Review by: dustbunna
Distillery: Unknown (rumored Bushmills or Midleton.)
Bottler: Knappogue Castle.
Region: Shannon, Ireland.
ABV: 46%.
Age: 21 years. Bottled in 2021.
Cask type: First-fill ex-bourbon.
Price: $110 USD for 750mL at auction.
A drop of color likely added. Non-chill-filtered.
Bottle open across approx. 10 months, notes taken leisurely across that period. Bold notes taken beneath the shoulder, regular-formatted notes taken further into the bottle past the halfway point, italicized notes taken towards the heel.
Nose: toffee, milk chocolate, caramel, red and green apples, old papers, apple blossoms, wet grass, hint of lemon drop candy, fresh custard, green apple candy.
Palate: rich and full ~ more toffee, pepper, orchard fruits with leaves and twigs, more green apple candy, fresh-cut flowers, honeysuckle, vanilla cream, clover honey, magnolias, green shoots.
Finish: medium-long ~ rich caramel, more apple blossoms, something metallic in the background, a funky, dusty malt note emerges, earth, spun sugar.
Thoughts: Knappogue Castle’s releases use 100% malted barley, and so lean a little closer to the Scottish style than traditional pot still malted/unmalted Irish mashbills. Scouring the internet, this release appears to feature distillate from either Bushmills or Midleton, and most of what I’ve read suggests Bushmills. The initial 2018 release was a marriage of two 1994 and 1996 ex-bourbon casks; this one being bottled in 2021, I expect they kept the same cask makeup but used casks on hand filled closer to 2000.
This is fantastic Irish whiskey, heavy on the apples, caramel, honey, and fresh flowers with lots of tertiary notes in the background. The mouthfeel and depth of flavor are great, though it took a few months to really start showing at its best, which I find often happens with older ex-bourbon malt. By a pretty wide margin, I think this is the most engaging bottle of Irish I’ve owned. I’d love to have more of it around, but I won this bottle at a local auction for nearly half its current RRP, and it’s hard to imagine spending $200+ just to keep it on the cart.
Final Score: 88.
Scoring Legend:
- 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
- 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
- 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
- 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
- 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
- 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
- 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
- 50-59: Save it for mixing.
- 0-49: Blech.
Malt Runners 