Knappogue Castle 1995

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The latest vintage in this award-winning series of Irish single malts was distilled by Bushmils in 1995 and bottled in 2007, the oldest release to date. The Whiskey has a pale golden color, a lingering silkiness on the palate.

Irish whiskey distinguishes itself in many ways from Scotch whisky, which is double distilled, and from American whiskey, single distillation, by being triple distilled, and unlike Scotch whisky does not use peat to dry the hops, and thus has no smoky elements. However, Knappogue Castle Irish Whiskey further distinguishes itself by being one of the few single malt Irish whiskeys, as most whiskeys in Ireland are made from a blend.

The whiskey is named after the Mark Edwin Andrews family castle in Ireland. Triple distilled in 1995 in small batches in copper pot stills, aged in bourbon casks without any color added, and bottled in 2007, the 1995 Knappoque Castle Irish Whiskey, 40% ABV, which bears the signature of Mark Andrews.

Colour: Pale golden color, derived entirely from long maturation in bourbon oak casks. Aroma: Very well balanced, clean fresh citrus and floral notes, complex mellow aromas of malt, perfumy oils, honey/vanilla with medium intensity. Touch of toasted wood also. Taste: Really mellow and well rounded, very well balanced, medium intensity, sweetish complex taste incorporating the aromas above—malt, citrus, vanilla, perfumy oils, definite toasted wood notes. Comments: The 1995 Knappogue has more bourbon barrel wood character than the 1994, which serves to increase the taste complexity and makes the whiskey that bit more mellow and rounded. Malt whiskey purists will sometimes argue that malts are best matured in old, many times used casks to minimize the wood influence on the malt, thus allowing the “true distillery character” to be clearly tasted. However, others will argue that the interaction of the pure malt spirit with the wood extractives available in a fairly fresh cask will serve to add to the overall taste experience—since it adds to the complexity of the taste—and this would be my own view. I think the Knappogue Castle 1995, with its greater wood influence is a nicely judged advance from the 1994 in terms of its overall taste experience.

Tasting note by Barry Walsh