Hazelburn Open Day 2026 & Kilkerran Open Day 2026

Hazelburn Open Day 2026

Region: Campbeltown

ABV: 49.2%

Price: £70.00 (35cl)

This Hazelburn release was bottled for the 2026 Open Day after spending 17 years in Oloroso casks. A total of 1,772 35cl bottles were made available.

Nose

The nose opens with dark fruits, black cherry, strawberry jam, a little coastal breeze, wet earth, star anise and brine. There’s also prunes, cola, toffee and brown sugar. It’s a lot of sherry, but really quite expressive, and you can still smell the underlying Campbeltown character below the sherry. 

Palate

The palate opens with dark chocolate coated almonds, red fruits, currant cake, moving into that Campbeltown funk towards the finish. It’s got a lovely oily mouthfeel, and is quite chewey also. Time and air brings more underripe fruits, slightly more acidity, and a little more earth/dirt on the latter palate. 

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose is much earthier, much more Campeltown funk character coming out. There’s still lots of sherry here, black fruits and a little bit of treacle. 

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate has more of a coastal funk, with a handful of green grapes and milk chocolate towards the finish. It lingers on for quite a while with more red fruits beginning to appear. 

Conclusion

It’s quite heavily sherried but still managed to maintain the Hazelburn character. It’s a little earthier and more coastal than other Hazelburns we’ve had. A solid whisky. 

Score: 7/10

Value

Not a bad price, but we would have expected Springbank to release this a little cheaper.

Kilkerran Open Day 2026

Region: Campbeltown

ABV: 56.1%

Price: £65.00 

This triple-distilled Kilkerran single cask release was bottled for the 2026 Open Day. Distilled in 2018, it spent seven years maturing in a fresh bourbon barrel before being bottled. The outturn was 253 bottles.

Nose

The nose opens with fresh lemon, dunnage floors, sugar paper, mellow red apple flesh and honey. There’s a dusty oak character too, a little furniture polish and some heather in the background. The alcohol isn’t too prominent, but it’s not the most expressive nose for us. 

Palate

The palate opens with zingy lemon, damp earth, pink peppercorns, barley sugars and a little pineapple in the background. There’s a fizziness to the dram, not effervescent but like carbonated lemonade. We’re also finding coastal salinity, and it has quite a thick and oily mouthfeel. It’s a little hot on the finish, a little too much pepper coming through, but there’s a balance of sweetness and coastal earthiness too. 

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose brings more of an expressive aroma, wet dog, coastal sea spray, lemon water, and a little damp cardboard. There’s still a nice sweetness behind all of this. 

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate maintains the zingy freshness, mixed in with more damp earth, lots of barley sugar sweetness and a little peach on the finish. The coastal character is still very much intact. 

Conclusion

We were excited to hear that Glengyle did another triple distilled run, and this has all the hallmarks of that previous spirit style, although perhaps a little youthful in this expression. There’s lots to like though, sweet, earthy, coastal, a solid dram.

Score: 7/10

Value

Good price for a single cask release of Kilkerran. 

• 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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