Killowen Rum & Raisin Batches 1 & 4

I'm sure that if you are a whiskey enthusiast the sound of bubbles bursting are perhaps starting to ring in your ear. The news that emanated from Waterford this month has definitely sharpened the focus of many of us. It highlights that success in the competitive global spirits market is not guaranteed. It's also something I'm not overly surprised to see and I'm pretty sure Waterford's current situation may well happen again in Ireland in the near future.

Mark Reynier has alluded to a few issues that Waterford faced. A global pandemic, a cost of living crisis, interest rates going through the roof and borrowing too much to distill more than they actually needed.

Personally I think that considerable damage was done before these events. The arrogant and aggressive messaging emanating from Waterford about the importance of terroir and the subsequent pillorying of those that dared to disagree with or merely question their terroir assumptions was not only tiresome but left many with a bad taste in their mouth.

The fact that a fair and balanced opinion piece put together by Whisky Rover and myself led to the meltdown of Malt because we'd not been 'industry friendly' enough to our co-editor who now worked for Waterford and subsequently also led to breakdowns in relationships because of frankly, the same bullying mentality that was so prevalent by Waterford's online presence is a source of great sadness for myself. I'll post that piece after this one.

Besides these issues came the frankly mad level of releases that flowed from Waterford's Ballygarran warehouses. On my original visit to the distillery in May 2018 we were told that they would only ever release single farm expressions that were exceptional, the Cuvee was to be king, a yearly vintage that would be made up of the best distillates and casks from that year.

What age will you release the whiskey at? 'It won't be younger than 5 years'

What about experimenting with peat? 'That'll never happen!' 

The script certainly wasn't followed. In the first year alone there were nearly 30 single farm releases of whiskey barely older than 3 years. The age statement wasn't the problem, rather it was how underwhelming it was and somehow never better than the samples I'd tried in their tasting room that was only between 18 & 24 months old.

The price of around £75 per bottle also didn't help especially after being told we were going to experience whiskey from Ireland that would transcend anything we'd tried before. It actually worked out cheaper to wait for the bottles to arrive at auction when they often only fetched half the retail price. Perhaps a telling sign?

Obviously there are people directly affected by Waterford being placed into administration so hopefully some good news will come from Ireland's sunny southeast with regards to the distillery and for the many of good people that the distillery directly and indirectly supported.

In stark contrast to Waterford not only in terms of scale but also attitude is Killowen Distillery and it's founder and Head Distiller Brendan Carty.

Brendan and co quietly go about their business of making interesting and historic mash bills in one of Ireland's smallest setups. In these difficult financial times it also helps to interact with the whiskey buying public in a positive way and Killowen have really nailed that side of the business, especially with the Killowen Kult, a merry group of whiskey loving fanatics that is constantly updated about goings on at the distillery, new releases and Brendans shenanigans.

The support this garners is highlighted by the fact that the latest Killowen release, their first ever 5 year old whiskey from Killowen's stills, sold out within a matter of minutes upon release on Monday 9th December. Sadly I missed out, the stupid US time difference confused me.

Killowen's whiskey is not cheap at around £100 a bottle, especially considering they are presently 50cl bottles but the contents rarely let you down. As I've said before 'What these Barántúil releases do offer are craft and quality and they do provide value from that point of view as the experience is well worth the asking fee.'

If you can't quite stretch to that price range Killowen do have something that is definitely more within reach in the form of their Rum & Raisin expression. This is a sourced whiskey that currently comes from the Great Northern Distillery in Dundalk and has also recently changed from a 500ml bottle to a 700ml bottle so offering even more value especially as it's always offered at 55% abv.

The two batches I'm reviewing today are batches 1 & 4 which were sourced from Cooley stock. Batch 4 was a slight anomaly as it was 6 years old rather than the intended 5 years old as per the rest of the batches. 

The sourced single malt is initially matured in bourbon casks before being divided and finished in Killowen's own dark rum casks and also PX sherry casks before being married together for the final vatting.

As per Killowen's remit this whiskies are natural colour and non chill filtered for extra goodness. Both bottles cost me £55 each (€66.75/$70.25) and were 500ml bottles. They were purchased from Fairley's Wines in my hometown of Coleraine. Make sure you visit them if you are in the area,

Let's taste.

Killowen Rum & Raisin Batch 1 55% 5 years old

Nose: Unsurprisingly a sweet nose – candied pineapple, peach, fruit salad sweets, nougat, coconut shavings and plenty of vanilla. A little draft and ripe red apples. Marzipan and prunes. This is a tropical fruit bomb with a muted PX character.

Palate: A good mouthfeel that is again straight into dessert territory. Rum soaked flambéed bananas, coconut and vanilla ice cream. Brown sugar infused with cinnamon and nutmeg. The sherry brings nuttiness with macadamias and a bit of Brazil nut plus a light touch of sweet raisins toward the back end. Just a touch of alcohol but all in all it’s well integrated.

Finish: A little on the short side with alcohol warmth, crème brûlée and cinnamon pastries.

Score: 7 out of 10

Killowen Rum & Raisin Batch 4 55% 6 years old

Nose: Much like batch 1 it’s sweet! Cream soda, Robinson’s Barley Water, nectarines, pineapple and fresh coconut. A little lime kick too. Tonga bean, fresh oak and butterscotch sundaes. Again the sherry influence is a little muted but does provide cinnamon spice and a touch of fig.

Palate: The mouthfeel is syrupy and creamy like Batch 1. Joker Ice lollies (orange sorbet and vanilla ice cream for those who don’t know), rum punch and fresh pineapple chunks. More spice – clove, cinnamon and ginger. Quite oaky plus raisin and nut mix.

Finish: Still on the short side but this time the oak is a little drying, there’s chilli flake heat and lingering tropical fruit.

Score: 6 out of 10

 

Overall: Two great drams from the Killowen Krew. What I actually enjoy the most about these is the balance of the Rum and PX casks. Neither dominate which they easily could, but both integrate well with the bourbon maturation highlighting the tropical and spice notes of the rum, vanilla and honey notes of bourbon matured Cooley and just a light touch of nuttiness and sweetness from the PX.

Batch 1 was ever so slightly elevated over Batch 4 but both were easy sippers that still offered lots of layers. Even at 55% these were super approachable and for me don’t require water. Both bottles are now long gone but I will definitely replace them. Happily for those who want to try the Rum & Raisin releases they have had their packaging updated and now come as 70cl bottles instead of 50cl. Crucially they are still the same price so offer even better value for money.

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