cascode
Knockando 21 Year Master Reserve (1994)
Single Malt — Speyside, Scotland
Reviewed
May 1, 2020 (edited September 16, 2022)
Nose: Malt, caramel, pencil shavings, dunnage floor, dry hay, milk chocolate, coffee grounds, old furniture. Over time it gains a buttered toast aroma. Very laid-back and suave. [The dry-glass aroma is strong maple syrup with a little vanilla and milk chocolate]
Palate: Dark malt extract dissolved in strong, cold black tea. Marmalade, dark chocolate, black coffee, toasted almonds, tobacco, licorice and a little oak come forward in the development. There are some notes in the palate that remind me of porter or stout, but it's not particularly ale-like, and there is also a hint of walnut bread. The texture is creamy but dry. Water expands the background oak too much and spoils the balance.
Finish: Medium. Dry, but not hard or astringent. A warm dryness. Nutty and earthy with a final faint sweet note.
The nose on this is dry and it's entirely composed of dark, weighty malt aromas. There are no estery floral or fruit top-notes, no phenolic smoke whatsoever and no creosol maritime or mineral character. There is a sherry presence but it's subdued and not overly sweet.
The palate is earthy, malty and has a lot of strong flavours like tobacco and black coffee, but they are reserved and almost aloof at first. This is a very quiet whisky that takes a good while to open up and in several ways it reminds me of Glenfarclas. The main difference is that this has a dark chocolate and coffee personality whereas Glenfarclas has a fragrant heart of sandalwood and honeysuckle.
This whisky is like a painting executed entirely in earth-tones. I was uncertain at the start but it really grew on me as I tasted it. In fact I was enjoying investigating it so much I almost forgot to leave enough to try with water. I did remember just in time, but to be honest I wish I hadn't. This is much nicer neat.
Tasted from a 30ml sample.
Would I buy a bottle of this at the asking price of $165? No probably not, but I wouldn't turn down a pour of it and it has certainly made me interested in exploring more of their expressions. It has character.
"Good" : 84/100 (3.75 stars)
165.0
AUD
per
Bottle
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Dang, the 12 (or 15) sounds worth trying if I can find it. Thanks for the tip @cascode !
@ContemplativeFox @CKarmios Knockando 12 is a sort of semi-vintage release at a lower price than the 21 and 18 year old. I found a bottle of the 2003 distillation not long ago and it is reputed to be quite good (not opened it yet), and there was a 15 year old that was also well reviewed. Interestingly, Serge Valentin has rated almost everything from Knockando from 80-84 over the years, and it's not age related. The 12 and 15 generally get the best scores, and the 12 is way cheaper than this 21 year old - probably around US$40-50
It sounds pretty good and I do like Farclas, but that price just seems a bit too high :( I've been interested to try this distillery for a while though and I'd definitely go for a sample if I found one.
@Soba45 @cascode Just saw this at my local, priced at €78. My initial thought was 'for a 21 year old?' My second thought was 'check Distiller' and here we are.
Yeah wasn't an overly complex or exciting dram just a solid straight up and down affair which isn't always a bad thing. There are a bunch of these older, bourbon primarily for mixing low abv ones out there, Aberfeldy 21 and others which I see you've been working your way though recently :-)