Sunday 7 April 2013

Knappogue Castle Twin Wood 16 year old

Knappogue Castle continues to explore the possibilities of sherried Bushmills-distilled single malt. We've had a 16-year old Twin Wood before, where the spirit had been finished in sherry wood for 9 months. They upped the sherry stakes a year later with a 17-year old Twin Wood, finished for 21 months.

The new 16-year old shares that sherry depth, having also spent 21 months in Oloroso casks (after 14 years, 3 months in bourbon casks).

Well, that's what the press release says but the numbers don't quite add up. The whiskey was distilled in 1995 and bottled in December 2012. At a minimum, the whiskey must be close to 17 years old but it has only spent 16 years in a cask, if you tot up the sherry and bourbon stretches mentioned above. There is a mysterious year unaccounted for!

It's bottled at 40% ABV. There are 4,500 numbered bottles, and they go for $100 each.