Review by: Raygun

A 2021 bottling of this 21 year old from Knappogue Castle. The brand has been around a while, but like a lot of Irish whiskey sources its whiskey rather than distilling it. Knappogue Castle is a triple-distilled single malt, so Bushmills or Cooley are likely sources. As usual, they don’t share this information. Knappogue Castle was owned by Pernod Richard at the time of this bottling, and was sold to Cobblestone Brands earlier this year. Reviewed from a sample thanks to dustbunna. Rested for 15 minutes.

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Distillery: Unknown 

Bottler: Knappogue Castle 

Region/style: Irish single malt whiskey 

ABV: 46%

Age: 21 years old. Released in 2021.  

Cask type: Bourbon barrels

Color: 1.1 burnished. Probably colored but non-chill-filtered.

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Nose: Furniture wax, apples, pears, and cereal. Light but pleasant. Toffee and a touch of nuttiness. Does very well with a few drops of water. More toffee and some vanilla ice cream. A slightly vegetal element.         

Palate: Woody and with more furniture wax. Cereal and some vanilla. Apples and pears again, but now there’s more of a hard cider aspect. Caramel comes out, too. It felt a little flat at first, but opens up nicely with time. The oak is pretty pronounced. Green tea and hazelnuts. Now I feel like I can pin down the vegetal flavor a bit better: roasted eggplant.  

Finish: Woodshop, furniture wax, and now a little orange joining the apple and pear, still with the cidery flavors. Not as lively as the palate. Better with a little water here, too. Getting the hazelnuts and ice cream. Reminding me of hazelnut and vanilla gelato. Toasted sesame seeds.    

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Conclusion: I wasn’t expecting a whole lot, and it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. I’ve tried one Knappogue Castle before, either the 12 or 14. Clearly wasn’t that memorable. This is very nice, and especially pops with a few drops of water. Good representation of triple distilled Irish single malt, and I like that it’s all bourbon aged. Shows off the fruit, cereal, and nutty flavors well. I bet it would be something special at cask strength. It does come across a little light at 46%. It’s a little hard to swallow at $200+ when there’s so much cask strength Scotch of similar age available in that price range.

Score: 84

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Scoring Legend:

• 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
• 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category. (Kavalan Solist Manzanilla)
• 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram. (Kavalan Solist Vinho Barrique)
• 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff. (Green Spot Chateau Leoville Barton)
• 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting. (Amrut Peated CS)
• 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better. (Taketsuru Pure Malt)
• 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink. (Hakushu Distiller’s Reserve)
• 50-59: Save it for mixing. (Bushmills 10 Malt)
• 0-49: Blech.