Kilkerran Heavily Peated #6 Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Batch #6 The nose shows toasted marshmallow, robust campfire and spent coals, cooked stone fruits, oak, and a mix of pecan and walnuts. The palate very well balances the sweet and savory aspects of this Scotch with smoke, oak, leather, and baking spices towards cinnamon and nutmeg enjoined to dried cherry and peaches dusted with sugar. D&M Tasting Notes

In 2000, the chairman, managing director, and head of production at Springbank went for a walk around town. In truth they were looking at the various buildings that JA Mitchell already owned to see which would be most suitable to be used as a distillery- both as a means of expansion and to regain Campbeltown’s (as they saw it) rightful place on the map. After settling on Glengyle they embarked on a four year period of rebuilding and refurbishment led by legendary production manager Frank McHardy. In many ways Glengyle was to be JA Mitchell’s attempt to blend modernity with traditional practices. Mitchell’s Glengyle did not want to purchase the rights to the Glengyle brand from Loch Lomond, so they opted to create a new brand: Kilkerran.

“Kilkerran '' is derived from the Gaelic Ceann Loch Cille Chiarain (head of the lake of St. Kieran’s cell). This was the name of the settlement founded by Saint Kieran, and it is believed that the town of Campbeltown now sits on that spot. The distillery as it stands is really a blend of new and old with 40% of the equipment being refurbished or reused from various distilleries around Scotland. The mill used for the malted barley came from Craigellachie in the Highlands which after being refurbished works as good as new. The still came from the mothballed Ben Wyvis Distillery which was where McHardy had worked over 3 decades prior. The still was modified to provide the spirit that McHardy was after with an upwardly sloping lye arm that allowed for reflux and a lighter and brighter form of finished spirit.

When the distillery began its first distillation run in March of 2004, it was the first “new” distillery in Campbeltown in 125 years. For a fantastic Scottish brogue delivered in a somewhat wooden style, this 6ish minute overview of Kilkerran production is worth a watch. The bottle we have for you this month is the sixth release by Kilkerran of their heavily peated series. While Kilkerran’s normal iteration could be described as a lighter peated version of Springbank, this is something else entirely. From the information we could find this was peated up to 80 ppm in grain– which is quite bonkers. This makes Heavily Peated Kilkerran even more peaty than Springbank’s Longrow imprint. The Kilkerran work in progress from the 2010s started with a 5 year old and built from there before culminating in the standard 12 year that we know and love. This feels like it has been put forth with the same progression with older spirits making their way into each subsequent batch. This batch is made up of 75% ex-Bourbon barrels and 25% ex-Sherry barrels. Cask strength lovers rejoice as this is a robust 57.4% ABV, while we prefer personally a touch of water, let your bias and preference when it comes to proof be your guide. Michael Kennel, D&M