Kilkerran 16 Year

Pine? Acid? Juniper? I’m tasting lots of green notes in this one

Slight acidity on the palate. Lots of fruit (berries, cherries, piña?) on the nose

Another of these bottles I've been saving to review and I guess I'll just do it. Also I never reviewed the 12? WTF? I'll have to fix that too. Nose - I get a glue like note with sharp sour and then some alcohol soaked apple, barely off the still (really 16 years?), a touch of perhaps a white wine note, and some yeast esters. It's a sweet, not overly oaked or even slightly cask forward expression, these better not have been first fill bourbon casks, if they were they originally had some YOUNG bourbon. Taste - A general sweetness with some ever so light peat, salt, and just a buttery vanilla slightly funky and off distillate. There's not really here guys. It's got some milk going slight bad notes, some cheese (white curds if you will) and funk. Now all this like sounds worse than it is. It isn't a bad whisky. It's just not good either. Every time I go back to this it disappoints me more and this is the most disappointing pour yet. I'm scoring it a 2.0 and I'm going to do the 12 next. If the 12 scores under a 2.5, I'm admitting I'm done for the night as to be honest I thought this would be 2.25 with me debating a 2.5 but not going there coming in. But I've had this next to all the whiskies I've had tonight on different tastings as well as by itself and nothing as really changed the overall final note of this isn't worth 140 bucks and it isn't better than the 12.

If you like the 12 then you'll love this. Worth the extra money. So much going on that I haven't even tried it with a drop of water yet to see what happens.

I finally managed to get my hands on a sample of the Kilkerran 16y. When it was released last year, it was sold out in such a short time I didn’t even realize it was finally there. I’m having a dram of the 12y right next to the 16y to have a proper comparison. The 12y is one of my favorite whiskies. It has everything I like in a whisky and satisfies in every stage. So I am was super curious about the next age statement release. Nose: Campeltown DNA right up front. Driftwood aromas, mineralic rock & sand, bright fruits and a nice subtle chewy fresh peat. Lemons and yellow pears. Vanilla. Malt. Not too sweet at first. Palate: the characteristic peat is really nice right from the start, following along are sour fruits, bright nuts, lemon & grapefruit peel, roasted wheat bread, all with a silky mouthfeel. Finish: nice and medium long but a little strange (slightly fermented orchard fruits) and quite sweet in the end followed by a slight barky bitterness. Compared to the 12y the nose is a lot more intense and present. But is also fruitier and sweeter. And different. Even thought nose of the 12y is slightly weaker, I like it more (it is way more unique and has a intriguing caramel note along all those nice peat and wood aromas). It is interesting how different the two noses are. Same for the palate really. They are both nice but the 12y is more characteristic and interesting. Verdict: the 16y is a nice whisky but very sadly nothing special. It reminds me too much of a standard Glen Scotia which I found slightly boring when I had a few expressions. This whisky falls right in line which is very different to the 12y which seriously stands out and brings something completely new to the table. It is mind boggling how different they are. Honestly - blindly I wouldn’t recognize the 16y as a Kilkerran bottling. Campeltown for sure. But not Glengyle. So since my 12y bottle is nearly done I will (contrary to my previous plans) buy another 12y instead of the upgrade to the 16y, which honestly isn’t really an upgrade. Still good though. Glad I finally had it. Not so glad that it doesn’t feel like an improvement.