Secret Ardbeg on red wine: Kilnaughton Islay malt
Bear with me, I found a sample in my stash of which I have no idea what it is. It says Kilnaughton and that is a Secret Islay. The bottler is known to not shy away from cask variations for maturing their whisky, with most of the times good results, so we just dive in and see what happens.
Kilnaughton Secret Islay, bottled at 53,5 % abv by Vintage Malt Whisky Co.
First things first: A bottling in the Cooper’s Choice range, this being an Islay malt matured in a Spanish Rioja Red Wine cask. Bottled at the peak moment of the pandemic, in 2021. The cask number is 279 and the yield was 318 bottles.
Upon Sipping: Perfumed, floral on red roses and some dirty notes from vase water. Light smoke whiffs, but rather subdued under the “red” layers. Shows signs of maritime odours later on. Accessible taste, not too rough, with sour cherries and there is some peat dry character. Hints of rubber, and reluctant to move on to the finish, that also carries a sour aftertaste. A decent, narrow malt, for sure, but nothing spectacular. Even the wine influence does not really ruffle my feathers. On repeated sipping I pick up more wood notes, chunks of heavily burned bread crust, but there is always a ghost of red fruits in the distance. More brine as we go along. With water it falls apart a little.
Word to the Wise: Not the best product I ever tasted in the Cooper’s Choice range. As far as red wine maturation go, this is certainly not the worst, but it does nothing to elevate the spirit. Now I have googled, and Kilnaughton is rumoured to be Ardbeg. That might explain why the wine cask still works well; I have had Ardbeg before from these casks, and those were actually quite okay. Having that said, I do not pick up any distillery character from this sample. And why would one want to hide that?
Score: 80 points.