Kilkerran Bourbon Cask #7

It's been a few years since I tried a Kilkerran, whiskey from the Springbank owned Glengyle Distillery.  For 2015's the Work in Progress 7, they released the whiskey at cask strength. There's not much information on the label, but according to The Whisky Exchange, this is the last of the Work in Progress expressions and is 11 years old.

Kilkerran Work in Progress #7 Bourbon Cask, 54.1% ($75)

The nose is dry and malty with lots of grassy notes and some Ivory soap. The soap notes continue on the palate, in both the flavor and mouthfeel. Then it's got some nice coastal sea air/seaweed stuff going on that continues into the finish along with some peat.

This is like drinking two whiskeys. The first half is soapy and weird whereas the second half is quite good.  A few drops of water helps even things out a bit, though the mouthfeel still has that soapy characteristic. Overall, I wasn't as impressed with this one as I was with the last Kilkerran bourbon cask I tasted.

Kilkerran Sherry Cask

A companion to the Kilkerran Work in Progress Bourbon Cask, which I very much enjoyed, is this sherry cask Kilkerran.  Like the bourbon cask, it's distilled at Glengyle and bottled at 46% abv.

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

The nose has light peat and ocean breezes.  The palate has light peat and coastal notes with just a touch of sweetness and some acid.  It's the coastal notes which last into the finish with some brine and seaweed.  There's very little sherry in evidence; at most a trace of fruit and sweetness in the late finish.

Tasting this side by side with the Bourbon Cask, both are good, but I prefer the Bourbon Cask, which seems to be more balanced and have more going on. 

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.