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1257 Kensington Road NW
1 (403) 283-8000 / atyourservice@kensingtonwinemarket.com
$134.99
This whisky was featured on Day 16 of our 2024 KWM Not An Advent Calendar Tastings! You can read more about the whisky here.
Don't anCnoc it till you've tried it! This 18 year old mystery peated Highland single malt Scotch is part of the Boutique-y Core Range, bottled at 45.8%. From a mix of ex-Bourbon, Oloroso, & PX Sherry casks. Rumour has it this is peated Knockdhu... very cool, and really well priced!
Producer Description
Elevate your senses with the remarkable complexity of our 18 Year Old Highland single malt, a masterful fusion of highland peat and sherry cask maturation that embodies the best of two worlds. From a marriage of ex-Bourbon, Oloroso, and Pedro Ximenez casks, savour the exquisite balance of smoke and sweetness that define its character. A small batch release of circa 1,000 litres each time Non chill-filtered, and natural cask matured colour.
About the Label
"Our label design settled for just the one deer, starting with a young buck, getting older, and more dignified, as the whiskies aged, finishing with the dominant stag who has been through some scapes in his life; older, wiser, and looks a little pissed with everything! Our Highland deer is a little more grown up once again, and has gained a few ‘pints’ on his antlers, and is now an Imperial Stage with 14 points…
"We love the expression on his face. he’s looking a even more serious this time.This is a now a very distinguished stag. Boutique-y Whisky artist, Emily Chappell, has captured our brief so perfectly, and has injected her magic into it, as usual. The colours of the labels reflect the colour palette of the Aurora Borealis, while the ‘wave pattern’ across all of the labels symbolises the way the Aurora Borealis is always moving in the sky, if you’ve been lucky enough to see it."
700 ml Low StockAndrew's Tasting Note
Nose: malty, fruity, and peaty, with decadent spice; chewy malt with ashy peat; juicy citrus notes of grapefruit, nectarine, and orange; creamy banana and watermelon bubblegum; buttery toasted oak, and allspice.
Palate: malty, fruity, and creamy, with more ashy peat and spice; the malty is chewy, balancing nicely with creamy oak tones and ashy peat; a hint of southwest BBQ; the fruits are predominantly in the citrus realm, though they stray a little into the tropical: grilled pineapple and underripe mango; more watermelon bubblegum and warm banana split, with some dried dark fruits to boot; toasty oak, allspice, and building chocolate tones.
Finish: long, toasty, and smoky, with fading citrus, chocolate, spices, and ashy malt; a touch medicinal.
Comment: a tip from friends led me to crack a bottle of this, and it hasn't disappointed; this is excellent value for an 18 year old!
Evan’s Tasting Note
Nose: Roasted meats, iodine, leaves that have fallen to the ground in autumn, lemons, raspberries, blackberries, chocolate pudding, and Coffee Crisp chocolate bar.
Palate: Creamy and smoky with more chocolate pudding, custard, cherries, marmalade, pineapple chunks, roasted almonds, and a touch of eggnog and nutmeg.
Finish: Fairly clean with a touch of spice and creamy, chocolatey tiramisu on the fade.
Comment: Superb dram. Great balance of peat and sweet with a touch of spice. If this is Knockdhu, that is great! If it is not, that is also great!
Producer Tasting Note
Nose: Woody and outdoorsy with clove, charred pineapple, peach and nectarine. Creamy vanilla and some furniture polish, with an ashen, meaty peat throughout.
Taste: Powerful and deep mix of sooty chimney smoke, herbaceous peat and old oak. A gentle texture with ripe fruits and cashew butter with savoury layers of parma ham and maillard/burnt sugar toasty notes.
This information was blatantly copied from one of Evan's Whisky Calendar blog posts with slight modifications. That is okay, though, because Evan is only ripping off himself.
by Evan
Knockdhu Distillery was founded back in 1893, and more or less operated steadily for the next 100 years — except for short closures during the great depression and World War II — until the great Scottish distillery cull of 1983 nearly killed it for good. Knockdhu was mothballed at that time by then-owners DCL, but in 1988 a buyer by the name of Inver House was found. Inver House Distillers itself was founded in 1964 and lead the newly built Glen Flagler malt Distillery and Garnheath grain distillery on the same site in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire in the Scottish Lowlands. Glen Flagler and Garnheath were closed — never to reopen — in 1985 and 1986 respectively, a few years before the Knockdhu Distillery purchase.
After its purchase of Knockdhu in 1988, Inver House went on to add a few more distilleries to its portfolio over the following decade. Speyburn (purchased in 1991), Pulteney (acquired in 1995), Balblair (purchased in 1996) Balmenach (purchased in 1997), are all still part of the Inver House lineup, along with Knockdhu. Inver House Distillers itself changed hands a few times during its lifespan, but has been owned by the big-in-Asia company Thai Beverage since 2006.
Official bottlings are not actually given the distillery name for release. Instead, they are given the name anCnoc, possibly to avoid confusion with another Scottish distillery named Knockando. Funny how attempting to avoid confusion often makes things even more confusing instead, isn’t it?
The Knockdhu Distillery resides in the village of Knock within Aberdeenshire. This puts the distillery in the East Highlands or Speyside, depending on who is drawing the regional maps. The SWA’s own Scottish Distillery map classifies Knockdhu as being within Speyside. However, the owner — Inver House — puts Highland Single Malt on each bottle of anCnoc it sells.
Distilleries located near Knockdhu include GlenDronach, which less than a 20-minute drive to the south and east, and Aultmore which is about the same length of drive to the west. Like Knockdhu/anCnoc, GlenDronach also considers itself a Highland Single Malt, and has a fetish for capitalizing a letter in the middle of its name for some reason. Aultmore is comfortable in calling itself a Speyside whisky, though. Don’t you just hate it when invisible and intangible lines are what classify things? Oh, well. What would we talk about if there weren't any arbitrary and antiquated regional concepts to make fun of?
Knockdhu has quietly produced fantastic unpeated Single Malt Scotch for quite a while. It creates a robust and rich spirit that matures nicely in both ex-Bourbon and ex-Sherry casks. Part of the reason for this might be because it is one of the distilleries that makes use of worm tubs to cool the spirit that comes off the lyne arms at the top of the stills — a worm tub made of cast iron and connected to the lyne arms that run off the spirit stills in this case.
Knockdhu plays a role in at least some of the Blended Scotch whisky brands owned by Inver House, such as Catto's, Hankey Bannister, and MacArthur's. It is also used by other blenders such as Turntable Blending House.
That Boutique-y Whisky Company (TBWC) is part of the Atom Group, which also owns the UK retailer Master of Malt and a number of other subsidiaries. They are a dynamic and innovative firm, who by example invented the Whisky Advent Calendar concept. Established in 2012, TBWC is famous for its playful and colourful labels, which often feature prominent whisky industry figures, tell a story, and or elude to an inside joke. The labels are typically laced with hidden elements and "Easter Eggs."
TBWC bottles whiskies from around the world, though the bulk of their offerings are of Scottish origin. Most of their offerings are small-batch releases, Blended Malts, and Blends. Their "Head of Whisky" is Canadian Sam Simmons.
We are big fans of not only their whimsical labels but also the consistently high standard of liquid they bottle.
Browse all in-stock products from That Boutique-y Whisky Company.
$269.99
This peated, secret Highland single malt was bottled at 46% and 20 years of age after finishing in an STR cask!
$329.99
Producer Note
"This is a single refill hogshead of 2006 16 year old Knockdhu. It's also very peaty and quite ridiculously pale, pure and razor-sharp. A singular and almost ideological style of whisky. The original cask strength of this one was up over 67%. Once we'd found a glass that didn't dissolve on contact with the sample, we played around with water and various strengths for ages before settling on 55% as delivering the most balance between raw peat ashes, frothy seawater, lemon juice drizzled directly over your tonsils and having pickled green olives fired at you from a blunderbuss. Why not sip it casually while playing a few rounds of BogSponge3000 down the arcade..."
$103.99
Peat and sherry is like PB&J to most peat lovers. The union creates a multidimensional whisky that becomes something more than the sum of its parts. Finding malts in this style is getting harder and harder. Great price on this anCnoc that was first matured in American Oak Barrels and Hoggies, before finishing in Sherry Butts.
Natural colour, non-chill filtered, and bottled at 46% abv.
$70.99
Part of the new Boutique-y Core Range, bottled at 45.8% in a 700ml bottle too!
Producer Description
"Embark on a smoky and captivating journey with our young buck, on the 8 Year Old Islay single malt. This expression encapsulates the island's untamed spirit (I know). With every sip, wisps of peat smoke envelop the senses, reminiscent of bonfires on a cool coastal evening. From a marriage of refill casks, both ex-Bourbon hogsheads and ex-Sherry octaves. A small batch release of circa 1,000 litres each time Non chill-filtered, and natural cask matured colour."
About the Label
"Our label design settled for just the one deer, starting with a young buck, getting older, and more dignified, as the whiskies aged, finishing with the dominant stag who has been through some scapes in his life; older, wiser, and looks a little pissed with everything! Our Islay 8 Year Old starts the deer’s journey through life, with a young,fresh faced, innocent, buck, eager to please.
"We love the expressions onhis face. Boutique-y Whisky artist, Emily Chappell, has captured our brief so perfectly, and has injected her magic into it, as usual. The colours of the labels reflect the colour palette of the Aurora Borealis, while the ‘wave pattern’ across all of the labels symbolises the way the Aurora Borealis is always moving in the sky, if you’ve been lucky enough to see it."
