Knockando 21 Year Master Reserve (1994)

Nose: Malt, caramel, pencil shavings, dunnage floor, dry hay, milk chocolate, coffee grounds, old furniture. Over time it gains a buttered toast aroma. Very laid-back and suave. [The dry-glass aroma is strong maple syrup with a little vanilla and milk chocolate] Palate: Dark malt extract dissolved in strong, cold black tea. Marmalade, dark chocolate, black coffee, toasted almonds, tobacco, licorice and a little oak come forward in the development. There are some notes in the palate that remind me of porter or stout, but it's not particularly ale-like, and there is also a hint of walnut bread. The texture is creamy but dry. Water expands the background oak too much and spoils the balance. Finish: Medium. Dry, but not hard or astringent. A warm dryness. Nutty and earthy with a final faint sweet note. The nose on this is dry and it's entirely composed of dark, weighty malt aromas. There are no estery floral or fruit top-notes, no phenolic smoke whatsoever and no creosol maritime or mineral character. There is a sherry presence but it's subdued and not overly sweet. The palate is earthy, malty and has a lot of strong flavours like tobacco and black coffee, but they are reserved and almost aloof at first. This is a very quiet whisky that takes a good while to open up and in several ways it reminds me of Glenfarclas. The main difference is that this has a dark chocolate and coffee personality whereas Glenfarclas has a fragrant heart of sandalwood and honeysuckle. This whisky is like a painting executed entirely in earth-tones. I was uncertain at the start but it really grew on me as I tasted it. In fact I was enjoying investigating it so much I almost forgot to leave enough to try with water. I did remember just in time, but to be honest I wish I hadn't. This is much nicer neat. Tasted from a 30ml sample. Would I buy a bottle of this at the asking price of $165? No probably not, but I wouldn't turn down a pour of it and it has certainly made me interested in exploring more of their expressions. It has character. "Good" : 84/100 (3.75 stars)

Let's start with a consideration: find me a 21 year old of this pleasantness at this price. Since there are none, the vote is also a function of this. It is a whisky of great complexity, but velvety and pleasant, a perfect drink for every day and at all hours. On the nose sherry, oak, wood, cappuccino, and above all with a great predominance of raisins and caramelized sugar. The aromas of the nose are confirmed on the palate, to which I add candied fruit and candied citrus. Medium-short finish with a predominance of raisins, with a bitterness that remains in the mouth and which is not too pleasant: this lowers the judgment a little. Excellent drink, but certainly not the bottle that I would take to a desert island ..... _______________________________________________________________________________ Partiamo da una considerazione: trovatemi un 21 anni di questa piacevolezza a questo prezzo. Visto che non ce ne sono, il voto è anche in funzione di questo. Si tratta di un whisky dalla grande complessità, ma vellutato e piacevole, una perfetta bevuta da tutti i giorni e da tutte le ore. Al naso sherry, rovere, legno, cappuccino, e soprattutto con grande predominanza uva passa e zucchero caramellato. Al palato si confermano gli aromi del naso, a cui aggiungo frutta candita ed agrumi canditi. Finale medio-breve con predominanza di uva passa, con un amarognolo che rimane in bocca e che non è troppo piacevole: questo abbassa un po' il giudizio. Ottima bevuta, ma non certo la bottiglia che porterei su un'isola deserta.....

Rating: 16/23 A lot of stuff happened today. I'll skip the details. You just want to know about the whisky, right? N: Some bitter tannins with ethanol, then some malty sweetness comes out, with wort and wood behind it. Citrus peel and oils. Orange, tangerine, and lemon. An oiliness with very faint chestnuts. P: Sweet and malty, but with some surprising vegetal flavor the leads into bitterness and has a frankly shocking sort of worty sourness to it. White pepper burn. The malt is a little on the light side with some minerality to it. It's good, but I'm not loving this character. There's a fair amount going on, but it isn't decadent like a teenage Longmorn or similar dram. This is an odd one - I get kind of stewed agave flavors even. F: The vegetal flavors are here, but they've taken a more herbal slant. There's a dryness. Not a ton of the sweet side. Not a ton going on here either. - Conclusion - This is good, but a bit messy. I like it, but I certainly wouldn't have guessed that it was 21 years old. I'm guessing a 16 right now, but I could see 15. A 14 seems a bit out there, about as believable as a 17. A 13 is out of the picture. This dram leaves me disappointed and confused. It's not that I expected it to blow my mind, but I though that this would be a solid offering demonstrating maturity and it really tastes pretty young. Coming back to this, I'm leaning toward a 17, but it still isn't tasting super mature. It could be a 16. Rating it right now, I'd have to give this a 16.

Knockando 21 is a whisky that apparently is special as the casks have been resting in a cooler part of a warehouse which means it takes longer to mature...hmm ok. Not sure why that makes it special given I'm pretty sure it's the 21 years which is the factor here around length of maturity but here goes. Ok nice viscosity.. check▪one dimensional flavour (honey/toffee)..check ▪Any advance on one nope. Slightly rough for a 21 year. I can see why this is cheap for it's age. In a word unmemorable. Wouldn't kick out of bed on a cold windy night though. Just under 3.5 I'll give it..definately got better as I got into it. Vague Glenlivet 18ish profile. Not the most amazing start to my 100+ step whiskey tasting programme but not a bad one either...at least I didn't buy a bottle

Nose - spices and tropical fruit, caramel and creamy vanilla, honey, perfume and a bit of chocolate Palette - oily texture that clings, light and delicate flavors, honey and fruit, some oak slices and tannins, the caramel and vanilla are more muted Finish - long lasting, fruity and tannic, medium burn

Viscosity ok. Smells like toffee Apple. Tastes like spicy honey. Nice enough and wouldn't turn it down but wouldn't pay that much for a bottle