Auchentoshan American Oak
The Lowland region of Scotland makes the Campbeltown region look crowded with distilleries. While encompassing a large area on the map, this region is only home to a few operating distilleries. This may be due to a large portion of the population being located in the south and thus not suitable for distilleries, as they need rather pure ingredients. That being said, the few distilleries that are there are doing well and making an effort in the market. Auchentoshan in particular has garnered positive reviews and offers a respectable stable of offerings, both in their regular and special editions. Their main range has a respectable 12, 18 and 21 year old, plus a triple wood and this American Oak, aged in first-fill American bourbon oak casks. We reviewed the Auchentoshan Classic but felt this distillery deserved more attention.
Balvenie 14 Year Caribbean Cask
One of the things Balvenie likes to do in its standard offerings besides various age statements is experiment with different cask finishes. Unlike other whiskys, who often use a cask finish for their NAS releases, Balvenie displays both age and finish. Unlike some distillers, who buy their ex-wine or spirit barrels from around the world, Balvenie takes American oak casks and chooses the West Indian rums (i.e. Cuba, but renamed to get past picky U.S. import law) that fill them. The master distiller chooses when these barrels are ready to empty and be filled with the 14 year old whisky for finishing. How does the smoothness of the base whisky mix with the rum casks?
Knappogue Castle 12 Year
This Irish distillery has an interesting story. A derelict castle was bought by Mark Edwin Andrews, former Assistant Secretary of the United States Navy, and his wife Lavonne in 1966. The Andrews collected whiskey from the Daly Distillery and eventually brought to market. While the castle was repurchased by Ireland in 1996, the castle’s namesake whiskey is still produced today by a company run by Andrews’ son. The Knappogue Castle 12 Year is the youngest of a line featuring several age statements.