When I first tasted this expression, I didn't really know what to make of it. It didn't have an age statement, but that was a trend that was beginning to take hold anyway. so I didn't think much of that. It tasted fresh, but punchy: something I didn't expect from a Campbeltown whisky. Later, when I tried to do some research, I found out the Glengyle distillery issued new expressions each year until they could release their first 12 year old standard in 2016. This one is from 2010; a six year old whisky, that promises a lot for the twice as old standard, set to be released in 2016.
Nose: Fresh, grass, little bit of lemon zest, sea air and smoke
Palate: Vanilla, cereal, citrus, grass and herbs. Hint of smoke and white pepper.
Finish: medium long. The hint of smoke stays as well as a little bit of a straw-like flavour.
When I read about the age, I was pleasantly surprised. This is an example of how age is less important than the way you treat the whisky.
I know what you mean @OIJas , I had to google search the tube to know what WIP it was. There's certainly a lot of debate around about the NAS-bottles, and I am still not too happy about it, but this was a nice surprise. And because it was such a nice surprise I didn't mind it taking a little bit more of an effort to find out. I can imagine that it makes it a little bit more difficult to get them all in the right order, though.
I didn't know about your thread, maybe I will contribute when I taste other Kilkerrans.
I do wish they'd put age statements on this series, though, despite the pass they're getting in this discussion.
It's not that I think Glengyle is giving us a raw deal with the NAS labeling (or however you want to phrase the usual NAS criticism). Rather, it's just confusing as-is. They don't clearly label them as "WIP 1/2/3/etc." to begin with, and then if you do know which edition you have, you then need to know how old #1 was (five years) to know the age of the current one.
Maybe we're just supposed to enjoy it without worrying about the age? I get that argument in the general endless NAS debates, but in the case the point of the series is to watch Kilkerran go from very young to mature. The lack of information makes that pretty hard to actually do.
OK, I started a general Kilkerran thread a few weeks ago, so I should just continue my thoughts over there. Thanks for the review of #2, Mikey09! This one and the new CS version are the ones I'd most like to get my hands on.
connosr.com/wall/discussion/…