Kilkerran 12 years

Tasting notes by Serge Valentin: 90 points (2016)

That’s right, the first ‘regular’ expression of Glengyle/Kilkerran, after the various ‘WIPs’ that have almost all been very convincing. Although I preferred the bourbon versions, but that’s a matter of taste. Love the no-fuss label by the way.

Colour: straw.

Nose: pristine lemony/chalky/sooty start, then rather broken branches and a touch of liquorice wood, as well as hints of bandages and tiger balm. Perhaps barbecued herbs, perhaps thyme and rosemary? I can’t seem to find anything bad to say about this nose.

Mouth: impeccably old-style, sooty, rather peaty, peppery, lemony, and really very salty. It is totally distillate-forward, which is always something we enjoy at WF Towers. I find there’s something ‘old Springbank’ to this baby that goes straight into my personal pantheon of readily available large-batch malts.

Finish: long, with perhaps a few more notes of bonbons, but the salty tang and the lingering peppery peat still play first fiddles.

Comments: ah, yes, I’ve got something bad to say, it’s a shame that this was to be expected, and that consequently, no good surprises could occur. I may write a letter…