Kilkerran 16 Review

Hi everyone,

Have you ever found yourself really wanting a new whisky? Like really, really wanting it. But it’s limited. Very limited. And so the inevitable hours begin scouring websites for this whisky on and around its release date, only to be minutes (or even seconds) too late every time.

This is very much how I felt about Kilkerran 16. I spent some very stressful hours over the course of three or four days trying to buy a bottle of this. I was obsessive. I would be on my phone almost constantly, hitting refresh over and over again.

I was lucky that my diligence paid off and I found a bottle on Abbey Whisky a few minutes before they sold out.

 

Kilkerran 16 46%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Like Kilkerran 12yo and Springbank Local Barley had a baby. Let's say the 16yoLB. Very austere in style, stripped back, clean whisky. Can we say old school? I think so. Old papers and books, a touch of fruit, melon maybe, lightly mineral with graphite pencil, some clay, lightly spicy with black pepper, some creamy vanilla. There is a touch of plastic at times though, some wood glue.

Taste: A slightly flat arrival, followed by mineral notes and a mouth-filling texture, plenty of oils, again the old paper, quite dry and blisteringly austere, a touch of orange hidden in there, carbon and a little soot (also carbon I know), old school oak, some creamy vanilla in there but it's pretty swamped by the dryness. Luckily, there's a burst of lovely complex spice in the mid-palate that really brings this together and makes it interesting- green peppercorns, lemon and stem ginger combo, ginseng root, very strong green tea, oily black pepper towards the back end.

Finish: Short/Medium length. The spices stick around, black and green peppercorns, a little ginger, the oak, maybe some heather, maybe some orange. A very small kick of smoke too.

98% Bourbon, 2% Madeira. 2020, 1st Release. Intellectual whisky. Not something you can just mindlessly enjoy, you really have to pay attention to get it. Could be an unpeated 16yo Talisker. Is it good? Yes, yes it is. Was it worth the price? At £60, probably. Was it worth the hours I spent tracking it down, stressing over snatching up a bottle before they could sell out? No, no it wasn't. There are moments of brilliance here, but they don't ever quite come to fruition.

78/100

 

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Review #868

Whisky Network Review #1043

Network Average: 75.2

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.

Why is this here?

Springbank 18 & 11 Refill Sauternes Single Cask Reviews

Hi everyone,

Another duo today! This time it’s Springbank’s turn.

It has taken me far too long to get round to trying the 18yo. I can get pretty expensive and although I’d heard that it was great, I didn’t want to risk forking out on a bottle. So I waited patiently but just never got round to it or saw it many places.

I also recently tried a official single cask for the USA.

Springbank 18 46%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Robust and chiselled, smoky coals, dried apple, musty leather, a little tobacco and cigar smoke, subtle dried banana, standing outside a smoking room, old cigarette smoke.

Taste: Oily with building spices tingling and dry oak, lots of black pepper, a bit industrial with concrete dust and chalky minerality, some dust and leather and old smoke.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Softer, more tobacco and leather here but fades quite quickly.

Shame about the short finish. Everything else is pretty well balanced and interesting, if a little austere.

79/100

 

Springbank 11 Refill Sauternes 57.2%

Colour: Dark Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Soapy but in a really cool way, raisin and passion fruit, rich apricot, dirty orange, good sulphur, dried lavender, bath bombs, intense and full on.

Taste: Soft and oily, orange and mango, super good balance on arrival, great mouthfeel, fruity and intense, soapy again but again it’s good and interesting. Some spices come through towards the end, black pepper and a tiny whiff of smoke.

Finish: Medium/Long length. More soapy here, almost overwhelming it, softer then comes back with the oils.

Nov 2007, bot Nov 2018 from a single refill Sauternes cask, bottled for USA. Some people are gonna hate this, but I love it. Really interesting and full on, in-your-face whisky that grabs your tongue and won’t let go until it’s done with you.

86/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Reviews #851-#852

Whisky Network Reviews #1023-#1024

Network Average: 75.2

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.

Why is this here?

Glen Scotia 1969 Old Malt Cask [Road to #1000, Review #995]

Hi everyone,

More whisky from the 60’s today. This time Campbeltown’s turn!

I was lucky enough to be in Toronto for my birthday earlier this year and I knew about Feather’s Pub from some of the Toronto Whisky Society guys. In particular, I knew that u/TOModera used to go there for some birthday drams and those posts would always make me jealous.

I had planned to have a few whiskies there but only ended up trying two, but both were well worth it.

Glen Scotia 1969 Old Malt Cask 50%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Bourbon levels of oak to start, musty fruit, red apple and black pepper, a little wild strawberry, a delicious toasted marshmallow thing as it opens up, complex florals and candy shop notes now too. Milk chocolate and milky coffee too. Its a little bit tired but in a really interesting way. Big black liquorice coming in now, and continues to develop.

Water: Freshens but brings out some soapy lavender and parma violets.

Taste: Tingly sweetness first, amazingly zingy for this age, incredible fresh strawberry, strawberry fruit pastilles, oily mouthfeel, complex honey and honeycomb too, the oak is in the background with a very soft spice underlying things, black liquorice, some white pepper, a little chilli dark chocolate. Big chewy whisky.

Water: More spice and dry oak bringing it further out of balance. Loads of white pepper. Very dry now.

Finish: Medium length. Very soft and actually quite subtle here, some spicy oak, oils continue to coat the mouth, all about the oils really. More oily and malty chocolate as it opens up.

Bottled 1999, at 30yo. Difficult to score. Super interesting and complex but just a touch tired. The spice bringing it a bit out of balance on the taste too. Water did not help things and I definitely preferred this neat. Anyway, amazing to try.

86/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Review #832

Whisky Network Review #995

Network Average: 75.2

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.

Why is this here?

Glen Scotia 1989 Manager's Tour Sample [Road to #1000, Review #975]

Hi everyone,

Welcome. I while back I realised that I had hit #1000 whiskies that I had tasted and written notes on and decided to keep some in reserve for an epic build up of insane, rare and crazy whiskies that I had tasted. 26 whiskies in fact.

1972 Brora cask sample, Hibiki 30, Yamazaki 25, Cadenhead’s Sherry cask Talisker, Longmorn 1964, Scotia 1969 and two 1968 whiskies, some bourbons, Karuizawa, my first Convalmore. You’ve got it all to look forward to.

To kick things off I’ve got an almost 30yo Glen Scotia from the most expensive tour you can do there, the Manager’s Tour. (Yep, we’re starting with that)

Many thanks go to the ever amazing Ibon for the sample.

Glen Scotia 1989 Cask Sample 53.1%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Fruity and very interesting, orange chewing gum, banana, cold dunnage, dried leaves, leather, some lime, wonderful balance though. I don’t normally like chewing gum as a note in whisky as it can be quite artificial but it works here.

Taste: Soft and oily, soot, dunnage wood then more fruity with banana, some pineapple, a little cream soda. Pretty fresh for 30yo without too much oak at all. I expected it to be much darker.

Finish: Medium length. Very soft, oils again, not a massive amount of complexity here.

Cask sample from the managers tour at Glen Scotia, refill American oak cask 316. I was probably expecting too much from this. I thought 30yo Campbeltown and the red mist of OMGITMUSTBEAMAZING descended. The taste is a little flat with the quite simple finish. Still it should be said that this is great whisky.

82/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Review #818

Whisky Network Review #975

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.

Why is this here?

Glen Scotia 1992 HB & SMWS 2003 93.91 Reviews

Hi everyone,

Glen Scotia, previously the ugly duckling of Campbeltown, seems to be coming into its own more and more. This tracks with Loch Lomond, who are owned by the same people. Both distilleries (much like Ledaig) produced feinty, weird and sometimes horrible whiskies that people found hard to get along with but are entering a new dawn with cool experimentation, special but affordable releases that seem to be, as yet, untouched by too much marketing bullshit and… um, Macallan-ing.

I’ve got more Glen Scotia coming up with my build up to 1000 reviews but we will leave them for now.

Glen Scotia 1992 Hart Brothers 50.5%

Colour: Amber

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Funky orange and flat wood, sweet sherry and austere malt, dry oak and a touch of fireplace, geranium and musky cologne, chocolate powder, plum pudding, grapefruit. The nose feels a little oxidised, like the bottle has been open a little long.

Taste: Soft and sweet, orange, malt, chocolate powder, building slowly with more spice, oak and chewy orange and cherry, quite austere despite the sherry, grapefruit.

Finish: Long length. Sweet, syrupy and oily. More malt here with some dark chocolate. A little black cherry at the end.

23yo version from a Sherry hogshead. I was expecting more from this actually. Yeah, its good but I can't help but feel that a newly opened bottle would have tasted a little fresher and been more punchy. This was from the end of a bottle at a festival, so no way to know how long it had been open…

77/100

 

Glen Scotia 2003 93.91 SMWS 56.4%

Colour: Dark Gold

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Austere and very Glen Scotia, oily with some fruits, butter, oxidised browning apple, some brown sugar, a Trinidad rum thing going on, a bit of banana thats been left out too long, mango and peach thats doing much of the same. Black pepper and salt, a little mineral. Super interesting nose.

Water: Cleaner and flatter, some oak and dry wood, loses its 'fattness.'

Taste: Oily and mouth-filling, serious mouthfeel, fruity with red apple and black pepper, some stem ginger, a little chilli, its spicy but not hot if that makes sense, some orange in there too, salt and more and more smoke as it goes on, ending up being quite smoky by the finish.

Water: A little flat to start, but a great balance of the salt, smoke and spice then builds up.

Finish: Long length. Powerful with smoky and spice, black pepper, salty still, some chilli. Again, not hot though.

'Campbeltown Karaoke' Bottled at 14yo. Really could be a Talisker. A really great single cask Talisker. Much better neat though. I tasted this first time at the Vaults in Leith, where the SMWS started and instantly knew it was special. Very luckily, they gave me the open bottle from the bar as a thank you for doing the tasting so I got to take it home. Great Glen Scotia, keep an eye out for these mid-aged peated ones.

84/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Reviews #811-#812

Whisky Network Reviews #967-#968

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.

Why is this here?

Kilkerran 8CS Sherry 2019 & 15yo Single Cask UK Reviews

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!

Updated Distillery Rankings

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.

Why is this here?

Glen Scotia 2003 Campbeltown Festival 2019 Review

Hi everyone,

After a meet up with some of the lovely people from the Toronto Whisky Society last night, it has come to my attention that I have been slacking in the review department. I’ve had a bunch of cool things I’ve tried and written notes on but just haven’t had the time to actually get around to posting them. You guys deserve better though, so we will continue to soldier through.

This one, I imagine a few people are interested in. Limited edition, cask strength, peated Scotia finished in rum barrels…

 

Glen Scotia 2003 Festival 2019 51.3%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Coals, creamy vanilla, tropical fruit and dust (specifically the stuff that gets behind the radiator), a little closed.

Water: Opens up a little, more of the rum, more dust and a little perfumed.

Taste: Fresh and fruity, lemon and orange, then more spicy and peaty with ginger, black pepper and a medicinal edge.

Water: Softer, with less spice and peat.

Finish: Long length. More medicinal here with some white sugar and white rum.

For Campbeltown festival 2019, Peated Rum Finish. 15yo. Disappointed with this compared to the 2018 and this is more expensive. The dust isn’t an off note but it’s just a bit too closed off and I couldn’t get it to open up a lot.

71/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Review #754

Whisky Network Review #896

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 a 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.

Why is this here?