Kilkerran Distillery : Heavily Peated Batch 13

Characteristics and Tasting Tips for Kilkerran Distillery's Heavily Peated Batch 13

Tasting Notes

Appearance
Kilkerran Heavily Peated Batch 13 reveals a pale gold hue, close to straw yellow, consistent with a maturation carried out mainly in bourbon casks, complemented by a small proportion of Oloroso sherry casks. Bottled at cask strength and without chill-filtration, it has a dense, slightly oily texture, noticeable as soon as you look at the glass.

Nose
The nose opens with the creamy sweetness of soft caramel and butterscotch, enhanced by notes of fried banana and a floral touch of elderflower. This indulgent character is paired with smoke from burnt wood, campfire and smouldering driftwood, before giving way to aromas of pear, lemon zest, honeyed malt, vanilla, heather, sea salt and toasted nuts. Notes of mustard seed and a subtle minerality emerge with aeration.

Palate
On the palate, this single malt is powerful and spicy, driven by chilli and black pepper, before revealing dark chocolate and a rich, enveloping smoke. The peat is fully expressed alongside notes of honeydew melon, Iberian ham, smoked cereals, sweet apple, molasses, caramelised citrus, toasted oats, sea spray and earthy herbs, with a hint of espresso. The long, warming finish carries the smoke through notes of lemon verbena, honey and a lingering maritime minerality.

Pairings and Tasting Occasions
Kilkerran Heavily Peated Batch 13 is ideally enjoyed at room temperature, in a tulip glass that brings out its full aromatic complexity. Its smoky, slightly cured-meat character finds a natural echo in a pairing with dry-cured charcuterie such as Iberian ham, while its notes of dark chocolate and coffee will complement a lightly sweetened cocoa-based dessert. This whisky is particularly suited to contemplative sipping at the end of a meal or evening, optionally with a few drops of water to reveal all of its nuances.

Mixology
Given its cask strength and the richness of its peated profile, this exceptional single malt is best enjoyed neat, without embellishment, to fully appreciate the aromatic complexity developed by the distillery.

An Intensely Peated, Maritime Scotch Single Malt from Campbeltown

Kilkerran Distillery: The Revival of Campbeltown Single Malt
Kilkerran is the Scotch whisky produced by the Glengyle distillery, located in Campbeltown, in the county of Argyll. Founded in 1872 by William Mitchell, Glengyle closed its doors in 1925 before being purchased in 2000 by J&A Mitchell & Co, which also owns Springbank and the independent bottler Cadenhead's. Reopened in 2004, it became the first distillery to be revived in Campbeltown in more than a century. Now operated by Mitchell's Glengyle Limited, a subsidiary of J&A Mitchell & Co, Kilkerran Distillery benefits from Springbank's traditional floor malting and continues a philosophy of traditional production, with no chill-filtration or colouring. The range, built up gradually since 2016, embodies the maritime and artisanal identity of Campbeltown.

Heavily Peated Batch 13: A Heavily Peated Cask-Strength Single Malt
Heavily Peated Batch 13 is a heavily peated single malt from the Glengyle distillery, the thirteenth edition of the Heavily Peated series launched by Kilkerran in 2019. This whisky is crafted from barley malted to around 45 ppm phenols, distilled during the few weeks each year that Glengyle devotes to this intensely smoky style, alongside its usual, more lightly peated production. Its maturation combines 90% bourbon casks and 10% Oloroso sherry casks, a composition that the distillery seems intent on repeating for upcoming editions. Bottled at 58.6% ABV, at cask strength, with no chill-filtration or artificial colouring, this heavily peated whisky carries no age statement, in keeping with the philosophy of the series. Very warmly received by enthusiasts, Batch 13 is considered by several tasters to be at least as successful as, if not superior to, the previous editions of the series, confirming Glengyle's mastery in crafting heavily peated malts with a resolutely Campbeltown character.