🥃 Whisky Auctioneer

Aroma Alcohol spiciness, citrus notes, somewhat maritime, light fruity The taste Lots of smoke, wine notes, spice, pepper, slightly astringent resonance Long, great sweet spice, becoming dry

You have to be in the mood to drink Kilkerran ... but when in the right mood, what a rich and fab ride. It really is an onslaught on the taste buds, but you need time to appreciate it. Bang for buck Kilkerran is one of the best drams out there. N – charcoal, pencil lead, dark choc, black coffee, tea leaf, swim pool, Minstrels, burnt toast – 13 M – hot dry roughing, a challenge at times – 12 T – pencil lead, burnt buttered toast, burnt bacon, maple cured, dark choc, black coffee, Ancho chilli, charred smoked salmon, dark muscovado, black tea, tea leaves, hickory pretzels, Minstrels, sandalwood, charcoal, ink, cinnamon bark, used engine oil – 27 F – used oil, pencil lead, buttered brown toast, charcoal, dark muscovado, treacle, Minstrels, dark choc, burnt bacon, charred smoked salmon, pretzels, burnt butter, damp hessian, liquorice, blood orange, thick cut marmalade – 27

A heavily peated Whisky, not from Islay.

Trying this 8 batch. Before it, I drank only Batch 2 and 4. After it, I will drink Batch 10. Interesting! Young green, dry smoke + lemon, tobacco, tannic acid (reminiscent of verde wine), green apples, minerals. The taste is dry, slightly spicy due to alcohol. The finish is excellent, rounded smoke in bourbon and herbs. Tannins are soft and balanced. I think this is a style of winter whisky to drink. In general, everything is better than in previous batches. Nose - 21 Taste - 21 Finish - 22 Balance - 21 Rating - 85

Smelling your smoked clothes in the morning or accidentally taking a sip of a beer that's been used as an ashtray. Quite nice.

Like its predecessor, Batch #7, Batch #8 was matured in 90% ex-bourbon and 10% sherry casks. Batch #7 was bottled in 09/2022, batch #8 in 03/2023. With a six-month age difference (probably, because who knows where and how the whisky was “temporarily stored”) and the same barrel composition, you can actually assume that there shouldn’t be too big of a difference between the two batches. And that's the way it is. In terms of aromas, Batch #8 has a clear mineral note, but that's about it for the great differences. Both arrive on the tongue according to their alcohol strength, and both batches really turn up the heat with the peat smoke on the finish. As a result, both batches for me are 88/88/87 = 88/100. Addendum: After the Kilkerran Heavily Peated Batch #8, I drank the Kilkerran 8 CS Batch #8 Bourbon Cask 55.8% again for comparison. I have had the latter since March 24th. open, now just over five months. Freshly opened, I found the 8 CS quite sharp and almost aggressive on the nose and tongue - which it still was when I wrote my notes at the end of July. He needed quite a bit of standing time so that his nose could at least calm down a bit. Now, a month later, nothing has happened, so I no longer expect him to become more “pleasant”. Compared to the Heavily Peated Batch #8, the 8 CS Batch #8 seems significantly sharper on the nose (don't inhale too deeply) and scratchier on the tongue, although at 55.8% it has a lower alcohol strength than the HP #8 its 58.4%. What obviously had no effect on the first three batches of Kilkerran 8 CS, all of which were matured ex-bourbon casks (because they were good), is now becoming noticeable with increasing age: a small proportion of sherry casks (10-20% ) can work wonders in terms of taste.

It takes some time, very pleasant from the second sip, alcohol well integrated, medium-long finish, a little drier compared to batch 7

At first it is very noticeable that the whisky is very young. It bites with green notes and pushes away a little. But dig deeper - it becomes clear that this molt, although still green, is still very serious and promising. It becomes much more interesting with time and aeration. All the wonderful things I love about Campbelltown seem to be archived here, and it takes time and patience to get to them. The aromatics include pleasant smoke, vanilla pods, dust, fresh croissant, Belgian waffles. Funk appears and unobtrusively completes this picture. The taste is good silk ash. What is interesting is that the previous batch 7 was much more mature. And it would seem that with every year it should have more time of exposure. But everything is fine here too, if you give it time. Everything would have been great if it had been aged for another couple of years in barrels.

Color: dark straw

Nose: Rubber, Iodine, malt, salt, sherry Taste: Fruit, peat, honeydew Finish: Oak, fruit, peat

A fruity batch, in the style of batch #7 (but not #6) but not as oily and spicy as that one.

Great. Just excellent quality

Overall, the whisky doesn't seem as heavily peated to me as I had expected. I don't think it's that far removed from the regular Kilkerran bottlings, the distillery character is clearly noticeable. Overall, you can of course tell that it's very young and bubbly, but it still seems complete, the balance is good, there are no off notes, the alcohol is acceptably integrated, it's fine.

Why bother with Springbank where you need a small mortgage when you could have this? Some will be put off by the taste - it's not gentle - it's a proper irty dram. Lovely - buy one and crack it open.

On the nose, it's quite violent, with squeezed lemon and a roaring, chalky peat. Iodine too. Earthy, cereal hints. Icing sugar. On the palate, it's surprisingly sweet, even light after the violent nose. Pear and almonds, steamed wheat. But that was without counting the spices, which come to shake everything up, they are quite devastating. The finish is in the same vein, strong and long, sooty, cola, lime, green apple. It's like swallowing smoke. Compared to previous Batches I've tasted, this is less interesting. It's quite monochrome, but still powerful. https://ilikesky2020.blogspot.com/2023/10/kilkerran-heavily-peated-peat-in.html

really great whisky that becomes outstanding with added wee drop of water. I really love how this whisky is developing batch to batch

Nose - mineral, malty, crisp, fruity. Earthy, wet stones and chalk. Malt and ash. Cream and vanilla. Honey and flowers. Slightly stable aroma and fresh hay. Mirabelles, green apples, redcurrants and sour grapes. Lemon, lime, red grapefruit and pomelo. Salt and seainess. Sultanas and dried plums. Burnt barrel, burnt grilled fruit and charred poultry meat. Grease, paraffin dust in a closed room. Multi-fruit jam. Hints of mint and pine needles. Taste - sweetness, spiciness and bitterness. Sugar sweetness, candyfloss and caramel. Mango, yellow plums and red gooseberries. Mixed herbs, sage and ash. Spicy spices, chilli and coloured pepper. Yellow grapefruit and aronia bitterness. Sweet raspberry tomatoes and dried basil. Dessert chocolate and a 'Pawełek' bar. Vanilla ice cream and caramelised sugar from crème brûlée. Barrel and charred poultry meat. Crusted almonds and salty peanuts. Finish - medium/long. Toffee, sweet fruit, barrel and bitterness. https://whiskymylife.wordpress.com/2024/02/05/kilkerran-heavily-peated-584-batch-8/

Sample. I didn't notice the 10% sherry at all, 87.5/100

Everything is getting better and better at a great price. More and more sat

I consider this whisky to be weaker than Batch 6, but better than the release of Batch 7. Very sweet, very fruity, smoked plums, and slightly burnt plum jam with a lot of chocolate, peat, campfire smoke and a pleasantly tingling tongue. A drop of water... Aroma - more delicate, less coniferous, but with a bit of April, here on "-" Taste - smoother, creamier, sweeter, red berries, less smoke, no smoldering sticks in the fire "-" Finish - medium long, sweet, but without expressiveness"-" Personally, I prefer the original version, although with water it will certainly appeal to women and people who are just starting their adventure with this type of whisky, due to its gentleness.

Kilkerran Heavily Peated Batch 8 Nose & Palate: Charcoal smoke, burnt wood, sweetness. Score: 85[Recommend to Try]

Typical Kilkerran, lemon drops, critus, malty, oily, peaty. Needs water, but very rewarding once applied. Very good whisky!

Very intense, massively salty malt, driving past the farm in the summer there is a bit of manure in the air, mash that has been in the sun too long. In the distance a barn burns down. You get the picture. Like a massive Islay distillate but without the maritime aromas. Continental phenol bomb. Crazy, intense but also really good!

A rough, wild young peated malt. The whisky delivers strong peat intensity but leans heavily toward aggressive acidity, vegetal notes, and lactic character. While it shows some funky individuality from the cheese-like notes, the overall balance feels unrefined and overly sharp.

Alcoholic Kilkerran's Heavily Peated range uses a malt with a ppm content of 85. That's quite worth it, isn't it! Until now I had only tasted Batch 4, but thanks to my friend Benny VDB I can now also taste Batch 7 and Batch 8. It almost goes without saying that I taste them head-to-head, right? We end with Batch 8, which appeared on the market at the beginning of this year. This is also a mix of 90% bourbon and 10% sherry casks. Nice nose, but a lot more alcoholic than Batch 7 and therefore slightly less accessible. The nose is also less 'wide' if you know what I mean. I'm more likely to get cereal, peat and lime, but also apples and pears, a hint of almonds, white chocolate and bread dough. Another hint of lemon juice and rosemary. Less pronounced than Batch 7, but still very pleasant, mind you! Oily and mouth-filling but at the same time just a little too sharp to immediately appeal. I even gasp for breath. Once the salivary glands have done their job, I notice nice, sweet notes of apples and vanilla and again some almonds. The smokiness is surprisingly great and makes the mouth completely warm. And that feels good. A salty edge appears. The pepper and licorice provide a nice spiciness. The aftertaste is again medium long and gently spiced, but especially sweet on apples and vanilla. Surprisingly different from the previous batch (which I liked better), but also very good. Just a tad too alcoholic for my liking. Thank you, Benny!

The peaty character does not dominate however it keeps you interested as you begin to unlatch the pandora of flavours.A tasty enjoyable malt.

I don't like this series, it's boring

Consistent and really good. Austere but I like this profile a lot.

Moderate peat compared to some others, like Laphroaig. Even a 10 year Caol Ila is more peaty. Nowhere near Springbank as more intense peat. Distillate is spicy, a little grassy, citrus, baked apples. Relatively short aftertaste. Pretty good for a relatively new distillery from 2004. August 2026. Now open a couple of days and I think the aftertaste has lengthened some. Peat a little more laid back integrated with the distillate. No change in distillate evaluation.