Kilkerran Heavily Peated Batch 7
2022 Release Peat-in-Progress | 59.1% ABV
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
A big, bold and delicious peat monster
Nights to remember
I’m starting to write this just after submitting my Hazelburn review, although you may remember it as the Ardbeg rant. Following the news of the 17yo coming back in a less than respectable presentation, I desperately needed some positive serendipity.
Turns out, the very week Ardbeg unveiled their malicious plans for said 17yo, I was invited to a Springbank society tasting by my pal Ianis, who is also my rep for Dugas, Springbank’s importer in France. I am fortunate in my job and sometimes stuff like this appears out of nowhere.
I am not part of the Springbank society, but there were some seats left available, so of course I jumped on the occasion. I immediately said yes, figuring that future Ainsley was very well suited to deal with the planning issues that could entail. I can always count on future Ainsley.
The tasting was held at the whisky shop in Paris, just in front of the Madeleine church. A setting contrasting quite a bit to Campbeltown. J&A Mitchell brand ambassador Andrew Wallace was hosting the tasting and it was really nice to have someone who isn’t just spewing out the marketing-approved tale they’re sometimes told to deliver. Andrew is a genuine whisky fan, and has extensive knowledge of the production at Springbank and Glengyle distilleries. Trust me, this isn’t the case with every brand ambassador in the whisky world.
We were welcomed by him in the shop offering us a warm-up dram of Campbeltown Loch, which just reminded everyone how good a wee sipper this was; definitely grabbing myself a bottle for the winter months. Andrew confirmed to us it was made out of 60% unpeated Kilkerran, completed by small proportions of all the other Campbeltown malts, and mainly aged in oloroso sherry casks. He also expressed how proud they were that it was voted best blended malt in the last OSWAs, the only award meaning something in the whisky world, in his own words. This is also when my pal Romain made his appearance. Romain was a sommelier, and has been working at the whisky shop for about a year now. He’s fallen into the whisky-filled well, and is unlikely to ever come back out.
We then made our way upstairs to the tasting room, and the six drams that were going to be poured for us that night were unveiled, in hand-labelled bottles. There are some bangers here; let me give you a quick recap…
We started with a vatting cask sample of the new 100% ex-bourbon Springbank 18, at 46,8%. Andrew explained that what they do at Springbank when they release a whisky, is they first marry the selected casks in a steel tank for a few days, and reduce them to around 50% ABV for example if they plan to do a 46% release. They then put the married whisky back into the original casks for a period they call the honeymoon, lasting about 6 months. 5 of the 6 whiskies tasted that night would be drawn from such casks. This 18yo was chalky, buttery, full of waxy lemons and tropical fruits, and almost had a Clynelish vibe to it, which I of course loved.
We then tried a vatting sample of the upcoming 2024 edition of Kilkerran 16 (see Tav’s review of the 2023 edition here). The casks make up for this one is 70% bourbon, 20% oloroso and 10% rum. This was probably the one of the best Kilkerrans I’ve tried to date, showcasing fermenting fruits such as pineapples, prunes, raisins, copper coins and a soft smoke. A very elegant yet mouth coating whisky.
We then hastily tackled the third whisky, which will be released in 2025 as the new Springbank Local Barley. Quite on theme with Roy’s recent vPub about barley, this one is 8 years old and made from unpeated Bere barley, giving it an oily, malty and fruity profile. The mouth feel on this one is simply stunning.
The whisky that was voted best of the flight at the end of the tasting is the one that was in fourth position, the new 10yo Amontillado release in the sherry cask series. Herbal, medicinal, with heather, eucalyptus, orange liqueur, amaro, cola syrup, and a gorgeous mouthfeel. The sherry is clean, and to me it is much much more balanced than the PX iteration. A proper sherry bomb, with a distillate to match. What a dram.
But the festivities didn’t stop here, as while Andrew told anecdote after story and answered the geekiest of our questions, we were being poured the latest society bottling, a 20yo Springbank drawn from 6 fresh Port casks. It was fruity and vinous, but wasn’t drowned by the port. It had a round, caramel-like mouthfeel, with notes of grilled peanuts and milk chocolate. Port maturation done right.
The last dram of the flight was a Longrow, which I think just came out. 6 years old, bottled at 57.1% and from refill pinot noir casks. Andrew announced to us that the Longrow red range was going to be ditched, in favour of reviving the late Longrow 100 proof range as a yearly release. This is great news, as this means they will be able to play with a lot of different casks that are not necessarily red wine. This could also mean that at some point we will have a simple 100 proof ex-bourbon or ex-sherry Longrow, and I don’t know about you, but that is the sort of thing my dreams are made of. This Longrow had a sweet fruity side, but the wine influence was kept in check and was well integrated. It still was noticeable though, and though it’s one of the best red wine matured whiskies I’ve tried to date, it’s not the one I’d personally go on the hunt for.
As everyone poured themselves another dram of their favourite, we started to chat amongst ourselves, and it was great to be able to talk to like-minded individuals about this liquid we all love and cherish. There was talk about availability and pricing, sure, but in the end the focus was these seven beautiful drops we had the chance to try. Campbeltown has never been so high on the Ainsley bucket list, let me tell you.
As everyone made their way home, Ianis took Andrew - who’d never been to Paris and was leaving the next day - on an express walking tour of the city centre, and I stayed a little bit with Romain, who poured me a dram from the whisky shop’s own stash: the elusive Springbank 17 yo Madeira Wood. Gorgeous stuff. Inebriated just enough, and although I told myself before entering that I wouldn’t buy any whisky, I managed to veto this and get myself not one, not two, but three bottles, two of which have already been reviewed here but are basically unobtainium in France, and another one which I’ll write a review about at some point.
We then met up with Ianis and Andrew at around 11pm in a nearby bistrot, to drink nice wine and educate Andrew about the delights of French charcuterie and cheese. We even felt obliged to open a bottle of Champagne, both to celebrate this wonderful evening and to toast some great news coming from some of us, about the replenishment of Earth’s population.
It’s nights like these that make whisky such a special drink and much more than a simple hobby. I feel privileged to have been invited to this tasting, for a great night was had.
Congrats Romain for your little Raphaël, and you as well Ianis for the future miniature version of yourself!
Review
Kilkerran Heavily Peated, Peat-in-Progress series, Batch 7, 2022 release, 90% ex-bourbon, 10% ex-sherry, 59.1% ABV
£50 now sold out
I wanted to open a J&A Mitchell to review while recounting this evening, and it turns out this is the only one I have that hasn’t already been reviewed on these pages. I opened this bottle during a similarly serendipitous, whisky-fueled night, one which I already told you about. I didn’t drink much of it during the summer months - though I could have, judging by the weather that we’ve had - and I’m starting to crave more bold and peaty spirits as winter hastily approaches. This should do nicely.
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
A big, bold and delicious peat monster
Nose
Peat! Rich, oily, earthy peat. Smouldering heather. Huge minerality: rock pools, summer rain on concrete, cliffs overlooking the sea (I know, talk about pretentious tasting notes). Charred lemon rinds. Somehow reminiscent of a great Pouilly-Fumé (Say Amphore by Marius Tabordet), or a great petrol-filled Riesling.
With water: More citrus, lemon skins, fresh this time. Smoke ramps up, ashes, dying fire. Tart mirabelle juice. Funky, like melting plastic.
Palate
Brilliantly rich, earthy, ashen, with a hint of malty sweetness. Smoky on the finish, like a thick, black, sticking to your wet sweater smoke. The peat becomes creamy. Light acacia honey. Massive length, and extremely well integrated ABV. Sudden sweet red apples, candy apple even.
Water: A bit more coastal, fresher fruits. Easier, but a bit earthier as well.
The Dregs
No two ways about it, if big high ABV peat monsters are your thing, the entire “Peat in Progress” range from the folks at Glengyle is worth your time. Now on Batch 10, it offers fantastic value, with a RRP of around £50 in the UK. It’s bold, unapologetic, and pure. If they invented a peat flavoured spread and you put as much of it on a wholemeal bread slice as you do with Nutella, it would probably still taste less peaty than this.
As days shorten and we enter the dark months, I’ll probably go back, as many of you do, to heavier, maybe sherried whiskies, and also big peat slappers like this one. Keep’em coming, Campbeltown!
Now, what to listen to with this big bruiser of a dram ? Let me suggest a big bruiser of a song, Let her die, by Swedish band Bombus, from their 2013 album The Poet And The Parrot. Nothing like putting this on full blast at 9am.
Score: 7/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. AF
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