Review by: dustbunna
Distillery: Knockdhu.
Bottler: Distillery bottling.
Region: Speyside, Scotland.
ABV: 54%.
Age: NAS. Bottled in 2015.
Cask type: ex-bourbon/ex-sherry vatting.
Price: $55 USD for 750mL.
Natural Color. Non-chill-filtered.
Bottle open across approx. 8 months, notes taken leisurely across that period. Bold notes taken beneath the shoulder (consistent throughout the life of the bottle.)
Nose: eucalyptus, wet wood, savory herbs, lime zest, Magic Marker.
Palate: full body ~ nose follows through with more wood, herbs and lime zest, honey, clay.
Finish: medium-long ~ savory again, herbed sausage, more eucalyptus, mint.
Thoughts: A friend in a local whisky group shared this higher-strength anCnoc with me, and I remember my first impression being “I don’t know if I like this, but I’ve also never tasted Scotch that’s quite like this.” So, when I found a dusty bottle in a shop for a very reasonable price, I decided that it’d be good to sit with it for longer and see what I thought of it over time. To my surprise, I didn’t find the whisky changing much over time, but my relationship with the whisky absolutely did. I ended up really enjoying and appreciating this; I’ve enjoyed other malts from Knockdhu, but it’s not really ever been a go-to because the ones readily available (like the standard anCnoc 12yr and some other NAS bottlings) are relatively low ABV and there’s not a ton of information about them.
Blas (Scots Gaelic for taste) was a limited edition that made much out of Knockdhu’s collaboration with fashion designer Patrick Grant, who designed the artwork on the bottle. That’s about as tenuous a connection with the contents of the bottle as some of the ridiculous Macallan Edition collaborations were, but it doesn’t matter to me because the liquid inside is really quite nice. For me it’s differentiated from most sherry/bourbon vattings by way of the funky, intriguing nature of the distillate, which I really grew to like. The mineralic and herbal/savory notes, with an absence of peat and relatively little fruit or traditional cask notes, make this taste fresh and surprising (and I can’t say I’ve ever found the scent of a Magic Marker in a whisky before!) I’m going to have to find more from this distillery to explore; this one’s a bit austere, and not always a bottle I’d want to reach for, but in the vast landscape of what’s available it’s really fun to find whiskies that truly set themselves apart in terms of taste.
Final Score: 84.
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 