Hazelburn 19yo Open Day 2025 & Kilkerran 20yo Open Day 2025

Hazelburn 19yo Open Day 2025

Region: Campbeltown

ABV: 49.2%

Price: £100.00 (35cl)

This Hazelburn release was bottled for the 2025 Open Day, having spent 19 years in fresh Tawny Port casks. A total of 2,000 35cl bottles were made available.

Nose

The nose is expectedly port-forward, lots of old wood, molasses, caramel, dried fruits and a little mustiness too. Behind the richer aromas sit some fresher fruit, cranberry sauce, orange peel, sticky toffee pudding, but it’s also not overly sweet - there’s a dryness here, almost like cinnamon sticks and a hint of star anise. Time and air brings out some chocolate coated nuts and old leather. The alcohol is quite well balanced too. 

Palate

The palate has some sweeter fruit up front, strawberries, red currants, and raspberry ripple ice cream. There’s also maraschino cherries, light treacle, and a dusting of cinnamon sugar. It’s sweeter and fruitier than the nose, although there’s still some leather and dark toffee notes too. There’s an alcohol warmth that we weren’t expecting, mostly on the finish, but the flavours do linger on for quite a while. The mouthfeel is good, syrupy, and we’re getting more old oak and a little sea salt coming through too. 

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose has a mustier aroma, a little charred wood, black pepper, treacle toffee, rich vanilla beans and a hint of milky coffee. Still rich, still quite dry, but we don’t think water has made this any better. 

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate feels richer, mirroring more of the nose, with more toffee, caramel, and a little vermouth too. More aniseed, and more salt too. We prefer it without water, it feels a bit warmer and slightly less balanced. 

Conclusion

A punchy cask-forward dram, but it’s surprisingly well integrated with the Hazelburn spirit, and we’re still getting a bit of the Campeltown DNA showing through. A nice mixture of fruit, sugars and wood, we can’t really complain. If you like old tawny port, you’ll like this.

Score: 8/10

Value

Much like the Kilkerran Open Day bottle, this is certainly pricier than you might expect from Springbank, but once again, it’s old and rare liquid, which helps justify the cost.

Kilkerran 20yo Open Day 2025

Region: Campbeltown

ABV: 48.2%

Price: £135.00 (35cl)

This Kilkerran release was bottled for the 2025 Open Day, having been aged for 20 years in fresh bourbon casks. An undisclosed number of 35cl bottles were made available.

Nose

The nose opens with lemon water, mild peach, there’s a slightly sour, vinegary aroma, alongside ripe banana, coconut shavings and pear drops. Time and air really opens the dram up, there’s more confectionery and creamy wood aromas appearing. More air brings foam banana sweeties and milk bottles too. The alcohol is well integrated, there’s a hint of warmth but it’s pleasant, sweet oak heat. 

Palate

The palate opens with a lot of green apple, lemon zest, caramel sauce, vanilla whipped cream and some orange pith too. There’s a bit of peppery spice towards the finish too. The mouthfeel is interesting, it’s oily but feels thin too.. almost like when you drop olive oil into water. Going back, we’re getting banana ice cream, green grapes, and grapefruit as the palate develops. There’s also a bit of coconut milk too. It drinks its age, you can tell it’s moving into its 20’s. 

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose feels relatively unchanged, perhaps a little more coconut and some chocolate appearing, like those old coconut mushroom sweets. It’s also got some greenness coming through, slightly herbal aromas. 

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate has the same citrus up front, but more of a Sauvignon blanc type of zingyness. There’s more coconut appearing too, desiccated this time. The mouthfeel and finish remain pretty much the same as pre-dilution. 

Conclusion

A pleasant dram but it lacks the complexity we would expect from this distillery and its age. We’ve had some cracking Kilkerrans in their late teens and this falls just short for us. Saying that, we’d happily drink a dram or two.

Score: 7/10

Value

At £135, it’s certainly not the usual great value we’ve come to expect from the distillery. However, given the rarity of the release, the pricing is understandable.

• 10 - Perfection. One in a million
• 9 - Outstanding. Exceptional whisky.
• 8 - Great. Would seek this out.
• 7 - Good. Quality whisky.
• 6 - Above average. Happy to have a dram.
• 5 - Average. Drinkable whisky.
• 4 - Below average. Passable.
• 3 - Flawed. Noticeable negatives.
• 2 - Defective. Significant faults.
• 1 - Offensive. Pour it out.

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