The reason for the season: Malty’s Holiday gift tips.

And so November is upon us. For most of us here in the Northern Hemisphere it means the adage of House Stark is becoming pretty accurate, while our friends down under are likely to throw some extra shrimp on the barbie whilst opening another round of ice cold brewskies.

While you’re likely either covering yourself in extra thick jumpers or polishing your surfboards to catch some waves is depending on your geographical location, the fact that Holiday Season is just around the corner however, very much isn’t. Therefore, the next 4 weeks I’ll be going trough my cabinet, picking some bottles I feel might be well up the alley of those perhaps hard to shop for whisky lovers. I’ll be taking this from different angles, trying to find 4 suitable whiskies for different types of enthusiasts:

· One for a peathead

· A budget friendly (under €40) yet interesting whisky

· One for the lovers of niche, single cask, cask strength, indie releases

· And finally one to splurge on

Obviously, chances are your whisky loving pals fit the ‘all of the above’ category, so if you’ve got some cash to splash you could just go out and buy the lot, as most of us (myself included) are quite whisky promiscuous. But allow me to break these down over a period of the next 4 weeks.

I’m not going to lie: The whiskies I’ll be covering in this series could be a bit ‘under the radar’ or ‘off the beaten track’ in any case, but I picked them exactly for that reason. If you’re looking to avoid the obvious, supermarket choices I genuinely hope you’ll get something out of this. I don’t think I’m giving away any spoilers here when I say that I would be very happy to be gifted any of these, so all whiskies will be around or above the 85/100 points scale. And kicking off with a pick for a peathead, you could obviously go for something like Talisker, or Ardbeg or whatever it is you’re local supermarket has on the shelves. Or, you could earn yourself some bragging rights and go for something which is very likely not always easy to find, but will definitely get you in the receiver’s good book. Therefore my first pick comes from a distillery straight from ‘cool kids central’: Campbeltown.

Part 1: Shopping for a Peathead: Kilkerran Heavily Peated batch 6

57.4% ABV, UCF, natural colour, 75% ex bourbon casks & 25% ex sherry casks, 2022 release. About €65-€80

Kilkerran is a brand embraced and cherished by enthusiasts the world over. Springbank’s sister distillery Glengyle may have started out with a ‘if you know, you know’ kind of underground cult status with their ‘work in progress releases’ that were released between 2009 and 2015, but ever since their much celebrated 12 yo was first released in 2016, it’s fair to say the hype was born, only growing stronger ever since, it seems. Springbank and Glengyle could have easily followed in the footsteps of the Ardbegs or Highland Parks of this world by milking their success dry with release after release of super pricey limited whiskies, but, being who they are, parent company Mitchell’s takes a very different approach to running their business, and frankly, we as enthusiasts are all the better for it. By not taking their customers for all they’re worth, both Springbank and Glengyle seem to have this rare element built into their business model: ethos. The fact that both are setting te bar high for making excellent quality whiskies only adds to that.

The downside being, of course, is that whatever bottle bears the name ‘Springbank’ or ‘Kilkerran’ has become flipper fodder in recent years, and as the online market only grows stronger and bigger, it seems open season is now running 24/7 the whole year through. And as frustrating as it is for us, enthusiasts and eager customers to only be able to find that bottle of Springbank on auction for prices that are downright extortionate, imagine what it must be like for the people who produce the actual stuff. When you set an MSRP for a bottle, you’ve obviously built in a profit margin. It must be nothing short of heart breaking seeing both flippers and stores frankly wiping their arses with those prices and slapping price tags on them that are 5 to 10 fold of what you as a producer deemed reasonable. Some folk are making a ton of money on your product, and you’re not seeing any of it? Surely that stings in more than one way. The easy and obvious way to respond would be to significantly bump up your own retail prices. The fact that, by and large, neither Springbank nor Glengyle has chosen to do so, speaks volumes.

But I don’t want to go on yet another rant on flippers (they can fuck well off and suffer a nasty itch just out of arms reach for the rest of their lives for all I care, thank you very much) but rather focus on the positives: the actual whisky. I’m counting my blessings to have a store near me which sells these at actual MSRP, which means I’ve paid €63 for my bottle. Considering I’ve paid around €55 each for my two bottles of batch 3 from 2 years ago (which I enjoyed immensely, but alas now go for around €100 or more), I’d say that given today’s inflation, that’s a proper good deal.

Nose

Punchy, citrus, honey and vanilla. So the bourbon casks are doing most of the talking. It has that soft hay / farmyard Kilkerran signature note. Hints of overripe fruit (like grapes). Over time, it turns sweeter and all the while the peat is playing hide and seek. Perhaps some added water will awake the beast? Hmm, not really, as it turns up the sour notes, adding herbaceous elements as well.

Palate

ABV!! Damn, quite feisty and peppery. Not what I was expecting coming from that all in all well behaving nose. The peat is most definitely here now, but chances are you will be needing a moment to reset your tastebuds after that rather ferocious assault. Dry and woody is the best I can come up with at the moment. Water is definitely in order here… Indeed, better. Sweet and sour and quite fruity, again with that farmyard/wet hay note, sitting on a very (and I do mean very) dry mouthfeel. Youthful and peppery, but other spices as well (gingery / cardamom like) and lots of maritime and salty notes. The sherry casks add subtle darker notes like mocha and chocolate but you need to be on the lookout in order to find them.

Finish

Sweet and sour, salty/maritime, ashy, woody and dry. How do you spell loooooooong?

Final thoughts

Can you really go wrong with Kilkerran? From my experience it’s rather unlikely. It’s layered and complex, but, truth be told, I feel as if the balance on some of the previous batches was noticeably better. There’s less ‘harmony’ here, perhaps? It does compensate for that by being a very busy bee, delivering a wide array of flavours. Given how the peat isn’t even playing centre stage here, but is rather wrapped around all of the other notes, I reckon even a non-peathead might be into this. Seriously good stuff! 86/100