And that's all the deep thoughts my brain will allow right now. It's saying, Campbeltown drink now.
"Kilkerran Distillery Visitors 2016"NEAT
Its color is clear, or at least 90% clear. The nose starts off with whole wheat bread and lots of salty butter. Fried coating, veggie peat, hot asphalt and a small note of pineapple. It picks up some more white fruit notes with time. The palate is loaded with chili oil, bitter and acidic notes. Some tapioca pudding, lots of barley, maybe some salted peanuts. Not very sweet. The finish has some moderate smoke, pepper and ethanol. A little more sweet and acidic, and some of the nose's butter notes.
WITH WATER
The nose has dried apricot, lime, butter and mossy peat. Somehow, there's more heat in the palate now. Still has the chili oil note. It's a little bitter with hints of flowers and toffee. But also burnt cardboard. It finishes bitter, mossy, and peppery. Metallic, like blood. Pencil lead and burnt cardboard.
WORDS WORDS WORDS
This is the first Kilkerran that elicited an "uch" from me. It's very young, reading even rawer than the first Work In Progress. The nose isn't bad, but the palate is DOA. Water brings out some genuinely crap notes in the finish. It's very clear why they did not release whatever this is to the wider public. On the other hand, maybe they should have blended it into a wider release 5+ years from now?
"Springbank Distillery Visitors 2016"
NEAT
It has an amber color. The nose has peach yogurt and more pineapple than the Kilkerran. A curious lack of peat. Hints of yeast and brown sugar. Metallic, like pennies. A solid lemongrass note throughout. The palate has mossy peat, marzipan and a hint of sweetness. Some ethyl. Salt and menthol. Prunes and roasted barley. The finish is a little medicinal. Plenty of dried fruits with prunes lingering the longest.WITH WATER
The nose has peaches and limes, and suddenly a farmy note. Grapefruit. Roasted barley. The palate gets dirtier, peatier, saltier and bitterer. Some hard toffee, limes and prunes. The finish has a good bitter glow, wood smoke, salt and a hint of sweetness.
WORDS WORDS WORDS
In a different league than the Kilkerran, this Springbank seems to be from a refill sherry cask and is older than the legal minimum. It drinks well, has a reliable finish and probably weighs in at 46%abv or higher. I actually recommend drinking this one rather than leaving it on the shelf or whatever you wanna do with the Kilkerran. It's not super, but it's a nice whisky for essentially £0.
Kilkerran Distillery Visitors 2016
Availability - Only at the distillery
Pricing - came with a distillery tour in 2016
Rating - 71 (the nose is the only thing keeping it out of the 60s)
Springbank Distillery Visitors 2016
Availability - Only at the distillery
Pricing - came with a distillery tour in 2016
Rating - 83
