Kilkerran from Glengyle

Glengyle is an old distillery which had lain dormant for some 75 years when, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, the owners of Springbank brought it back to life.  Because of copyright issues, the whisky goes by Kilkerran, rather than the distillery name.  Having begun distilling in 2004, the distillery has been releasing, what it calls Works in Progress since 2009; a series which tracks the aging spirit in a manner akin to the Ardbeg Very Young/Still Young/Almost There series.  For the most recent fifth edition which came out last year, they released both a bourbon cask and a sherry cask expression. Today, I review the bourbon cask.

Kilkerran "Work in Progress" #5 Bourbon Cask, 46% abv ($63)

The nose is really nice and malty with some fruit notes; then some nice peat sets in.  The palate is a great balance of malt and peat.  It's got that nice, lush, peat similar to some Springbanks that's not overpowering but still very present.  As it goes out, it's peppery with peaches and dry white wine.  There's a lot of body to it and it has a wonderful long, peaty finish.

This is really great stuff.  It's balanced, it has real character (that undefinable thing that so many whiskeys seem to be lacking these days) and it's young but in no way immature.  If this is only a "work in progress," I'll be excited to taste the finished product.