Killowen 5 Year Signature Rum & Raisin Single Malt

This whiskey’s young age comes through as a spirited dram. Let it breathe for a few minutes before diving in to better enjoy it. There’s Sandalwood and citrus on the nose, with just the slightest whiff of tobacco ash. At 5-years old and 55% ABV, this whiskey is a little hot, but explodes with sweet, spicy flavors. I was taken back to memories of baked apples and cinnamon, with a modest amount of raisins in the mix. The finish was moderately long, with tones of orange peel and cinnamon. If you can enjoy a young whiskey, this is certainly one to try.

Rating: 11/23 This is a young dram bottled at cask strength. I've had these go very right, but also go very wrong. I'm hoping for the former. N: There's more grain funkiness here than is usual for Irish whiskey. Surprisingly, it reminds me of American whiskey made 'in the Irish style'. Getting past that funky layer, there is certainly fruit - specifically, that raisin that they put in the name is most certainly there. There's sort of an oily nuttiness coming out of that American-take-on-Irish-whiskey funk. I think I can tell where they got the term rum for the title from now too. The funk is a bit vegetal like rhum agricole, with a little bit of floral sweetness and stony creek water. The alcohol does hit me a bit with its proof, but I'm not getting any weird notes, aside from that general funkiness. A touch of smokiness like burnt grass in with that funk too. P: Rich and full with a substantive mouthfeel. It's kind of syrupy, but if the proof were brought down closer to the 43% ABV range, it would be watery, so it isn't just packed with flavor. It burns a bit and is a little harsh, but it isn't too bad in that dimension. There absolutely is a luscious dried fruit flavor throughout this, reminding me a bit of a clean PX sherry finish. I get raisin, but also some other dark dried fruit - possibly bing cherries. Taking another sip, the fruit falls back and some grain, mild wood, and spices come out. Faint burnt grass. The harshness is unfortunately increased as well. I get a bit of a bitterness coming off of the dark fruits that this shockingly more like the flavor of a sort of sweet dark rum with some uncomplex but quite present hogo. I get some vegetal and oily flavors here, with a bit of walnut as well. The ethanol certainly does come through, but there aren't any off-notes to it. There's surprisingly less funk than I'd expected and a surprisingly darker rum flavor. For something advertising itself as rum and raisin though, this is a good thing. F: The harsh burn lingers for a long time, overshadowing the lingering dried fruit and bit of dark rum hogo with light vegetal notes and burnt grass. - Conclusion - This is a fascinating dram to try. There's a lot to like here and the execution is really impressive in how it conveys the rum and raisin profile. I've rarely had a dram that so well demonstrated the flavors it advertised. At the same time, there isn't a ton of character here and there is a lot of harshness. It is an undeniably young dram. Honestly, were it not for the naming of this as rum and raisin, I would be thinking much less kind thoughts about this. Side by side, I can tell that Ransom The Emerald (14/23) shares DNA with this. The Ransom is much funkier, but it's also more complex, balanced, and possibly mature. The Ransom is also not at all as harsh as this is. Unfortunately, between the two of them, I think that this is clearly the lesser spirit. Monkey Shoulder (14/23) also tastes a bit fuller than this, and it's certainly more complex. Compass Box Hedonism (12/23) shows off its wood when placed next to this. I don't like the flavor as much, but I do appreciate that it has a fuller mouthfeel relative to its proof and doesn't burn nearly as much. Flavor-wise, I definitely give the win to this though. OK, to compare harshness, I'm putting this next to Ry3 (9/23). Honestly, the harshnesses are similar, but the Ry3 is so incredibly spicy that this comes out ahead for sure (also, this has better flavor, despite its clear ethanol). This is below the Compass Box Hedonism, but above the Ry3. Seeing as this beats the Hedonism flavor-wise, I'm going to go with an 11 for this rather than a 10. Although this is a fairly low score, the big raisin and rum flavors here really blew me away. Someone did a great job aging this whiskey and I bet that they just need to do it for a while longer in order to make a great product. This reminds me quite a bit of Càrn Mòr's Cambus 27 (1991) (13/23), which was aged in some sort of sherry butt. There's a lot of sherry funk, but it takes a more elegant profile that's typical of Irish whiskeys here. The Cambus is fuller and more complex, but also more flawed in its flavors. That said, the youth and harshness here do make the Cambus the better dram. I'm actually now discovering that the Cambus is a great dram for after having a palate blaster or two. When its harshness is reduced and its funk is tamed, the Cambus can be pretty enjoyable. But what I think of the Cambus now is beside the point. What matters is that this still tastes like an 11 to me. Thank you @PBMichiganWolverine for sharing this with me!

The nose starts with a mix of canned peaches, freshly cut pineapple and apricots then dark chocolate covered raisins, shredded coconut and vanilla macarons followed by white grapes, poached pears, and figs that transitions to lightly charred sour dough bread with medium ethanol burn. The taste is a medium mouthfeel starting with a slightly sour spice with zests of lemon and lime along with a mild black pepper that fades to baked peaches and pineapple upside down cake then cocoa powder dusted figs followed by nectarines, lychee, and prunes that transitions to candied ginger and lightly charred sour dough bread with medium ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with lemon lime candy, chocolate covered raisins, ginger, black pepper and charred sour dough bread. Overall, this is a delicious whiskey from the folks at Killowen that combines flavors of rum, sherry and single malt with a beautiful balance, but the youthfulness of that 5 year malt is apparent with a moderate sourness that could use some extra aging to polish out. Killowen seems to be rolling out higher age stated rum and raisin releases with the newest at 6 years and I think with time these will be incredible. As of today, the 5 year is a tasty and enjoyable youthful malt that doesn’t really justify its premium price of $70+ for a 375ml bottle.