Review by: The Muskox

Let’s try the “drink-the-dram-and-immediately-post-the-notes” technique, as made famous by my friend Paolo. I finished my glass of this whisky 2 minutes ago!

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Distillery: Glengyle.

Bottler: Official bottling.

Region: Campbeltown.

ABV: 58.2%, cask strength.

Age: 5 years old. Bottled March 30th 2021.

Cask type: Fresh Oloroso Casks.

Color: Very dark gold. No colour added, un-chillfiltered.

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Nose: Doesn’t seem super-heavily peated from here… but it’s certainly rich and savoury. Tandoori lamb! Grilled cubanelles and onions. Ancient raisins, baking chocolate, brown sugar, and browned butter. Even a syrupy treacle-ish note hiding in there. Heavy cumin. Slightly young-sour, some wine vinegar. Fragrant notes of lemongrass. Cold mud.

Palate: Medium-thick texture. Arrives very charred and earthy, even a little medicinal. More savoury notes of grilled meat and veggies. A little bit of a young green note too. Huge peat as it develops, with spicy ginger and underlying sweet pears, prunes, clover honey, and brown sugar. A tiny hint of spirit sulfur, more of a meaty character than actually sulfur.

Finish: Medium-short, tart and slightly tannic. Crabapple cider. Cumin. Seared beef. Charcoal. Ginger. Lemon zest. My friend FederalAgents came up with the note “under-extracted coffee”, which I think is spot on.

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Possible SMWS bottling name: “Fast and furious fajitas”

Notes: Pretty solid, though not particularly Kilkerran-y. Almost reminds me of the Glen Mhor I’ve tried. In terms of more reasonable comparisons, you could have told me this was a peated Scotia and I’d have believed you. I do like the meaty notes here, and it’s certainly punchy and rich. It’s a bit short and sharp on the finish, though, and rather unpolished in general. Not my fave from Kilkerran.

Final Score: 83.

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Scoring Legend:

• 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
• 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
• 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
• 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
• 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
• 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
• 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
• 50-59: Save it for mixing.
• 0-49: Blech.