53.9% ABV. / 700ml
Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Cask No. 700307, A. D. Rattray Cask Collection.
Distilled at Knockdhu, 12 Years Old, Cask Type: Bourbon Barrel, Cask No: 700307, Date Distilled: 06.05.2009, Date Bottled: 23.09.2021, Number of Bottles: 195, Cask strength: 53.9%, Un-chill filtered, Natural colour.
Cask Notes; A stripped-back, refill barrel from the home of AnCnoc, exhibiting trademark notes of fresh pineapple and spearmint.
Appearance
This whisky is light white wine in colour, the swirl line on my Copita is quite thick and syrupy, and it drops lovely thick legs.
Nose
Initially it’s a mixture of sweet fruitiness and evergreen boughs. Green grapes, pineapple, lemonade, and fruit cocktail really do mix nicely with the wood. Plums start to come through, with a real icing sugar sweetness, and waiting in the background are faint hazelnuts and raisins.
Waiting longer seems to bring out a spiciness, with hints of black pepper, and lychees with cereals.
Palate
The mouthfeel is ok, not overly oily, but those potential spices from the nose are all here on the palate. Plenty of cinnamon, bitter lemon, then early cigar leaves, golden syrup, cheesecake base, and milky coffee.
More time and darker spicy notes come through. Figs, anise add to the spiciness, and black cherries carry it along too, I’d even say cloves arrive late on, with cask char.
Finish
The finish is long side of medium, and for me is a wonderful interplay of the sweetness and spices this dram brings, neither dominate, they bounce from one to the other. Guava, chocolate covered raisins, and dried apricots, with a black pepper tingle right at the very end.
My thoughts
If you know anything about me from my posts on social media, you’ll know i’m very much into independently bottled whiskies, for several reasons. I also make it clear that i do enjoy whiskies bottled by A.D.Rattray, and this is another bottle i bought from them.
The reason for purchasing this bottle is that doing whisky tastings as The Whisky Chaps on Twitter with my Whisky partner @whiskeychap, i has become apparent that whisky from the Knockdhu distillery (Ancnoc) is generally very good. This bottling is a naked offering from Knockdhu, and i just couldn’t resist purchasing it, and i’m very pleased i did.
The nose and palate offer plenty to enjoy, in my opinion it really is a pleasant fruity/spicy dram, with plenty of depth and roundedness. At £67, with free delivery and a free sample of something else from their current stock i think it’s a winner, and i don’t honestly expect it to last too long here.
