This week’s reviews are of a couple of Kilkerran distillery exclusive hand-filled casks. On Wednesday, I reviewed one that was filled at the distillery (or maybe at Springbank) in late-August 2022. Today I have one that was filled at the distillery (or maybe at Springbank) in late-October 2022. (I’m not sure because I was not the one who filled them.) The late-August hand-fill started out very nicely on the nose but then things went south in a hurry on the palate and finish. I’m hoping this cask will redeem it some. Let’s see how it goes.

Kilkerran Hand-Filled, October 2022 (58.9%; from a bottle split)

Nose: A very nice start with lemon, wet wool and peppery peat off the top and muskier fruit coming up from below (charred pineapple). Sweeter as it goes with some peach in there as well. With more time the lemon turns to lime and there’s some salt as well. Water pulls the passionfruit out here as well and mixes it with some vanilla (just a bit).

Palate: Comes in with the fruit leading the way, and it’s quite lovely with a mix of lemon and tart-sweet pineapple. Very approachable at full strength with oily texture. Very pleased to report that there is nothing soapy about this one on subsequent sips: only an intensification of the fruit, which gets sweeter here too. After a bit there’s quite a bit of makrut lime leaf and some passionfruit. With more time the sweeter fruit subsides a bit and lime takes the lead, picking up some bitter zest. Okay, let’s add water. It makes it more acidic and pulls out vanilla here as well.

Finish: Long. The fruit fades out and yields to the peppery peat and some wet stones. Develops as on the palate with time but with water the sweeter fruit comes back at the end.

Comments: Just a lovely whisky. I can’t remember the last time I had such an exuberantly fruity Kilkerran and it’s entirely possible I never have. This has Bowmore-level fruit and it’s just with the pepper and the other austere notes mixed in.

Rating: 90 points.