This week of reviews of Kilkerran (the name of the whisky distilled at the Glengyle distillery in Campbeltown) began on Monday with Batch 6 of their Heavily Peated series. I rather liked that one (as I had Batch 5 and Batch 4 before it). The releases in the Heavily Peated series are, of course, all NAS. The other Kilkerrans I am reviewing this week both have age statements; And, if not for the 16 yo—which I reviewed earlier this year—at 15 years of age, both would handily be the oldest Kilkerrans I’ve yet reviewed. Both are part of a batch of single casks of various types that were bottled in 2019 to commemorate the distillery’s 15th anniversary. Most of these were bottled for specific markets. (One even came to the US; I shudder to think of how much would have been asked for it, given the premium we have to pay for anything the importer, Pacific Edge, brings in.) This one, a single refill bourbon hogshead was for the UK market. Let’s see what it’s like.

Kilkerran 15, 2004 (53.1%; single refill bourbon hogshead for the UK; from a bottle split)

Nose: A little rubbery off the top. On the second sniff there’s lemon and rapidly expanding salt. The rubbery note moves in the direction of putty and damp leather; some engine grease too now. The peat is firmly in the earthy, mineral end of the spectrum. Gets sweeter as it sits with some cream and some milky cocoa. A few drops of water bring out more of the softer, sweeter notes and also amplify the citrus (some of that pineapple from the palate peeks out as well).

Palate: Salty and then peaty arrival here as well but there’s fruit lying coiled under it; hopefully, it’ll uncoil with some air. Hotter than the abv would suggest; good texture. The lemon expands as it sits but the sweeter fruit might need water to move from hints to statements. No, with 10 more minutes there’s some of that charred pineapple from the last couple of batches of the Heavily Peated. The peat picks up some pepper as well and some soot. Okay, let’s see what water does for it. Ah yes, it bring out the sweeter fruit more fully: the charred pineapple and some peach.

Finish: Long. The earthy peat and the lemon see each other out; the salt has the last word. As on the palate with water and there’s more soot here now too.

Comments: This is classic bourbon cask Kilkerran (or you could say Longrow too, for that matter). Neat it’s austere with hints and then flashes of colour; not sexy but verging on greatness. Water pulls out more of the fruit and tips it over into the next tier.

Rating: 90 points.