Kilkerran 8 year old (2025 Release) & Cadenheads Kilkerran 13yo Original Collection February 2025

Kilkerran 8 year old (2025 Release)

Region: Campbeltown

ABV: 55.6%

Price: £65.00

The latest edition of Kilkerran 8 year old was matured in bourbon casks, and bottled at 55.6%. Again this year we’re only getting one release of Kilkerran 8yo, but on the bright side it this bottle is still in stock at time of writing.  

Nose

The nose opens with notes of buttercream icing, Madeira cake, cold butter, a touch of cloves, aniseed, and antiseptic. Returning to it, we also find hints of moss, Vegemite, ash, and cigar smoke. The smoke is integrated well with the sweeter notes, and there’s little here that reveals its age or ABV.

Palate

The palate isn’t as smoky or peated as the nose suggested. It opens with a touch of ash, transitioning into burnt wood, tar, barley sugars, vanilla essence, lemon juice, dirty water, and sardines. The mouthfeel is slightly thin for the ABV. There’s a hint of grapefruit bitterness, with some pepper spice and a touch of sweetness on a good-length finish. The age is more noticeable on the palate than the nose. 

Nose (with water)

With water, we’re picking up notes of strawberry laces, pencil shavings, and Mini Cheddars alongside the pre dilution notes. The water has opened it up but has also dimmed some of the smokier notes. 

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate remains similar to the undiluted version but is now slightly more savoury and a touch peatier. The mouthfeel is still somewhat thin. The finish still has good length, but this still tastes its age. 

Conclusion

While this isn’t a bad dram, we were hoping for more cask influence, as it’s not as sweet as we’d personally prefer. The spirit’s youthfulness is also more noticeable than in previous releases. We may sound a little critical as we’ve preferred earlier editions, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t a good dram.

Score: 7/10

Value

Glengyle as usual provides good value while also being more obtainable than its sister distillery.  

Cadenheads Kilkerran 13yo Original Collection February 2025

Region: Campbeltown

ABV: 46.0%

Price: £75.00 

There’s limited information available on this 13 year old release, other than the fact that the spirit was distilled in 2011 and matured in Bourbon & Ruby Port Casks. There’s also no mention of how many bottles were produced. 

Nose

Initially, the nose offers buttered croissants, lemon peel, orange juice, a hint of caramel, strawberry laces, cherry lips sweets, brioche bread, Tizer, and a touch of candy floss. It’s easy to nose, with just a slight pepper spice from the alcohol. The port influence dominates here, and if we were tasting blind, we’d have guessed this was just port maturation. 

Palate

Initially, the palate has notes of warm butter, sour cherries, fizzy cola bottles, burnt ends, and fresh soil. We’re reminded of Skips crisps, as the flavours fizzle and disappear quickly on our tongues, contributing to a mouthfeel that feels a little thin. A touch of dark chocolate bitterness lingers with the other flavours on the short finish. With water, the nose becomes more sour, with plenty of lime juice. The buttery note now reminds us of butteries or rowies. There’s also a hint of treacle, dark cherries, and a more noticeable peppery spice. 

Nose (with water)

When reduced, the buttery note becomes more pronounced, accompanied by hints of honey and fresh cherries that weren’t present before dilution.

Palate (with water)

The dram has benefits from water, as the flavours linger longer now, and the mouthfeel has improved. There are also some red fruit notes reminiscent of a sherry cask, along with a touch more spice thats not off putting.  

Conclusion

We wouldn’t have guessed this, given that this was bottled at 46%, but this benefits from water, which helps open it up and improves both the finish and mouthfeel. There’s also a good amount of complexity, considering it’s only 13 years old. While we’d still prefer this dram at cask strength, we can’t deny that this is tasty whisky. 

Score: 7.5/10

Value

Like most this range we’d have paid more to get this at cask strength.

• 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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