Kilkerran 8 years Cask Strength Oloroso

Kilkerran - Glengyle

Origin

Campbeltown (Scotland)

Type

Single Malt Whisky

Barrel

Sherry

Age

8 years

Alcohol

57,4°

Value

70 points

About the product

Every year, Glengyle Distillery releases an 8yo whisky, bottled at cask strength and in limited editions. This can be one expression, or a duo of bottlings. Different casks are selected each year for these bottlings, thus highlighting the variety and flexibility of the spirit. In the past, you could thus taste Kilkerran 8yo versions matured in bourbon, port, sherry and other casks, among others. Each year, these are bottlings that enthusiasts worldwide eagerly await. As such, each one is of exceptional quality.

This version received a full 8-year maturation in oloroso sherry casks and was bottled at a strength of 57.4%. On the nose, this whisky offers soft peat smoke, books bound in leather and sticky toffee. On the palate, this Kilkerran 8yo fully reveals its profile: rich and a little dirty it is in character, tempered by date syrup, a variety of berries (cassis, cherries, currant) and a tingling maritime touch. The more it develops, the more the finish evolves into ash, medicinal smoke, ginger and orangettes.

About the brand

The original Glengyle Distillery was built in 1872 by William Mitchell. It closed in 1925. At the start of the 21st century, it became the first new Scottish distillery of the new millennium, when Frank McHardy, the then manager of Springbank Distillery, was commissioned by owner Hedley Wright to start a third distillery in Campbeltown. That way, together with Springbank itself and Glen Scotia, there would be enough distilleries to be recognised as a whisky region again. It would then once again be possible to put ‘Campbeltown Single Malt’ on the label.

Frank McHardy rebuilt the new, small distillery from scratch, using a combination of second-hand equipment from other distilleries (the stills came from Ben Wyvis, for example) and new equipment. Initially, production was only during the summer, with the same crew as at Springbank. In the future, they hope to ramp up production - the installation of an in-house malting floor is the first step towards that. Planning for construction started in 2000, but first distilling took place in 2004.

Meanwhile, the whisky distilled at Glengyle is marketed under the name Kilkerran. That refers to Ceann Loch Cille Chiarain, the Gaelic name of the original settlement of the Irish saint Saint Kieran, which is at the origin of today's town of Campbeltown. Glengyle produces small batch whisky, with a slightly smoky profile, except for their Heavily Peated range.