Kilkerran Heavily Peated Batch #2

The aroma is very flavorful, creamy, and buttery, quite smooth with no hint of alcohol. The peat provides a nice, fatty base rather than being overwhelming. Very pleasing. The peat becomes more prominent on the palate, exploding in your mouth without water, offering a delicious Nutella-hazelnut flavor with melted butter. Diluting to about 45% ABV from its high 60% makes it less captivating but drinkable, revealing subtle notes of fruit jam, vanilla ice cream, ginger, and roasted caramelized grains. The finish is predictably long and full. It's quite good but not as good as the 12-year-old regular bottling; they are hard to compare due to their distinct differences. The high alcohol content doesn't seem to benefit this spirit much. The nose, however, is truly lovely. Worth a taste, but I'd always choose the 12-year-old regular bottling over this one.

A word of caution: ADD WATER! 61% alcohol is substantial for any spirit, especially a heavily peated one. It's a good whisky, but its intensity might deter some. Smells: like cooked meats, smoked bacon, ham, salty pork, abundant smoke, very rustic. With water: initially sharper, with added earth and manure, like fresh pastures. Texture: full, oily, intense, spicy, and salty. With water: strangely spicier and fuller; I'll test with more water later. Flavor: smoke, salt at the end, again much manure, earthy, somewhat bitter and sour. With water: even more intense?! Smokier, saltier, sharper. Aftertaste: not unpleasant, but still bitter and sour, with salt coating the mouth. This requires exploration to find the right amount of water for each person. I rate it 3.5 because I haven't quite found that balance yet, and it feels a bit monotonous so far.

A sample from an online tasting. Despite only being 3 years old, it holds its own against esteemed drams, including a 38-year-old Springbank sherry cask from Dun Bheagan, a 31-year Springbank single cask from the bottlers, a 21-year Springbank cask, and a 15-year Cadenheads Warehouse Longrow Chardonnay cask. Aroma: Vanilla, caramel, chocolate, buttercream frosting, pineapple, citrus, smoke, salmon, salt, passion fruit, apricot, sultanas, raisins, butterscotch, mackerel, grass Taste: vanilla, caramel, coal, pineapple, eucalyptus, grass, peach, cherry, mango, dark chocolate Aftertaste: chocolate-covered cherries, smoke, peach, dried fruit, honey, vanilla Less smoky than expected, even less so than a Kilkerran 15 Oloroso Wood in my personal collection.

The aroma is rich with vanilla, cream, earthy peat, toasted oak, and a subtle toasted caramel note. The flavor is complex and chemical-like. It has vanilla, oak, and earthy esters, but it's quite distinct. I detect a strong white wine character in the finish, with medicinal notes. While much brighter and livelier than a Laphroaig, the medicinal quality is very similar upon first impression. My initial impression was unfavorable, but I've revised my opinion to a 2.0. It has grown on me.

Final drink. Smells like: manure, the ocean, salt, smoke, very rustic. Texture: full, strong, thick. Flavor: salt, dirt, manure, loads of peat, a subtle sweetness, and a classic farm character. Aftertaste: long, coats the mouth, intense. This drink has captivated me. It's either mellowed with time or I've simply adapted to it. I desire another bottle!

Incredibly potent! This young spirit's phenols hit you hard, with strong peat, damp grass, and oak, plus honey and ginger, very fiery. A few drops of water reveal stone fruits, vanilla, and butterscotch, similar to the 12-year-old but more intense.