Tasted at The Oak Barrel Springbank evening, May 28 2022. Nose: Sweet, mild peat reek. Vanilla cake, caramel, lemon, white wine, beeswax, brine. The nose is raw and young on first nosing pour but over time, and particularly with a drop of water, it blooms a little as the fruity notes become more tropical and aromas of earth and mudflats at low tide emerge. Palate: Citrus fruit, lemon yoghurt, malted biscuit and sweet smoke on the arrival. Lemon sweets and spice notes appear in the development. The texture is oily, becoming creamy and silken with dilution which also develops a more maritime character. Finish: Medium/long. Smoked fish with charred lemon slices. A whiff of steamship smoke across a restful sea. A fresh, young smoky whisky that is absolutely west coast highland in character. The Glengyle interpretation of “heavily peated” is, like that of Longrow and Ledaig, less intense than most whiskies made on Islay. However do not mistake lower intensity for insipid. This has a raw, forceful edge to it. The alcohol is well contained and this whisky is approachable neat but adding water does no harm at all. However don’t add too much as it loses impact if taken below 50%. It’s not a brittle whisky that falls apart suddenly, but you will hit a point where you will feel annoyed for having spoiled the dram by adding too much water, and like all peated whisky it can develop plastic notes if diluted too far. The Kilkerran Heavily Peated expressions have been slowly improving. Batch 1 was a good start and Batch 2 improved on that. Batch 3 lacked presence and had weak smoke and while Batch 4 was better it is with this batch that the expression is just beginning to get dialed in and it's the first batch I'd call "good". The key is both age (wow, really?) and the right proportion of sherry to bourbon. Peat reek degrades quickly and (as Octomore 10 year old proves) the most intense, raw peat smoke is not necessarily the most enjoyable. It’s worth sacrificing impact for elegance while still striving for depth and complexity. Thankfully that seems to be the direction in which Kilkerran Heavily Peated is heading. This Heavily Peated series is still a work in progress, but it *is* making progress. I'd wager that by the time the spirit is around 10 years old it will be something special. “Good” : 83/100 (3.5 stars)