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Thursday, January 29, 2015

Taste Off! Kilkerran WIP 5 Bourbon Wood versus Kilkerran WIP 6 Bourbon Wood

Ten months ago, I reviewed Kilkerran Work in Progress 5 Bourbon Wood and gave it a rave review, of course, because I am romantically attached platonically attracted to the spirit coming from Glengyle distillery.  But, that review came from a 30mL-ish sample bought from Master of Malt.  In early August, I finally got around to buying a bottle of this stuff.  I was planning to do a "Life of a Bottle" post on it, but the darn whisky vanished so fast that I was thankful to have saved a review sample early on.
When I received a sample of Work in Progress 6 Bourbon Wood in a sample swap with smokeypeat (thank you!!!), I realized I'd better try these two head-to-head while I could.

As a quick refresher for those who are new to Kilkerran, the single malt is made at Glengyle distillery which is run by the same folks that own Springbank.  The malt is lightly peated (probably at a level similar to Springbank's) and is named after the nearby Kilkerran church because another company (Loch Lomond, I think) owns the rights to the "Glengyle" brand name.  Kilkerran single malt has been released annually since 2009 as a "Work in Progress".  The brand has said that it will discontinue that WIP title when, in 2016, they will have their first 12 year old.  In 2013, they split the WIP into two different whiskies: one aged in ex-bourbon casks, the other aged in ex-sherry casks.  They continued this approach in 2014, and also had some limited edition versions aged in other sorts of casks.  Each WIP has a different color.  WIP 5 is blue (see pic above).  WIP 6 is pink.

Now onto the tasting:
WIP 5 Bourbon Wood
Distillery: Glengyle
Brand: Kilkerran
Age: 9 years (2004 - 2013)
Maturation: ex-bourbon American Oak barrels
Region: Campbeltown
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Label color: Blue
Limited release: 9000

Neat
Its color is amber, and maybe slightly darker than the WIP6.  The nose has the forest floor character I always anticipate: dried leaves, damp soil, roots, and a little pine sap.  Plenty of roasted barley and even a hint of yeast.  There are smaller notes of cream, anise, caramel, and wet sand.  Some citron and lemon peels in the far back.  And, for what it's worth, it's more pungent than WIP6.  The palate leads with lots of barley. The moderate peat reads leafy and rooty.  Some sand, yeast, broken rocks, tobacco leaves, and lots of green herbs.  It's not massively complex, but its bold nudity is an approach that's becoming scarce.  The finish is pretty long considering the age and strength.  The herbs are sweeter and there's a minty menthol glow.  There's a great combo of rocky minerality and honey.

With water (approx. 40%abv)
The nose didn't change much other than flattening out and simplifying. Pine, leaves, yeast, citrus, vanilla, and (orange blossom?) honey. The palate gets sweeter, and more honeyed.  Some cayenne pepper slips in.  Then toffee, fresh oregano, and a whiff of smoke.  The finish is shorter, a little grassy, and plenty sweet.

WIP 6 Bourbon Wood
Distillery: Glengyle
Brand: Kilkerran
Age: 10 years (2004 - 2014)
Maturation: ex-bourbon American Oak barrels
Region: Campbeltown
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Label color: Pink
Limited release: 9000?

Neat
Like its younger sibling, its color is amber.  The forest floor is still there.  More citrus peel, more pine, more vanilla and caramel.  There's a peep of moss and pencil graphite.  A mint candy note grows with time, as does a curious note of human musk (and I don't mean Elon).  Eventually the musky smell drifts away; anise, sand, and honey taking its place.  The palate is silent for the first moment and then explodes open, richer, sweeter, rounder, and less subtle than WIP5.  There are still some notes of ink, graphite, seashells, and smoke beneath the sugar and honey.  The finish is sweeter as well, and milder with the tougher notes.  There's a moment of dried fruits and nuts that almost feels like oloroso.

With water (approx. 40%abv)
The nose flattens out again.  Pine sap and caramel remain, as does the musk.  The citrus begins to read more like rose blossoms.  The palate gains a spicy peppery edge that illuminates an otherwise vanilla-powered character.  Perhaps a hint of soil, too.  The finish is sweet and grainy.



Kilkerran is ready to come to market with what they've got.  They can call it Kilkerran 10 and stop hedging with the whole "the cake is still baking" approach.  WIP6 (or the 10 year) is well-rounded and comfy.  It has the Glengyle character, but is smoothened out to include some light oak notes and exclude stuff that would scare a larger customer base away.  If Kilkerran was an artist (if you'll allow for one sentence), her youthful aggression has developed into a style than can be more easily received by a large audience, yet hasn't gotten totally soft from too much adulation.

Which WIP a drinker will prefer depends entirely on taste.  Personally, I favor the dirt-under-the-fingernails fashion of WIPs 2 and 5.  But because the oak plays nicely in WIP6, I would still be happy to buy a bottle.  If it seems like I'm dwelling on minutiae here then it's because there are so few single malts that still embrace such a rustic style and I would hate to see it get swamped by oak like a number of my former favorite distilleries.  In any case, Kilkerran is an excellent autumn malt, I hope they continue to keep up the good work.

KILKERRAN WIP 5 BOURBON WOOD
Availability - Few specialty retailers, as WIP6 has taken its place
Pricing - $60-$80
Rating - 90 (neat)

KILKERRAN WIP 6 BOURBON WOOD
Availability - Many specialty retailers
Pricing - $60-$80
Rating - 87 (neat)

12 comments:

  1. It's great finding other Kilkerran fans out there. I don't know anyone else who's reviewed so many in the series. I just love that this distillery exists.

    I took your comment from the WIP #5 review the heart--the one about appreciating these NOW without reference to what they'll be "someday"--and returned to my local to claim the one bottle of WIP #1 they still had hanging around. I suspect that I prefer their younger stuff, too. I've only had the #1 and the #5, and not side by side, but in my memory the #1 had much more of an attractive edge to it, while the #5 was good but not so remarkable.

    I'm saving my new WIP #1 for next fall.

    --Ol' Jas

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    1. Hey Ol' Jas. I found a bottle of WIP#1 at a random place a couple years ago. Haven't opened it yet, but I'm looking forward to it. Until then, WIP#2 is my favorite. All of the WIPs are good even at their weakest. There's a market for this style, us!, so I really hope the whisky doesn't soften up too much by the time it's 12 years. If it does, then I'd love it if they released a younger version (it doesn't have to be NAS!) or perhaps a Cask Strength edition. But we can't count on someday!

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    2. Yeah, a youngish CS version alongside the 12 YO would be perfect, and very much in line with trends these days. I could see that in regular rotation on my bar, next to Laphroaig 10 CS and Springbank 12 CS.

      I sort of wonder whether these WIP #1's are worth keeping long-term. I can't imagine selling it as a collectible, but maybe one day Kilkerran will be quite the thing and it could be pretty special to pull out the original bottle from years ago. For now, I'm happy to have it in my small stash. (And especially, I'm happy that my local store had its last bottle pushed back up on the highest shelf, seemingly out of sight by everyone but me!)

      --Ol' Jas

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    3. I didn't even know that WIP1 was sold in the US until I found my bottle during my search for a WIP2 bottle. I've also wondered if it'll be something historical/valuable. I don't know long my bottle's going to last...

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    4. Of course, the problem will be that only we will know that the bottle on the bar is #1. You might try to convince your friends that it's something special, but doing so will entail going to some obscure website (yours maybe? no offense) where they decode the color scheme, then convincing said friends that they're looking at the white one, not the gray one.

      I really can hardly believe that the Kilkerran folks haven't explicitly numbered these on the package anywhere.

      --Ol' Jas

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    5. Yeah, I don't know why they haven't numbered or even labeled the WIPs "2014 Edition" or something. They clearly have the ability to stamp "Bourbon Wood" on the label.

      Ooh, speaking of obscure :), I'll list the WIP colors below since I didn't in the post:
      WIP1: White label
      WIP2: Gray label
      WIP3: Light green label
      WIP4: Beige label
      WIP5: Blue label
      WIP6: Pink label

      Just in case.

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    6. Your prayers for a Cask Strength might just be answered:
      http://recenteats.blogspot.de/2015/05/new-whiskey-labels-kilkerran-forty.html

      -- Ol' Jas

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    7. Just saw that on Sku's site. Woo hoo!

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  2. I should have noted that my #5 was the bourbon wood. I'm really glad I got that one instead of the sherry wood—I'm sure the sherried version would have been more rounded with much less of that edge I like.

    --Ol' Jas

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    Replies
    1. I can picture the sherry wood appealing to a different sort of palate by the time it's 12 years old. Like a well-sherried, lightly peated whisky. At 9 years of age, it's already different than the bourbon wood.

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  3. I hereby predict that Kilkerrran 12 will be Ralfy's whisky of the year, 2016.

    (--Ol' Jas again)

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