KILKERRAN 12 YEAR
2024 releaseMASH BILL – 100% malted barley
PROOF – 92
AGE – 12 years
DISTILLERY – Glengyle Distillery (J. & A. Mitchell & Co)
PRICE – $89 (normally ~$100+ these days)
WORTH BUYING? – not quite, but maybe in a few weeks…?
My recent experience with a bottle of Kilkerran Sherry Cask Matured 8 Year prompted me to revisit the standard Kilkerran 12 Year release.
I had been introduced to the Kilkerran 12 in 2016, at Sandy Bell’s Pub in Edinburgh, Scotland. They were well chuffed to have a bottle of something from Glengyle Distillery on their bar shelf again after many years, and made a point of its arrival on their Instagram at the time. Glengyle hadn’t been operational since 1925. J. & A. Mitchell & Co. took up the distillery in 2000, and commenced distilling in 2004. So, that bottle at Sandy Bell’s in 2016 must have been the inaugural batch of the revived Kilkerran 12. After tasting it, I jotted down only a brief note at the time, finding the whisky neither here nor there.
It was a full decade before I returned to Kilkerran with that 2024 sherried 8 Year release. At first my experience with it was also meh, at least partly due to my going through a strong bout of “sherry fatigue.” But over the life of that bottle, it steadily grew on me. By its final pour I was a solid fan.
So I thought it worth revisiting the Kilkerran 12 Year. No doubt it has evolved from batch to batch over the last ten years. And certainly my own palate for whisky has evolved as well. In 2016 I was only just getting going. And in fact it was that trip to Edinburgh that provided the nudge to set my curiosity in motion. When you know nothing about whisky, and you ask bartenders at Scottish pubs to pour you what they like to drink, they pour you some doozies! (I’ll always regret not taking better notes!)
So here we are, two days after uncorking and the second pour into the bottle. Full disclosure, a bit of rain made it into the glass while I was snapping some pics outside, so, for what it’s worth, these notes were taken using a traditional Glencairn, and with a few drops of rain added. 🌧️😉
COLOR – clear buttery yellows with burnished gold highlights
NOSE – bitter salt and oak tannin, beach sand, lemon zest, vanilla custard, faint caramel fudge, subtle candied ginger
TASTE – a nice creamy texture accented by prickly ABV and the bitter oak and salt notes, also cream, custard, vanilla pudding, lemon zest
FINISH – mild bitter oak tannin outlining vanilla custard, salty sea air, lemon zest
OVERALL – as I remember it: pretty straightforward, and very well balanced save the slightly overeager bitter tannins
If this was a $40 bottle I’d be pretty ecstatic. But it’s not. The quality is very evident. I recognize this now in a way I simply could not back in 2016, when I was in pure newbie discovery mode.
If the bitter tannin aspect would back off a bit—and perhaps with more rain added it might—based on my sense memory I’d put this on a somewhat even level with the Springbank 10 Year in terms of quality. I believe that whisky to be pretty perfect. As such, however, I also find it a bit forgettable and therefore not worth the $$$ it goes for these days. This Kilkerran 12 is a touch less balanced by comparison, due to those insistent tannins, and so it’s even less worth the $$$. Back down at $$ I’d give it higher marks. Still I don’t see myself picking up another bottle.
A pattern I’m clocking here is how these various J. & A. Mitchell & Co. brands—Springbank, Longrow, Hazelburn, Kilkerran—tend to underwhelm me in the first several pours after uncorking them. But over time, as the bottles air out, I tend to come around to them much more. They evolve with air, rounding out and deepening. So maybe the oak tannins at work in this Kilkerran 12, with their edgy personality, will mellow out in the coming weeks and months. 🤞🏻
Until then, on rainy days like the day I’m taking these notes, I might sip this neat. I’ll also likely put it to good use in a Cameron’s Kick or Penicillin cocktail. No doubt it will serve them well, and with class.
Sláinte!
The Right Spirit 