European tasting notes for a Korean Knockdhu 2013

The resources of Whisky Odyssey sometimes makes me stumble upon peculiar whisky, like today’s Knockdhu. It was bottled for the Bar BAM in Seoul, Korea, but still landed on my table too. I had to make the Whiskybase entry myself even! We love doing that, of course, it feels exiting to add something to the massive base personally. Anyway, Knockdhu is the distillery where the single malt we know as AnCnoc is made. Recently, we actually tasted some oldies. Today, we taste a single cask that was bottled by the very trustworthy German Whisky Agency. I think I have yet to come across output by them that was not up my alley! High expectations, therefor.

Knockdhu 2013, 10 years old, bottled at 53,2 % abv by The Whisky Agency

Makeup: Maturation in a single cask hogshead for 10 years, bottled in 2023. Does not get much simpler than this. Bottled for Bar BAM in Seoul, South Korea.

General impressions: Like unwrapping a vanilla soap bar. Brand new, never used, smelling just like heaven. Moving on to jelly candy worms, or maybe even wine gums. Very pure and clean, like the white wine colour suggests. Despite the initial hit, not really one-dimensional on the vanilla, I would sooner say it's smells sugary. The taste brings a lot more grassy notes than the nose would suggest. Raw barley covered in sugar, if that's a thing. Hints of hop, with a slightly bitter finish. I have no doubt this Knockdhu will do well among beer enthusiasts. Lemons aplenty too. Again, decent, clean stuff. With water, some limestone and white fruit comes out, adding deeper layers to this initially rather plain malt. The candy flavours are now best felt on the finish.

Conclusion: One of the cleanest malt whisky bottlings I have ever come across. The candied fruit explosion is a treat. Lovely Scotch!

Score: 86 points

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