Kilkerran from Glengyle


April 28, 2025

WF’s Little Duos, today Kilkerran from Glengyle

Back in the Wee Toon, listening to Andy Stewart and awaiting David Stirk’s new book on Campbeltown’s whiskies, titled in the style of Fritz Lang: Whiskyopolis.

Kilkerran 16 yo (46%, OB, 2024)

Matured in bourbon, sherry and just the tiniest dash of rum (5%) We shan’t be asking, at that dose, what sort of rum it was. Just imagine, it seems this might be the first time we’ve tasted one of these sixteen-year-olds, which have existed since 2020. Naturally, since Glengyle first started speaking up back in 2004. Colour: straw. Nose: one rather gets the feeling of undergoing an inhalation of lemon and apple juice, quickly followed by crushed chalk, sourdough and a smidgen of paraffin oil, very much in the modern Springbank style. Extremely delicate hints of aniseed and cumin float just above this elegant and mineral-driven structure. A minute dab of salted fresh mango somewhere in the distance. Mouth: I’ve always found it quite amusing that Glengyle positioned itself in Springbank’s slipstream rather than opting for something entirely different. Then again, you might say, when the recipe works, why meddle? This is immediately salty, chalky, with that ‘good sulphur’ you’ll often find at Springbank, along with boot polish, ashes, that well-known artisanal mezcal note, some clay, olive brine, and even a few white asparagus tips nudging their way in. Finish: similar again, of fine length, with lemon returning as a kind of house signature. Comments: it’s elegant, it’s charming, it’s mineral and very salty, and it’s jolly lovely. Just what we were expecting.
SGP:452 - 88 points.

Kilkerran ‘Heavily Peated Batch 11’ (57.9%, OB, 2024)

Both batch 9 (WF 86) and batch 10 (WF 85) were excellent, though perhaps ever so slightly immature, a tad on the rough side for my taste, but let’s admit it, we were nitpicking. Colour: straw. Nose: it’s the 16-year-old, only younger, livelier, and above all far more medicinal. With gallons of iodine tincture and mercurochrome, sea water and a splash of lemon balm infusion, one could almost use this as a balm, an anaesthetic or indeed as a repellent against mosquitoes and, more crucially, midges. Well, no guarantees there. We like it. With water: well now, it rounds out and softens completely, but also brings seaweed and, above all, plenty of sage and tarragon. Worth trying in a béarnaise sauce. Mouth (neat): this slaps you twice across the face, a proper one-two. Brimming with salt, ashes, camphor, iodine tincture, lime, oysters and smoked fish. With water: a more classical peater, though still immensely salty, with notes of machine oil and even penetrating oil. Could come in handy. Finish: very long, with salt, lemon and bitter almonds. Black pepper in the aftertaste. Comments: hey, we’re moving forward! A fine beast, really. We should set up a blind tasting, twelve young Longrows versus twelve young Kilkerrans. Who do you reckon would win?
SGP:455 - 87 points.

Check the index of all Kilkerran we've tasted so far