Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier began its life after a career defining trip to the Côte-Rôtie in the mid 90s which set Tim Kirk on the journey towards producing one of Australia's best Shiraz. Determined to show that Australia could produce elegant but still powerful Shiraz, Tim's work has paid off with his flagship being acclaimed worldwide. In only 15 years, the Shiraz Viognier has attained 'Exceptional' status with Langton's, the highest possible.

Winemaker Tim Kirk's ethereal and evocative Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier is perhaps one of the most important advances in the development of Australian Shiraz since the release of 1952 Penfolds Grange Hermitage. The fruit is sourced from two adjacent estate-owned vineyards. The original vineyard has south-east and south-west aspects whereas T and L Block faces north-east. Lying at 600 meters above sea level, the soils are granitic with sandy brown and red loams over friable clay. Traditional 'Burgundian' winemaking techniques are employed "to highlight the inherent flavours in the fruit". The aim is "to produce wines with natural balance and roundness". Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier is medium to full-bodied with highly aromatic ginger, white pepper, apricot fruit, underlying savoury French oak and fine slinky dry tannins. The Viognier component melts into the Shiraz and is rarely more than a "subliminal influence". The style captures the essence of contemporary winemaking philosophy and regional expression.

The culmination of six "Work In Progress" releases is this core bottling from the Glengyle Distillery: a lightly peated and non-chill filtered 12 year old malt matured in a combination of 70% Bourbon casks and 30% Sherry casks. If the intention has been to create an accessible all-rounder that appeals to a wide audience, then this certainly succeeds. Offering a beautiful integration of aromas and flavours ranging from rich cereals, light sea spray freshness, a touch of lanolin and even a farmyard earthiness in the thread of peat stitching the whole together, it straddles the breadth of flavours we’ve enjoyed in the “Work in Progress” series, only delivered in a softer package. Because Kilkerran run just one bottling per annum, allocations will be ongoing - even though this is now part of the core range. 46% Alc./Vol. * All Kilkerran whiskies now arrive without presentation tubes or boxes.

Product Information: The latest release of the Kilkerran 16 Year Old Single Malt was matured in a mix of 75% ex-bourbon and 25% ex-sherry casks. There is a lovely sweet maltiness on the palate to go along with the delicate maritime and dunnage floor notes which Campbeltown whiskies are known for. Item does not come with external tube. Producer Note: “It is our intention to reduce the amount of packaging we use across our group of companies, from Springbank and Kilkerran to William Cadenhead Ltd, and that any we do use is produced and procured as sustainably as possible." Maker: A historic Campbeltown distillery reimagined in the 21st century, Glengyle Distillery was originally founded by William Mitchell, who had previously run Springbank Distillery with his brother John, under the direction of their father and founder of Springbank, Archibald Mitchell. A dispute between the two brothers, William and John, led the former to leave and start his own venture, Glengyle Distillery, in 1872. In 1919, Glengyle was sold to West Highland Malt Distilleries Ltd after suffering, as many distilleries did, from the economic downturn of the early 20th century. Production then completely ceased in 1925. Over the decades-long closure of the distillery, the buildings continued to be used by local clubs and companies and so the Glengyle buildings remained reasonably well-maintained compared to many other closed distilleries in Campbeltown. In the year 2000, the distillery was purchased by Mitchell’s Glengyle Ltd, headed by Hedley G Wright, then chairman of J&A Mitchell and great, great nephew of the original founder of Glengyle, William Mitchell. After his passing in 2023, Mr Wright’s shares in the company were transferred to three local trust funds to ensure that the community would continue to benefit from the company after his passing. Distillery: The Glengyle Distillery is the sister distillery of the Springbank Distillery in Campbeltown, one of Scotland’s five whiskey regions. This region is located on the Kintyre peninsula where there were once over 30 malt whisky distilleries. Today Springbank, Glengyle and Glen Scotia are all that remain. Kilkerran today is a far cry from the more heavily peated style of the original Glengyle distillery. Regardless it is in many ways a classic Campbeltown, complex maritime notes, light salt and delicate peat that tends towards more earthy aromas. Nose - Iberico ham, Pineapple, Demerara Sugar We are welcomed to this dram with notes of Iberico ham, along with notes of tinned pineapple, green apples and demerara sugar. Palate - Bacon Fat, Pineapple, Bitter Orange The creamy, vanilla notes carry through to the palate in notes of buttered digestive biscuits and custard creams. Finish - Seaspray, Lemon Peel, Peat Smoke Coastal notes reminiscent of the seaside and shingle beaches, along with hints of lemon yoghurt, ground pepper and a touch of peat smoke.

Even though this is a NAS release, you can expect Glengyle's whisky-making team are refining their blending skills and introducing older material into each batch. So it makes sense that some tasters are describing this as one of the best, if not the best batch in the series to date. Drawn from 90% Bourbon casks with the remainder out of Sherry, complexity will be a strong point. The Kilkerran style we've come to know and love includes notes of key lime pie, toasted rye bread and peat smoke, toasted marshmallows and campfire embers with hints of vanilla and custard - and of course, that Campbeltown smokiness carrying through to the finish, along with a mineral note to round things off. Even after dilution, these natural strength expressions can remain beautifully fresh. If you're partial to the uber-peaty, invigorating coastal blast that comes with Longrow at its finest, this will be for you. In line with previous releases, Batch 11 weighs in at 57.9% Alc./Vol and comes bottled non-chill filtered.

Mitchell's Glengyle Ltd. are very proud to be continuing and adding to the great Campbelltown Distilling tradition and the choice of the name reflects that. Kilkerran is derived from the Gaelic 'Ceann Loch Cille Chiarain' which is the name of the original settlement where Saint Kieran had his relgious cell and Campbeltown now stands. Kilkerran is thought to be suitable name for a new Campbeltown Malt since it was unusual for the old Campbeltown distillers to be called after a Glen, a custom more usually associated with the Speyside region. The seventh batch of Kilkerran's Heavily Peated was released in 2023. It has been matured in a combination of ex-Bourbon and ex-Sherry casks. This Heavily Peated Batch 8 single malt opens up to a nose that is slightly mineral, with peat smoke apparent from the outset and a malty cereal note. The palate is full of orchard fruits, apple blossoms and poached pear notes emerge, and the peat smoke becomes more prominent on the palate in notes of campfire embers. A long, sweet finish concludes this heavily peated dram. Note - item does not come with external tube. In the distillery's words: “It is our intention to reduce the amount of packaging we use across our group of companies, from Springbank and Kilkerran to William Cadenhead Ltd, and that any we do use is produced and procured as sustainably as possible."