January 2010 - Monthly Feature - 1995 Knappogue CastleWhiskey
Single Malt Whiskey
Single malts are the royalty of whiskeys, and Knappogue Castle adds an Irish single malt to this exclusive club. Our single malt vintages are distilled in copper pot stills using only malted barley, aged in oak casks, then bottled according to the year of distillation. To preserve the integrity of our vintages, a limited number of the finest casks are selected.
  
Color
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.
Comment
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.
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