Last night was star wars night when I went to view “The force awakening” on the first screening (a minute past midnight). But I paid dearly for this adventure as I missed the opportunity to delve into the daily dram and maybe get a full slate of 100 points. It was clear to me that it’s a Campeltown whisky, aged 10-12 and mid fifties ABV but since I had no time, I entered a generic guess of Springbank, 12yo, 54% which yielded me 69 points, the highest daily amount of the competition. Oh, there was a whisky too and it was good! It’s the limited edition of Kilkerran WIP 7 in Bourbon cask, the last Work in Progress in the series before we get the regular OB 12 yo next year.

Kilkerran Work In Progress (WIP) 7 Bourbon Wood (54.1%, 11 Year old, £49.99/€75.9)

Nose: Hmm, first sniff was weird with lots of lactic notes and dirt, but it settled down after some air exposure and then we got a myriad of notes: honey and a lot of farmy notes with hey, grass and a bit of greenery. It has that lovely dirtiness combo of brine, peat smoke and diesel oil. How dirty it is? let’s say that after a bit while, it’s dirtier than the dirty dozen 🙂 oh, and I still get a weak lactic note but it’s fitting OK in the big picture here.

Palate: Hmm, sweet fruit, even dirtier than the nose with heavier peat and smoke, a bit of tobacco and leather, mineral and oily.

Finish: Medium length with lingering peat smoke, oak wood bitterness and sweet honey.

Thoughts: Only 11 year old? An excellent work here with structure, harmony and complexity beyond its supposed age. And next year we should get the first 12yo. Can’t wait for it now!