Kirkland Speyside 24 Years Sherry Finish Review

Alexander Murray bottled this Kirkland Speyside 24 years Sherry Finish for Costco in July of 2021. It hit the shelves a couple months later and immediately made a splash. A 24-year-old, sherried, Single Malt Scotch, with that color, and priced around $70… how could it not? Here in SoCal it kept selling out as soon as it hit the shelves and took me until November to luckily snag a bottle.

AM also supplies Trader Joe’s with their signature whisky and, like with Kirkland, if what you value is a big number on a bottle you can score some good values on whisky. Sometimes the whisky is good, though often I find it to be mediocre at best; there’s a reason those long-aged whiskies are so cheap. That lack of consistent quality has dimmed my view of AM a bit over the years.

At our Malt Nuts: Peated Bruichladdich Part 2, the Alexander Murray Bruichladdich was simply abysmal. It was so bad I had to open my own to confirm the blind and it was even worse when I could see it and the wasted $$ staring back at me. At our Malt Nuts: Ledaig Part 5 the 20 yo Ledaig was ok… but you really want more than just ok for $200. Same with the Laphroaig from the Young Laphroaig Tasting 2.

That’s not to say I haven’t enjoyed some AM bottles. The 2000 Alexander Murray Ardmore 13 Years was tasty and I enjoyed the 1995 Faultline Mortlach 22 Year Old quite a bit, so it’s not all bleek. And, on the whole, where I’ve experienced AM dropping the ball the most is around their retailers lines for stores like like Costco and Trader Joe’s. It doesn’t really matter what’s in the bottle, especially if it has a big number on the front, because it’ll sell regardless.

So where will this Kirkland Speyside 24 years Sherry Finish land on the scale? I’m suspicious at the 20+ year age statement and sub $100 price, but you never know till you pop the cork and get to drinkin’. So here we go.

Kirkland Speyside 24 years Sherry Finish – Details and Tasting Notes

Whiskey Details

Cask Strength | Non-Chill Filtered | Natural Color

Style: Single Malt (Scotch)
Region: Speyside, Scotland
Distiller: Unknown (guessing Glenrothes)

Mash Bill: 100% Malted Barley
Cask: ex-Bourbon, ex-Sherry
Age: 24 Years
ABV: 46%

Kirkland Speyside 24 years Sherry Finish Price: $70

Related Whiskey

Alexander Murray Monumental 30 Years
Trader Joe’s 23 yr Speyside Single Malt
Trader Joe’s 10 yr Highland Single Malt
Trader Joe’s Highland Malt Bourbon Cask Finish
Trader Joe’s Highland Scotch Rum Finish

White background tasting shot with the Kirkland Speyside 24 years Sherry Finish bottle and a glass of whiskey next to it.

“This Kirkland Signature 24-year-old Speyside Single Malt Scotch was aged in ex-bourbon barrels then finish for a minimum of thirty months in Olororos Shery casks. The result is a whisky that is dark amber in color with the aromas of Sherry and pineapple. It delivers a complex hint of dark rum with a baked orange rind finish.” – Costco

Kirkland Speyside 24 years Sherry Finish Tasting Notes

EYE
Rusty blood red

NOSE
Sherry, chocolate, dried dark fruit, xmas cake, gourmet licorice, roasted nuts and some baking spice.

Wow, ok. This is a dark, heavy, warm aroma that delivers on the complexity.

PALATE
Sherry, chocolate, gourmet licorice, nuts, fruit cake, vanilla frosting, malty sweetness, dried dark fruit, and some oak, leather and baking spice.

I’m very happy with this palate, this is tasty.

FINISH
Med-long -> Dark fruit, malt, cocoa, spice and oak drift out gently.

BALANCE, BODY and FEEL
Well balanced, med-full body and a soft easy feel.

Kirkland Speyside 24 years Sherry Finish – Overall Thoughts and Score

I was expecting a ton of this color to come from caramel coloring, but based on the smell and taste there is a lot of sherry influence in here. Did it come from super wet barrels? Was it all thanks to the 2.5 years Oloroso finish? A mix of the two? Who knows and I guess it doesn’t really matter because it’s good.

It reminds me a bit of those sherried Signatory Glenlivets you see on the market now and then. Different in overall presentation, but that’s the comparison I keep coming back to. On any given day this would be a good whiskey, but at the price the Kirkland Speyside 24 years Sherry Finish is offered it’s a freaking steal.

SCORE: 4/5 (good, definitely recommend ~ B+ | 87-89)