Glengyle distillery Is owned by J&A mitchell, the same owners as Springbank distillery and it was opened in 2004. It's located in Campbeltown and was the town's first new distillery to open in over 100 years.

The original Glengyle distillery was founded in 1872 by William Mitchell  as he decided to open his own distillery after a quarrel about sheep with his brother John, with whom he had jointly owned Springbank distillery.

Glengyle was sold to Highland distillery in 1919 but then closed in 1925.

The former Ben Wyvis stills at Glengordon were pruchased and then modified for use at Glengyle distillery, where they now produce the spirit for Kilkerran whisky.

General whisky characteristics: Smooth, fruit, maritime

More great distillery info here, thanks to Malt Madness

Distillery & Campbeltown malt pictures with kind permission by Peter Currie, Springbank

"Work in Progress" the development of Kilkerran whisky from 5y to 12y with annual releases of 12,000 bottles

Kilkerran, 'Work in Progress' bottled 2009, 46% ABV

First edition, 5y

Original cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Light yellow

Nose: Good solid hiking boots on an Atlantic jetty. Pardon? This is definitely a maritime malt with salt, sea air, beach, Scottish jetty and rugged, quality leather. All overlaid with hints of slightly bitter, exotic fruit.

Palate: Smooth and rounded fruit cocktail comprising mainly apple, star-fruit. melon, mango and perhaps a little vanilla ice cream.

With 4 drops of water (in 2cl): The nose is sweeter with lots of fruit. The palate is even smoother and the leather, along with slightly bitter fruit is enhanced.

Finish: Medium to long

Overall Impression: Definitely maritme with lots of fruit too. This is a good malt and it holds lots of promise for the future as it further matures.

Whisky & Chocolate: The Fleur de Sel praline by Franz made for an incredible maritime partner to this very surprising whisky. Excellent!

Kilkerran, 'Work in Progress' bottled 2010, 46% ABV

Second edition, 6y

Original cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Light gold (9ct)

Nose: Subdued! I'm going to give this more time as it really is faint and subdued. Immediately after pouring there were extremely faint hints of fruit (apple, pear, perhaps also star fruit) and perhaps also very faint hints of peat, but everything is extremely faint and hard to distinguish. After a few minutes the fruit and light peat are slightly more evident as they begin to dominate.

Palate: Very smooth as the fruit gently crosses the palate, followed a few seconds later by soft hints of peat which slowly expand across the whole palate in a warming, gentle glow. As the main palate eases slowly towards the finish I am reminded of what a delightfully fruity and perhaps sligthly peaty grappa may taste like.

With 4 drops of water (in 2cl): The peat expands further on the nose whilst the palate is also slightly more peaty, but predominantly a little more spicy with green peppercorns.

Finish: Long and fruity with a gentle lasting soft peat influence.

Overall Impression: After trying the 5y in 2009 I was astonished how good it was, especially for a 5y whisky. This latest release at six years of age has definitely progressed somewhat, but in a slightly different direction to what I was expecting. Yes, it is smoother and more gentle, but it is also more delicate as the flavours really need time and patience to be coaxed onto the palate. Is this a bad thing? Certainly not, this Kilkerran is maturing nicely into what I can only imagine will be a delight for the years to come. My tip; Please be patient and give it time and it will reward accordingly!

Kilkerran, 'Work in Progress' bottled 2011, 46% ABV

Third edition, 7y

Original cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Reviewed as part of MMA 2011

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Very pale straw

Nose: Immediately very fresh, in fact there's almost some aniseed here. Then comes a hint of pineapple. As time passes the freshness and aniseed even expand. After 5-6 minutes the freshness fades to leave almost new (soft) leather qualities and then hints of red berries or even damson.

Palate: Very smooth fruitiness extends slowly across the palate until a very light smokiness (peat maybe) leads into the finish.

Finish: Long and warming

Overall Impression: This Kilkerran offering really is maturing nicely, a great smoothness and breadth of flavours are now apparent.

Kilkerran "Work in Progress"

Head to Head

5y & 6y

The Kilkerran 5y is advanced well beyond its years and I thoroughly enjoyed sampling this dram. It's quite smooth, very maritime and really pretty fruity, but yes, of course it still has a long way to go.

When I sampled the 2010 version tonight at six years of age, maybe I expected more, but let's be realistic, this is still only six years of age and would often still be quite coarse from most distilleries. In reality, this whisky is still mature beyond its years and if anything, has grown even more smooth and gentle in the last year. It's still fruity, but the peat is slightly more noticeable and the whole experience is a little more subdued and yes, a little more mature.

Right now it's still not a 'great', but it is a good, honest whisky which appears to be mature beyond its youthful age and is an even greater prospect for the future. Remember, the 'Work in Progress' series is a journey to 12 years of age and this variant is still only half way there.

How I'm looking forward to this particular journey and the eventual 12y dram at the end of it!

Kilkerran, 'Bourbon Wood

I was gifted this sample from my good malt-mate Klaus a few years ago and thanks to moving house and time passing I seem to have misplaced all bottle details so sadly I have no further information.

I have since been informed that this is the WIP 7th Edition.

Original cost of this bottle; Unknown

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Yellow gold

Nose: Initially quite fresh with some (dry) leafiness. After a little time in the glass a warming fruitiness develops which reminds me of apple crumble fresh out of the oven. Further time allows some gentle floral suggestions to develop.

Palate: An initial creamy mouth-feel soon becomes intensely peppery across the palate, also bringing a slightly bitter fruitiness.

Finish: Long

Overall Impression: A lovely and 'honest' bourbon wood whisky.