What's going on with Kilkerran?

No idea but I am looking forward to trying the WIP 7 Bourbon which is the cask strength bottling that you have mentioned - Australia has only just released the WIP 6s.

From all accounts, it looks to be really good. If it is anything like the WIP 5 bourbon that I tasted at a recent show, I'll be sold.

The nice folks at Kilkerran replied to my email about the six-packs. Yeah, they sound pretty awesome. Yeah, they're still available! And yeah, they're quite expensive—which accounts for their availablity, no doubt.

I think it was stock email, so I'm sure they won't object to my reposting it here:

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Kilkerran Anniversary Six pack:

Mitchell's Glengyle Distillery has been up and running since 2004 and our stock of Kilkerran Single Malt Whisky is maturing very nicely in the warehouses.

To mark the re-opening of the distillery, the first six casks filled from the very first spirit run have been set aside to be bottled in 2014 when the whisky reaches 10 years old. The six casks are of different wood types and were chosen in conjunction with Willie Taylor from Broxburn Cooperage to ensure that they were of the finest quality prior to being filled. The bottles are available to purchase now and will be the only official bottling of 10 year old Kilkerran.

Fresh sherry - ex Oloroso

Fresh sherry - ex Fino

Fresh rumex - Demerara

Fresh madeira - ex Henriques & Henriques

Fresh Port - ex Cockburns

Fresh Bourbon - ex Jim Beam

Everyone who purchases a six pack receives a certificate of ownership along with a miniature sample of the new-make spirit and a second miniature, this time containing three year old Kilkerran.

Price per Six pack is £1140.00

Price includes UK/ European delivery, subject to any local restrictions that may apply. Any surcharge applicable to rest of the world deliveries will not be covered.

Unfortunately due to local restrictions we are unable to deliver to the USA and some parts of Canada.

@OlJas Kilkerran is already on it's way to becoming possibly the best entry level scotch of all. Serge, a big fan , says it reminds him of the old Brora . I'm well into my bottles of Work in Progress 6 bourbon cask and Sherry cask and they are fantastic ,especially the bourbon one. I've been lucky enough to get 6 bottles of the Work in progress 7 bourbon cs to put away, that's how much I like it. I should imagine the Kilkerran 12 when released , will be a mixture of both types , but I do hope that they will give us the opportunity to try them separately..Whatever happens I'll be at the front of the queue to buy anything that comes out of Glengyle distillery.

@maltmate302 , let the Kilkerran love-in begin! I really like it too, as you might guess. I've predicted elsewhere that the Kilkerran 12 will be Ralfy's whisky of the year 2016. (I think 2016 is the right year to expect that one—right?) Did you have any before #6?

You're in Wales, right? I didn't realize until you said it that the cask strength is the standard-issue bourbon WIP this year. Beautiful. I hope that's the same deal over here in the States too. If Master of Malt is any indication, the price difference will be pretty reasonable too.

I've had just the #1 and the #5 bourbon, and I liked the #1 better. I like its young edge. I had a lead on a #2 that was sold before I could visit the shop.

I hope the final 12 YO mix is easy on the sherry, or else it might end up rounder than I'd like, and I'll be back to hunting down the early WIPs—or that #7 CS if we're so lucky. That sounds pretty bunker-worthy to me too. I've currently got just one bunker bottle of unopened #1, which I'm saving for comparison's sake with the eventual 12 YO. Though if I'm able to get a #7 CS, it might fill the role of comparison bottle, in which case i can save the #1 long-term. If that happens, it'd be the first time I let a bottle slip into "collectible" territory. The horror!

A few things on the Kilkerran front:

•My local specialist retailer (Riley's in Madison, Wisconsin) says they'll be stocking the two new WIPs soon. The prices will be $73 for the sherry and $84 for the bourbon. The bourbon will presumably be cask strength, given the price and given that that's the only bourbon version I've seen pop up anywhere else so far, but my guy didn't know for sure. I haven't seen either on any US retailer sites yet.

•Serge reviewed a bunch of Kilkerrans today, including that new CS bourbon: www.whiskyfun.com

•Recent Kilkerran posts on Connosr include a review of WIP #2 from @Mikey09 (connosr.com/reviews/kilkerran/…) and an envy-inducing post from @MaltActivist that's he's got the bourbon CS in his glass (connosr.com/wall/discussion/…).

I'm going to Vegas early in 2016. Any tips on a casino that will take a bet my prediction that the Kilkerran 12 will be Ralfy's whisky of the year 2016?

Update: The 12 is making its way out.

Serge: whiskyfun.com

Reddit: reddit.com/r/Scotch/…

@OIJas the new 12 is fantastic as you'd expect it to be. Initially I thought that the 30% sherry cask took the edge of the 70% bourbon cask and made it a superior dram to the WIP 7 Bourbon Cask but then I had a re-taste of the WIP7 and couldn't make up my mind which was better. When the 12 is oxygenated a little more I'll be able to make a better assessment of which is the best. All I know now is that they're both superb!

@maltmate302 , if the new 12 is the equal to the WIP 7 CS, then that's all I really need to hear.

Actually, it's not. I want to keep catching reviews until I find it on a shelf!

In any case, I expect to stockpile some of this initial release of the 12 after I taste the first one I pop open and confirm that it's what I'm expecting. Count me among the fanboys who think this will be one of the new darlings of the whisky geek crowd—I think a supply of the initial-release 12s will be great to have on hand over the years for comparison's sake, like if you had a pile of the first Ardbeg Tens when they re-emerged a few years ago.

(For the sake of context, I'll add that the typical whisky geek "darlings" in my mind—at least in the scotch world—are things like Glendronach 15, Ardbeg Ten, Benromach 10, A'bunadh, and Springbank 12. The widely available and generally affordable OBs that we geeks buy repeatedly and recommend to newbies looking from something really interesting and high-quality.)

@OlJas I never was able to get a WIP and dream about it. Reading the first critics of the 12 makes me salivating even more than usual when I heard of WIP: it is starting to be not a pretty side...

Now I have a question for the Fanboy, the only one I may be able to get is the WIP 6, can you recommend it?

@Robert99 , I never had either of the WIP 6s, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy it blind. I've really liked all the ones I've had (#1, #5 Bourbon, #7 Bourbon CS) and reviews for the whole series are generally positive.

In fact, I plan to blind-buy this one WIP 6 Sherry that I know of when I get a chance to do some shopping again.

For what it's worth, #2 is the one that I've seen get the biggest praise from folks who like this edgy (literally in its taste—not in the "we're trending & cool & edgy & progressively Hebridean" kinda way, no offense to Bruichladdich) and old-school style of malt.

All that said, the #7 CS is really the one to get if you can.

@OlJas Many thanks! I will look for # 7 but I doubt I will see it anywhere close to me.

@Robert99 , I think mentioned this on another thread (probably "what did you just buy?"), but I would have never seen any of them on the shelf, except that one of my local stores DID have the WIP #1 years ago and I got it not really knowing what it was. I really liked it and I asked my store's spirits buyer if he could get more, and bada-boom, he scored a truckload of #7! I bought two and I figured I was the only local guy interested in it, but when I went back for a third, they were cleaned out

So I guess the morals of my story are (1) Ask the guys at your stores, if you live in a place where shop managers can get stuff in on request; and (2) Snatch it up when you have the chance!

@OlJas Thanks for the advise. Where I live we have state liquor stores and I have access to everything that comes in my province. Unfortunately, I never saw a Kilkerran since I know what it is,that is around 3 years. I did find a way to get some but that implied my mule again which just brought me 6 bottles and still have one to bring. So I am not sure I can ask for another favor. I will have to be strategic with my mule and my wife who things I have more than enough bottles.

@Robert99

Yes, the spousal influence can be quite powerful. Mine had been willfully ignorant for a while then when she realized the numbers.....well, she was shocked. Luckily this coincided with my decision to streamline the collection.

@Robert99 , just tell her the whole "Springbank had to open a new Campbeltown distillery to maintain the regional status with the SWA" story. That'll win over any skeptical wife, right?

@@OlJas Nice try! She doesn like whisky so I don't think that will work. It is a very good argument but I was just laughing while thinking about the possible reaction of my wife to it. No, my best argument is that she loves me and I love her. I will go with this one...

The Swedish supplier seems to be out of stock.. I wonder if they have a hard time keeping up with demand. I would guess, though, that the supplier here isn't doing their job...

I was fortunate enough to get hold of the 12 rather quickly and opened it with my whisky club. In fact we ended up with a vertical. WIP 5, 6, 7 (CS) and then the 12. Made for a rather interesting evening.

I really like the 12 but I think the WIP7 CS is an absolute beast. Love it.

But the 12, with it's 35GBP price tag, is the one to beat in terms of quality vs price.

I asked my local specialty retailer when we can expect the Kilkerran 12 here in Wisconsin, and he said October. Getting close!

And when I asked if he knew of any more WIP CS kicking around, the answer was a very sad "no"—not that I expected anything different.

I was in that same retailer today, and the answer was "about three more weeks"—so late October.

Also, K&L is now stocking it! $65: www.klwines.com/p/i

Does anyone know more about the heavily peated Kilkerran that @maltmate302 teased us with in his comments on @pandemonium's review?

connosr.com/springbank-glengyle-kilkerran-…

Kilkerran has a new 8-year-old CASK STRENGTH. Looks like the price will be reasonable too (of course!):

masterofmalt.com/whiskies/glengyle/…

lochfynewhiskies.com/scotch-whisky/…

Has anyone in the States seen the Kilkerran 8 CS yet? I've been keeping an eye out, but nothing yet.

@Ol_Jas I'll be in Oregon again next week so I just checked the Oregon Liquor Stores site. There are 3 bottles of the 46% 12 year old at one store in Portland for $83 and that is it for Kilkerran. I'll grab one if they are still there.

Maybe there is a new expression of Kilkerran for sale for the market in Scotland. I saw a picture of a bottle of Kilkerran 11. yo. I did not see a confirmation on the site of Kilkerran. It is bottled for the Campbelltown festival in 2017. Its strength is 60,3%. There are only 192 bottles. its profile is citric, vanilla, honey within a firm wooden structure. Its finish is peppery. Its average rating is 88. The price of a bottle is 150 euro, about $ 165 (us)

@NamBeist , so is that the Campbeltown Festival, as in the Springbank Open Day, as in the thing that they do alongside the Islay Feis Ile?

If so, I'm glad to see Kilkerran's getting into the special festival bottle scene. Good fun.

I am trying the Kilkerran 12 for the first time tonight and, I gotta say, it's pretty damn fantastic and that's saying nothing of the value. I nursed this single dram for 3 hours and continue to have my nose lured into the glass for another sniff. It was initially tight upon first opening, but once a little oxygen got a hold of it, it transformed into salted caramel butter cookies with almonds. Fantastic! I can hardly wait to see how this whisky develops in the bottle over it's lifespan.

I guess I'll be buying more of this as well as checking out the WIP bottlings. Cambeltown never ceases to impress.

@KRB80 , are the WIPs still available in your neck of the woods?

@MadSingleMalt Indeed, they are!