The fourth edition of Kilkerran Heavily Peated is drawn from 80% ex-bourbon casks and 20% ex-sherry casks. Batch #3 had a few rough edges in my opinion, let’s see how the latest Batch 4 compares.
Kilkerran Heavily Peated (58,6%, OB 2021)
Nose: quite pungent, with burnt grass, acrid smoke and soot. None of the lactic notes that I found in Batch 3, but on the other hand it seems a tad more alcoholic and oaky. Lemons and grapefruits, stewed apple sweetness, hints of cream soda, liquorice roots, heather and a lot of coastal touches (sea spray, campfire on the beach).
Mouth: a bold but fairly bright character, with coal smoke and ashes, hints of jalapeño pickle and deeply roasted malt. Some sweet grain biscuits. Sea water. Lots of mezcal notes. Typical sweet lemon, with a hint of grape sweetness too. Crushed black peppercorns, caraway and aniseed. The peaty youth is easy to note, it is not entirely tamed.
Finish: very long, with hints of dry ashes, coffee and a hint of wood.
Always a good choice if you like heavily peated malts, even with the rough edges that give away its relative youth. I like this batch better than its predecessor, well done.