Knappogue Castle 21 year old Irish single malt

At 46%abv, triple-distilled Knappogue Castle is my preferred contemporary version of the Bushmills single malt; if it's still being sourced from Bushmills. My nose tells me that at least TPS's excellent 12yo single cask was from The Ulster, and it reports the same about today's limited edition 21 year old.

I got pretty excited about seeing this release, as well as Tullamore Dew's 18yo, just before Covid crashed, but I paused (as always) at the prices. The TD18 is around $120 but is watered down to 41.3%abv, while this 46%abv KC21 is $200. They both had limited outturns, though KC21 comes from only first-fill bourbon barrels, while the TD18 was fashioned from five cask types.

Though I haven't sourced a sample of Tullamore Dew 18, I did get in on a wee bottle split of the Knappogue Castle.

Brand: Knappogue County
Owner: Castle Brands, Inc.
Distillery: Old Bushmills Distillery (probably)
Location: County Antrim, Northern Ireland
Type: Single Malt
Distillations: Three
Age: minimum 21 years
Maturation: first-fill bourbon barrels
Outturn: 1,200 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Chillfiltered? No
Colorant added? Maybe?
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

Well, hey, if you told me this was the 12yo single cask, I would have believed you. There's a fruit basket in the nose: apples, pears, honeydew and apricots. Confectioner's sugar, honey and vanilla bean in the midground. Brine and mint leaves in the background. At 40%abv dilution indeed dilutes. There are some flowers, peach skins, apricot skins and lots of vanilla.

The palate is where the 21 splits from the 12. There's a combination of tannin, vanilla and apricots that's reminiscent of an oaky American chardonnay. The rest of the fruits — like tart lemons, pears and nectarines — are in the background. With time the tannins recede, while vanilla, honey and a hint of malt take over. The palate does not fade away once the whiskey is reduced to 40%abv. Oak spice and vanilla are up front, while lemons, apricots and toasted cashews are in the back.

During the early sips, the oak remains calm in the finish. Pears, nectarines and flowers make up most of the show. But after 20-30 minutes, bitter oak creeps in. Diluted to 40%abv, the whiskey's finish gets tarter and fills with vanilla.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

First-fill bourbon casks are at play here. Not virgin oak or teeny casks or refried barrels. First-fill berbin containers. Thus all the vanilla, moderate barrel char and honey notes. But I'm here for the fruits, and they're loudest and prettiest in the nose. They're available in the palate and finish but have to share the stage with the white oak. It's a nice experience overall, and I could sniff this stuff all day, but I liked that 12yo single cask slightly better. And that's if they were both $40...

Availability - USA and Europe
Pricing - $190-$250
Rating - 84

Three Port Charlotte casks from Malts of Scotland

(Port Charlotte cluster homepage)

Whew. I'm back. I don't recommend moving. I've done it twenty-two times, so just take my word for it.

I'm returning to the Port Charlotte cluster today, as I type up this recap of a tasting I did before the Rosebank tasting at the old house. We're now fully into indie territory with a trio of single casks issued by the German bottler, Malts of Scotland. MoS has released 20+ Port Charlotte casks from the 2001-2004 vintages, with most of them enjoying cask comfort for a decade or more before dumping. Here are three examples:

Port Charlotte 10 year old 2001 Malts of Scotland, sherry hogshead #12039, 63.3%abv

The giant enormous thunderous big nose offers note after note after note. Plum skins, walnuts, very dark chocolate, dunnage, barley(!), Benedictine liqueur, milk chocolate, toffee and ocean water meet, merge, swirl, separate and then meet again. The whisky seems to find my attempt to reduce it to 50%abv comical, as it changes directions but doesn't calm down, spilling Underberg, orange peels, raspberry jam and butterscotch into a leaf fire. And still, the dunnage note persists.

The hot but navigable palate issues forth dark smoke, dunnage, industrial grease. The barn's on fire, again. This may be the tarriest whisky I've ever tasted. It's still a WOW at 50%abv, keeping most of the same notes, especially the dunnage, industry and tar. It's gained oranges and an herbal bitterness.

The extensive finish is herbal, earthy, tarry, farmy and bitter. After the whisky is diluted to 50%abv the finish doesn't change much, other than taking on more citrus and dunnage.

Bigger and better than any of the Octomores I've tried, this fabulous whisky has a power, complexity and unique style that triggers my old feelings about the early Corryvreckans. You may enjoy this whisky with water, without water, with me, without me. Whatever. Congrats to you lucky stinkers who got your hands on this lovely stinker eight years ago.

RATING - 91

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Port Charlotte 11 year old 2001 Malts of Scotland, sherry hogshead #13052, 58.2%abv

This is a much different creature than the 10yo 2001. The nose is calmer, focused more on nuts, iodine and smoked fish. Some earth and stones in there as well. Hints of tahini and copper. A peach skin note develops over time. Reducing the whisky to 50%abv brings out more toasted nuts (pecans and almonds), and a hint of cannabis. Less fish, more dried herbs. Hints of brine and barley.

Walnuts, raw pecans, chickpeas, gravel and hay on the palate. It gets nuttier with time, while also taking on bitter herbs, salt and kiln. Dropping the abv to 50% gives it a good balance of bitter, sweet and salt, with a mix of chiles, nuts and mellow smoke in the background.

Early sips result in a finish full of kiln, hay and menthol. Bitter herbs and salted almonds appear in later sips. It takes on more citrus, bitterness and smoke once the whisky is reduced to 50%abv.

Perhaps suffering in the matchup, this whisky is a wee kitten compared to the 10yo 2001. It does have a solid nutty sherry side to it, and a good balance. There's something very Islay about the nose, which is never a bad thing, and the palate has some fight to it. It's a very good early winter pour, though Serge thinks more highly of it than I do.

RATING - 88

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Port Charlotte 13 year old 2002 Malts of Scotland, bourbon barrel #15011, 55.4%abv

The nose begins with a mix of cold kiln and mossy smoke, then toasted barley and a hint of eau de vie. Mint leaves, cucumber skins and cotton candy fill out the background. After 20 minutes, the drinker is greeted by cow patties (freshly issued!). Once the whisky is diluted to 50%abv, the nose is all ocean and farm, with orange peel in the background.

The spirit-driven palate offers graceful peat, dried herbs, dried flowers and grapefruits. There's bitter chocolate, soot, metal and lemons in the midground, a subtle sweetness in the background. Reducing the abv to 50% brings out a lot more fresh stone and orchard fruits, keeping only bitter chocolate and peat moss in the midground.

It finishes with soot, kiln, serrano pepper, lemons and a creamy sweetness. At 50%abv, there's mossy, leafy smoke. Then limes and cannabis (hello again).

Though the oldest of the three, this whisky reads the youngest, perhaps due to a quieter cask. Though it's more complex when neat, I prefer its simplicity and focus at 50%abv. I like it quite a bit, but again it's in some tough company today. Ruben was more hot to trot for this one than I was.

RATING - 88

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It was fun, and a little exhausting, to try three different Port Charlotte styles from one bottler. The 10yo 2001 is right up with the PC7 as my favorite pours from this cluster so far. I'm going to review some softer whiskies (I can hear you booing from here) before returning to older Port Charlottes next week. Stay tuned!

Goodbye Rosebank

Two months after returning from our Scotland trip, Kristen and I named our new house, Rosebank (because Ladyburn sounded like a shaving mishap). Our eyes had gone wide upon learning we could pay less for triple the square footage in central Ohio compared to Long Beach, CA, so the house was always going to be too big. There were rooms for which we never found a consistent use over five years, and we quickly discovered that having more space and more things was more of a problem than a solution to anything.

The silence and darkness across large houses like Rosebank make them feel haunted at times. My parents had a cold, dark house for over decade, and while I'm sure one can conjure all sorts or figurative things out of that, there was something palpably heavy and unwelcoming about that space. Kristen and I never wanted our home to be like that.

Rosebank was full of character. My home office had great acoustics, but less-than-great airflow. The sunroom was the prettiest room in any home I've lived. Much of the last few years were spent at the kitchen's island, as it made for an office (despite the actual one nearby), living room (despite the actual one nearby), dining room (despite the actual one nearby) and playroom (despite the actual one nearby). Deer, groundhogs, skunks and more bird species than I've ever seen passed through our backyard. 

But it is time to depart Rosebank. The boxes that have surrounded me for two weeks have only underscored my discomfort with constant accumulation. So it can difficult to see the whisky bottles as anything but overwhelming right now. There will be more words on that issue in 2022, when I'll be much wiser about the universe and more confident about the future.

Moving on from the sort of content I'd just announced I was uncomfortable about, how about a whisky review? For my final tasting at Rosebank, I am going pour my final sample of Rosebank single malt. Thank you to St. Brett who shared a bit from his bottle of the 2011 Special Release, a 21 year old, distilled in 1990.

Distillery: Rosebank
Ownership: Diageo
Range: Special Releases
Region: Lowlands
Age: at least 21 years old (1990-2011)
Maturation: refill American and European Oak Casks
Outturn: 5,886 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 53.8%

NOTES

It has a springtime nose. Limes, honey, wildflowers, jasmine. Nectarine skins and cantaloupe juice. And, yes, roses. It also has a dash of an industrial oil, similar to Midleton's Powers pot still style. The nose gets more aggressive once the whisky is reduced to 46%abv. There's a mix of lemon and grass (but not lemongrass), then peaches and fresh thyme, on top. But there's a distinct artificial floral note, like that of dryer sheets, in the background.

Simpler than the nose, the palate is full of honey, orange candy and tart apples, with hints of malt, vanilla bean, jasmine and herbs in the back. Diluting it to 46%abv turns the palate very very tart and slightly tannic, with some moderate sweetness and vanilla in the mix.

It finishes with tart apples, honey and clementines. Moderately sweet, with a touch of American oak. Reducing the whisky to 46%abv, matches the finish to the palate.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Very pretty when neat, edgier with water, the whisky is at its best on the nose. It's casual and friendly on the palate, but doesn't register the same glee as the nose. Though it would lose in a matchup with last week's Littlemill, this Rosebank would be another great May afternoon sipper. And that is all. The Rosebank experience doesn't end in a song.

Availability - Secondary market
Pricing - $260 was the 2011 SRP, it's quadrupled or quintupled in price in the decade since then
Rating - 86 (neat)

Two Port Charlotte private casks

(Port Charlotte cluster homepage)

Once upon a time, Bruichladdich distillery offered up private casks for all, right on their website. Those of you who went ahead and bought your own are some lucky sons of bi......rhting people (yeah, birthing people, that's the ticket). Those of you who bought your own casks of Port Charlotte, um, can we be friends?

I was very lucky to get in on bottle splits from two private Port Charlotte casks, both distilled in 2003, both from sherry hogsheads. It's the closest I'll ever get to the glory.

Port Charlotte 12 year old 2003, sherry hogshead #863, bottled by the distillery, 50%abv

The nose's two elements merge well. Peat, smoked fish, beach air and rotting kelp on one side. Plums, fruity cinnamon and cherry jam on the other. Hints of gunpowder and charred veg dot the background. Reducing it a little to 46%abv slightly calms the cask influence. More kiln and dried herb notes. Some mint and anise. Strawberry bubblegum!

The palate is SALTY, then smoky. Slightly meaty. Ah, cherry cola (complete with a fizziness). It gets much sweeter with time, developing notes of dried cherries and berries, as the cask moves to the front. It's much bitterer when diluted to 46%abv. It has a sharp raw bite and lots of soot, sort of Ardbeggish. Hints of almond extract and burnt raisins appear after a while.

It finishes sweet and smoky, and hotter than expected. Dried cranberries floating in Cherry Coke. Again, reducing it to 46%abv toughens it up. Burnt raisins, rooty bitterness and salty smoke remain.

I love how the cask and spirit play together in the nose, though it's more chaotic in the palate. In fact the palate's massive transition brought about with minimal dilution is a bit startling. The cask disappears and the whisky's age seems to get cut in half, if not a third. It's a bit wild overall, and one wonders if it was bottled at this age out of fear of a dropping abv, rather than the whisky being fully ready. It's still pretty good but it has a tough sparring partner.

RATING - 85 (neat only)

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Port Charlotte 14 year old 2003, refill sherry hogshead #857, bottled by the Whiskybroker, 60%abv

The nose has at least three different gears. First, there's heavy smoke, seaweed, spun sugar and cherry jam. Next, it shifts to dried cherries and dried blueberries, almond butter and dark chocolate. Then, 30+ minutes in, the smoke eases off leaving behind a kind of toffee brittle. Reducing the whisky to 50% brings focus. Less cask, more spirit. Diesel, seaweed, smoked almonds and iodine.

There's less smoke in the palate than the nose. Rather it's grounded in earth and minerals, with hints of ginger ale and lemon juice, all wrapped in a gentle orchard fruit sweetness. It's very approachable for 60%abv. Dropping the ABV to 50% brings out wood smoke, brine and a touch of herbal bitterness. The sweetness remains mild, and picks up a slight metallic side.

The finish is magically less hot than its 12yo 50%abv sibling. It has a great balance of earth, minerals, nuts, citrus and sweetness. Diluting the whisky to 50%abv results in a finish that matches the palate, with little more savoriness.

A great cask. Though the nose is more complex, the palate is probably flawless. I adore the way its elements work together, and how welcoming it is despite its high strength. I cannot imagine having an entire freaking cask of whisky like this. Kudos to all involved.

RATING - 90

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There must be some of you out there who've tried (or owned!) a Port Charlotte private cask. What was your experience? Has anyone tried the bloodtubs of ancient lore? Please comment below because I would like to live vicariously through you.

Assessing the Port Charlotte cluster at the halfway point

(Port Charlotte cluster homepage)

I'm enjoying this Port Charlotte cluster a lot more than the Kilchoman cluster. It's not just because the whiskies are better so far, but I like the once-a-week pacing. Though someone did suggest I speed up the Port Charlotte reviews, spacing out the tastings has kept me from getting burned out on these cask strength hammers. Sorry about that, Anonymous!

Port Charlotte single malt is not as "brutalist" as I'd remembered it to be. Only one of the whiskies has been "jagged and stark" (my words from the intro), specifically the PC5, understandably a bruiser at 63.5%abv and 5 years of age. Instead, there has been a variety of styles, with different mixes of fruits and nuts and complex phenolics appearing in each whisky. I'm quite smitten with a seaweed + miso note that keeps appearing, especially when it's countered by bright fruits.

The high quality of the PC series was no surprise, and I'm disappointed that Rémy Cointreau ended it. There would have been an audience for a PC or two made with the excellent Islay Barley malt, once the warehouses had enough stock. I don't mind enjoying the great Islay Barley vintages at their 50%abv release strength, but the "what ifs" won't go away.

Sadly, I cannot provide any consistency with my Port Charlotte + Wine Cask takes. Sometimes I want more cask variety, sometimes less. That's why I cannot be against all wine (or non-sherry fortified wine) cask releases. Sometimes, when a good blending team has the right casks and the right recipe, a balance is struck and a new complex whisky is born. Without those elements, the whisky results in one of those gruesome indie Murray McDavid single cask products.

Speaking of Murray McDavid (segue!), I'm hesitant to opine on who did Port Charlotte better: Mark Reynier's MMcD or Big Rémy. All of this cluster's whisky was distilled by Murray McDavid, while all but one of the non-PCs were bottled by Rémy, and all but one of the PCs were bottled by Murray McDavid. So there's a lot of crossover.

One thing has been consistent about these 13 whiskies; they were all official bottlings. It's time go older and off-road with the next 11 Port Charlottes. There will be indies, unique officials and a lot of teenage(!) single malt. I'm even opening up two of......hold on I'm getting the vapors......my bottles for the final week. 

<10yo Port Charlotte was great, will >10yo be even better?

Pair 'a Mhors, or Two Glen Mhors

Yes, I know it's pronounced "Vor", you party poopers.

These two samples of Glen Mhor were obtained from Los Angeles Scotch Club events several years ago., and they've been staring up at me from the stash ever since. So, in continuing honor of Mathilda's seventh birthday the whiskies are being consumed.

I didn't like my sample photos, so I cobbled the above image from
these two Whiskybase sites:
here and here.

Glen Mhor 1965-1997 Gordon & MacPhail, 40%abv

The nose starts with whole wheat bread and Sambuca. Toffee and sesame oil follow next, then hints of smoke and mothballs. With time, the anise note switches to Good 'n Plenty candies .

Massive oaky bitterness weighs upon the entire palate. Somewhere in the middle there' s a spicy cigar's tobacco leaf wrapper. Hints of anise, eucalyptus and fig stay far beneath.

The small notes of cigar wrapper, eucalyptus and fig linger in to the finish, but tannins remain on top, and a mild sweetness sits in the middle.

This whisky was much darker than the other, which I thought was due to sherry casks or e150a. But perhaps it's from all that damned oak. Usually I criticize under-baked whiskies, but this one is over-baked to the point that it reminds me of Diageo's Orphan Barrel bourbons. Luckily, this one's intriguing nose and slight figginess lift it above, say, Forged Oak.

RATING - 80

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Glen Mhor 28 year old 1976 Rare Malts, 51.9%abv

Candy shop, Sauvignon blanc, grilled pears and apple cider fill the nose, with softer notes of citrussy honey and saltwater taffy peeking out from the background.

Heather, stony minerals and lime lead the crisp palate. Subtle notes of croissant(!) and chile oil develop with time. Zero sweetness here.

It finishes with minerals, chile oil, flower petals and lime. Maybe a hint of smoke.

This is what happens when the casks don't overpower the spirit. It's bright but lean, reading like a cousin of yesterday's Littlemill, which is good company to keep. This Rare Malts series continues to live up to its reputation. I really did get into whisky a couple years too late.

RATING - 88

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This illustrates how cask selection and warehouse management, rather than distillery "style", can determine a whisky's characteristics. In this case, it's difficult to believe these two whiskies came from the same distillery. One is all tannins and tobacco, while the other is crisply citrus and minerals. I'll always favor the latter.

Mathilda Malt: Littlemill 25 year old 1988 for K&L

As mentioned in Friday's post, my older daughter, Mathilda, just turned seven. To celebrate each of her previous birthdays on the blog, I've lavished praise upon her and then reviewed a Littlemill. At some point soon, I'll run out of Littlemill samples, which will be a beautiful thing because that will mean I have enjoyed a lot of Littlemills.

But I don't feel comfortable writing extensively about my family right now. This would still be the case if I knew all of you personally. I used to freely and publicly write about personal matters, sometimes right here on this blog, but things are not as they once were. I feel very protective of the Rube Goldberg machine that is my internal life, and even more protective of my remarkable daughters.

In high school I had a habit of calling one of my best buddies on the phone to tell him when I couldn't hang out. This is the same. Hello, I can't talk right now, though I am thinking of you.

But I can write about this whisky I tasted. So in honor of the seventh birthday of the most fascinating and complex person I have ever met, here's a Littlemill!

Distillery: Littlemill

Region: Lowlands

Independent Bottler: Creative Whisky Company

Range: Exclusive Malts

Age: 25 years (7 November 1988 - 2014)

Maturation: ???
Cask #: 8
Outturn: 298 bottles

Exclusive to: K&L Wine Merchants

Alcohol by Volume: 54.9%

(Thanks again to Brett for the sample!)

NOTES

White peaches, roses, pears and tangerines fill the nose's foreground, while honey and damp moss drift through the background. The nose shifts once the whisky is reduced to 46%abv, as notes of toffee, oak spice and malt move to the fore. Jasmine, peach ice cream and lychee gummies sneak in around the edges.

The palate starts with a lovely combination of hay, honeycomb, roasted cashews and shortbread biscuits, then slowly develops notes of lychee, bitter citrus peel and peach skins. A little more herbal bitterness appears once the whisky is diluted to 46%abv, as does some more heat and sweetness, with minerals and melon rind in the background.

It finishes with honey, shortbread and lychee, though with only tiny bit of sweetness. The bitter citrus peel gives it a nice zing. At 46%abv, it picks up roses, orange juice and a hint of minerals.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Continuous fruit and countryside (no manure) notes result in another excellent Littlemill experience. It's a late spring / early summer whisky to enjoy outside, maybe with some early Miles calling out from a Bluetooth speaker. Yes, I wish I'd pre-ordered this whisky back when it was priced the same as a single cask bottle of six-year-old Kilchoman. But having tried this Littlemill fills me with a grateful feeling that far outweighs the regret.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - $140 at pre-order, then $160
Rating - 90