Origin: Campbeltown (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 57.9%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex-Port
Chillfiltered: No
Added coloring: No
Owner: J & A Mitchell & Co Ltd.
Average price: € 140.00
Official website: kilkerran.scot
Vote: 84/100
After having tried the second version of this young, cask strength Kilkerran a long time ago, here in my hands is the seventh (and most recent) release of a much-loved (and long-awaited) whisky.
Released on Valentine’s Day 2022, it hit the shelves a few days after the sixth release, all in sherry, in a rather unusual double treat for this bottling born in 2017.
Matured all in ex-Port casks, as always cask strengthand unadulterated, the list price was half of what is reported here.
Tasting notes
The Port doesn’t fail to make itself felt on the nose, nice and tart with plenty of gooseberry, raspberry, lychee and an impression of buttermilk. The notes are dominant but not overpowering, quickly giving way to cooked apple, grilled meat (more roast than smoke), blackberry jam, soy sauce and a dirty vegetal vein of damp undergrowth. Over time, the aromas compact into a sweet and sour compote. Alcohol not present.
On the palate it’s quite full-bodied, an elusive menthol note opens up a profile suspended between sweet and bitter, where red fruit jam intertwines with liquorice, aniseed, cocoa, baked apple and a hint of herbs, with a pinch of pepper acting as a trait d’union. Smoke and grill are largely subdued, a tapestry of memories in the background, while the dirtier side of leather and earth plays on the counterpoints.
Not very long finish with vegetal and vinous impressions, chocolate, red fruits, dull embers.
The risk of maturation entirely in Port was high, and it was partly averted: the casks didn’t crush the distillate, but there remains a certain discordance in the notes that never seem to find real balance, with an unusual but not very incisive dram.