbeltown?
He decided to reopen the old Glengyle distillery, which had not been operating since 1925. This decision effectively saved the whisky region of Campbeltown. This remains one of the most dramatic and bold business decisions in whisky. It is also a story that deserves a separate article on Springbank as a case for why we should start looking at whisky marketing from a much broader angle. It is something that I am working on and I hope to share soon.
Let’s jump back to the story of Glengyle because the Springbank connection goes back a lot further. The distillery was founded in 1872 by William Mitchell, the brother of John Mitchell – one of the original partners who founded Springbank. It remained in his ownership until 1919 when it was bought by West Highland Malt Distillers, who shut it in 1925. This was the result of the crisis that hit Campbeltown distilleries during the 1920s, with 18 distilleries shutting their door during the decade. From that moment until 2004’s reopening, it stopped operating as a distillery completely. At different times, its buildings had been converted into a garage and a rifle range.
Today, with a further three distilleries planned to open in Campbeltown in the next few years the region’s future looks bright. Springbank’s resurrection of Glenngyle not only saved the Campbeltown region but strengthened the region’s reputation with the very respected range from Kilkerran. But enough chit chat, time to review the Kilkerran 12 years old.
Kilkerran 12 year old
Specs
Price paid: 55 €
Lot/bottled date: 22/167 bottled 19/8/2022
ABV: 46%
Natural colour: Yes
Non-chill filtered: Yes
Casks Used: 70% ex-Bourbon, 30% ex-Sherry
Tasting Notes
Colour: No caramel here. A cask driven rich golden amber colour with coppery highlights.
Nose: I love a complex nose that continues evolving through the night. It’s the kind of nose that opens up the doors to enjoying a single dram for one, even two hours. There is a variety of notes immediately noticeable. It is maritime and fruity, funky and mildly peated with influences from both the bourbon and Sherry casks. If anything the Sherry is more noticeable than the 30% use would have made me expect.
The maritime notes, sea salt and chalk, give way to the influences of the bourbon cask. A big hit of vanilla, candied lemon peel and bright orchard fruity which together with some fermentation notes immediately bring to mind slightly bruised overripe apples and pears. The peat is gentle, slightly rubbery and smoky, even with some floral hints (parma violets maybe?). The Sherry notes emerge stronger and stronger as the dram in my Glencairn breathes. There are notes of toffee, dried raisin and red fruit, milk chocolate, a hint of liquorice and even a touch of savoury beef stock cube.
Taste and finish: The palate is rich and full. It starts with notes coming from the spirit and bourbon cask and, again, then becomes much more sherried. At first, there is caramel, vanilla, and breakfast cereal. It then turns more spicy with dry fruit, and a touch of maritime salt. The peat note is very mellow, with more of an ashy undertone than a smoky or medicinal note.
The finish is long. The aftertaste is maritime/salty, with caramel and loads of both dried and slightly fermented orchard fruit. There is a slight, silky oaky tannin texture, some lingering soft smoke, a hint of chalky minerality and a faint closing note like a very milky coffee.
Score: 7.5
Is it very good stuff (7) or something special (8)? My heart say the latter, my brain the former. Midway between seems the only fair thing to do so 7.5
* Scores are based on the scoring scale used by Dramface, slightly modified to allow half-points
Closing thoughts
Before jumping into my two usual questions on repurchase at the end of this review of the Kilkerran 12 and if this is newbie-friendly, let me address two points. Lots and bias.
Although Kilkerran 12 always uses (as far as I have been able to see) 70% bourbon casks and 30% sherry, there is a natural lot-to-lot variability that we should expect from a batch-made product. This one I reviewed today seems to be more on the Sherry-rich side of the spectrum.
As far as my vote and my potential bias go: I am biased, I know it… and I want to be open about this. I am not biased because I am in any way involved with Kilkerran. I am biased because that black-and-white label has become something I gravitate towards like a bear to honey. We all have our preferences: the experts, the whisky makers, the bloggers & vloggers and so do you. The honest thing to do is admit it to ourselves and be open about it.
Would I buy it again?
As one of my favourites, it is definitely on my permashelf for as long as I can get it. It is a dram I grab when I want to wind down meditate
Would I offer this to a new whisky drinker?
My own story with this bottle is the perfect answer to this question. This is one of the first whiskies I bought when I decided to dive back into this passion. I even mentioned it in one of my first posts. Initially, I didn’t get the positive reviews. It seemed a pretty standard dram, without anything specific note that made it stand out. I realised later that it was just too early. I needed a baseline, without which I could not appreciate the nuances in the bottle. This is not one a sherry bomb, a bourbon fruit explosion or a peaty monster which immediately grabs your attention. Only once I had built that baseline I started noticing the layers, the richness and the elegance of this whisky. And I found a gem under those layers.
So, to state the obvious, this is not a dram I would offer to newbies. If you are just starting, build your baseline first. Explore a few ex-Bourbon cask whiskies, a few ex-Sherry ones and some peated bottles first. Then come to Kilkerran and you will be much better equipped to judge this whisky fairly.
After my review, I always find it interesting to look at other bloggers’ & vloggers’ opinions. Here are a few other reviews of the Kilkerran 12 I enjoyed:
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