Whisky: Kilkerran Heavily Peated "Peat in Progress” Batch 3

Country/Region: Scotland/Campbeltown

ABV: 59.7%

Cask: Bourbon (80%), Sherry (20%)

Age: NAS (Bottled 2020)

Nose: Meaty and earthy with a ribbon of caramelized sweetness; musty and funky earth, damp wood and mushroom hunting in the forest; fresh farmer’s cheese with an herbal spice— rye, caraway, and fresh dill; cream, herbs, and earth left me dreaming about mushroom risotto in a Chinese medicine shop.

Palate: Medium-bodied; salt, citrus, and concentrated fruits; lemon sorbet topped with li hing powder; freeze-dried strawberries, red ginger, and anise; cream and earth slowly arrived— clotted cream over a mushroom babka? Unusual, fantastic fare. Beef tallow and wispy smoke toward the end.

Finish: Medium to long with beef far, citrus rind, and herbal spice.

Score: 8 (87)

Mental Image: Mushroom Hunting Expedition

Narrative & Notes: I found this loaded with earth and herbal spice as more subtle caramel, citrus, meat, and smoke emerged from the background at different times.  On the nose, there were plenty of mushrooms and a forest floor with delightfully creamy diversions.  The palate swapped the dominant flavors so that more fruit arrived first, with earth only coming later.  The finish was nice and long with delicious beef fat— almost beef fat caramel candies lingering.  Occasionally, the whisky reminded me not of hiking and snacking on some fresh cheese but of a mushroom babka, a savory variation on the sweet pastry—something I have long considered making in my kitchen. Someday!  Until then, this whisky will suffice.

Young and heavily peated, this showed remarkable depth and balance.  I initially tried it blind at a whisky showdown in which a local whisky club member selected three bottles to be tasted blind against three that Neil Patrick Harris had selected for the SMWS America chapter. This bottle ranked second for most people— a few found it a bit too funky or felt that the earth came off more in the vein of sulfur and rubber.  When I revisited the whisky a few months later, it was just as delightful.

Overall, I have enjoyed a number of these “peat in progress” heavily peated Kilkerran releases, but I was still a bit shocked when this bottle was revealed at the end of the tasting.