Wine

Knappogue Castle 17 Year Twin Wood

While the trend in cask finishes is not as prominent in Irish whiskies as they are in scotch, you can still find them. Knaggogue Castle put out a limited release, distilled in 1994 and bottled in 2011, featuring a spirit finished in sherry casks. The Knappogue Castle 16 spent a few short months being finished in ex-sherry casks, and this release extends that sherry maturation. The Knappogue Castle 17 Year is somewhat limited (our bottle proclaims it as number 104 out of 4500), it doesn’t carry the rarity or price of the truly limited releases from the distillery and finding a bottle isn’t terribly difficult. So far, at least!

By Adam | May 11, 2016 | Foreign | No Comments |

The name “Kavalan” refers to a Taiwanese ethnic group and means “people of the flatland.” This distillery is only ten years old, but made up for it hiring Ian Chang as master blender and Dr. James Swan to consult. Swan is also responsible for starting Penderyn, which we featured at 2014’s World Whisky Day, among other things. The Concertmaster is their second single malt release and their offerings have been garnering attention since 2010. By 2014, they’d amassed 100 gold medals from spirit competitions, including Best Whisky in the World at the 2015 World Whisky Awards (The Solist). We like the somewhat musical bent the names are taking. Is Kavalan Xylophone next?

By Adam | October 1, 2015 | Foreign | No Comments |

GlenDronach is known for crafting single malts that are richly sherried. Though the 14 Year Sauternes Cask we reviewed early last year is no longer offered, several others have been introduced (or reintroduced) to take it’s place. The GlenDronach 15 in particular has received a lot of positive attention, having been an excellent single malt from years ago recently brought back. Since we’d gone through a number of Sauternes finished whiskies, we decided to sample the sherry finish to compare.

By Adam | August 18, 2015 | Highland | 1 Comment |

Wine

Knappogue Castle 17 Year Twin Wood

Kavalan Concertmaster

GlenDronach 15 Year Revival