This limited edition malt was bottled in 2021 to celebrate the annual Campbeltown Malts Festival, but they clearly made enough of it to warrant Costco-scale distribution. The whisky was aged for 10 years in first-fill bourbon before enjoying a 5 month dip in first-fill Bordeaux red wine casks from the Medoc region of France. I really like seeing the finish length on a bottle label – too often distilleries…
The name Kilkerran is Scots Gaelic for “head of the lake of Saint Kieran’s cell” and refers to a local historic settlement. Glengyle distillery uses a local water source, Crosshill Loch, for its process and proofing water. After a series of “Work in Progress” malts, Kilkerran is now bottled under a range with an 8 year-old cask strength expression, an NAS “heavily peated” expression, and this flagship 12 year-old. Glengyle actually uses Springbank’s…
This limited edition malt was distilled in 2003 in one of Glen Scotia’s heavily-peated batches and bottled in 2019 to celebrate the annual Campbeltown Malts Festival. The 15 year-old malt was finished for 8 months in Guyana demerara rum casks (it was matured in refill ex-bourbon American oak) and bottled without added color or chill-filtration at a cask strength of 51.3% ABV, which is fairly low…
People who have been around this industry for awhile will probably remember Longrow C.V., and can rest assured that Longrow Peated is that same cult favorite in a new dress. … It is fully peated and aged in ex-bourbon without any sherry cask influence. It’s also not chill-filtered, has no added coloring (indeed it’s quite pale), and has no age statement. I’d place it somewhere around 9 years, but it’s hard to tell since it’s possible for a blend of ages to be used in NAS bottles.
The Double Cask is a NAS vatting of Glen Scotia single malt aged in first-fill ex-bourbon casks, and which is finished for “up to a year” in Pedro Ximénez (PX) sherry casks. … Glen Scotia, one of the two remaining Campbeltown distilleries, is known for a house character that involves mild peat (like the lesser-peated Springbanks), an oily mouthfeel, and some variant of lemon peel notes.
Glen Scotia makes a small amount of heavily-peated malt, but most of its products are very lightly peated at around 15 ppm. This 15 year-old is aged in ex-bourbon casks, and bottled at 46% ABV without chill filtration (but possibly with added coloring). The Glen Scotia product line was revamped and relaunched in 2015.
Springbank 10 is classic stuff. Aged 10 years (It even says it on the bottle! How old-fashioned!), not chill-filtered and bottled at 46% ABV without artificial coloring. Springbank does things the “old way” and is unapologetic about it. On-site floor maltings, worm tubs, and even (some) direct-fired stills. They also do a crazy “2.8-time” distillation and the malt is partially peated. Why? Because that’s how they’ve always done it.
I love Springbank. It’s one of my favorite distilleries. It’s also one of the very few distilleries left in Scotland that embodies the “old school”, tradition-laden whiskymaking techniques that marketing departments elsewhere salivate over. … This can backfire, though. Most of the technological improvements in the whisky industry over the past 100 years have been implemented for the sake of consistency in the resulting whisky. …
Hazelburn 12 seems to have come into its own. It has funky, oily notes that lovers of Springbank will know well, but paired with honey and vanilla and pear instead of peat. A pleasant, floral-forward malt with a deep complexity.
The basic 8-year is priced quite high for its age, and for me occupies a no man’s land between affordability and cult appeal. If light whisky is your thing, you owe it to yourself to splurge on one of the expressions of Hazelburn. If you like robust and fully-flavored malts, steer clear.
