Knockando 18 yo Single Malt Scotch

We had guests over so I go to "work" most of Saturday morning cleaning and putting up more Xmas decorations in preparation. Since these were my wife's friends from work all I had to do was smile and nod alot as they talked about all of the goings on in their office. Finally about 5 I broke out the Scotch to share with the 2 other guys. A JWB on the rocks for one, a Glenlivet for the other and some Knockando for myself.



Knockando means "little black hillock" in Gaelic and the distillery does sit on a hillside overlooking the Spey river. As one would assume this is a Speyside scotch. Interestingly Knockando has been made since 1889 but was only exported since 1977. The Scots wanted to keep this for themselves!

The bottle I'll review was distilled in 1981, bottled in 2000 at just over 18 years old and costs between $50-65. It is 86 proof and is also one of the main ingredients in J&B Scotch. There are three other ages of Knockando one can find with the most common being the 12 yo but there is a 15 yo and a 21 yo available.

Upon first pouring into the glass you'll notice the light golden color. The nose is fragrant with almonds and smoke being the most pronounced oders. With tasting the smoothness is noticed and some sherry is evident along with a hinted almond flavor.
The finish is fairly long and slightly sweet as are most sherry casked malts.

Again this is a nice to have scotch and not a must have but if you decide to buy some the 18 yo is the better choice among the 4 ages offered. I like it overall as a nice addition to the collection.

Yet another great review. Thanks :thumbs:

You're welcome. The next review will not be next Saturday as I'll be out of town but I'll try for either Friday night or possibly Monday.

Is this still being made? A client and I were at dinner having some drinks and he mentinoed that he loved Knocando but that he couldn't find it anymore and thought it wasn't being made.

Is it still being made? And if so, where do I find it?

Thanks!

Knockando is still available and has a rather good 21 yo out at the moment. I can't tell you where to find it since I don't know where you are to start with. Profile is a bit light ya know

Knockando sounds like a winner to this soldier,this is one speyside that sounds delicious. Thanks for the review AVB.

AVB said:

Knockando is still available and has a rather good 21 yo out at the moment. I can't tell you where to find it since I don't know where you are to start with. Profile is a bit light ya know

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Thanks, I'll try and find it on the 'net. What's the price of the 21 yo? I'm thinking of giving it to my client for a Christmas gift.

Is the 12yo any good? I found it here and here, but I'm sure shipping from overseas is outrageous so it's probably not an option.

I don't know why you are looking in the UK when you can get it in the States. Try here first.

I haven't had the 12 yo in a very long time. Decent but a little light from memory.

mu mike said:

Is the 12yo any good? I found it here and here, but I'm sure shipping from overseas is outrageous so it's probably not an option.

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AVB said:

I don't know why you are looking in the UK when you can get it in the States.

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I googled it and that's what it came up with. Thanks for the link, I appreciate it!

From your reviews the 18yo and the 21yo are preferred, are they still available anywhwere?

There is a 21 yo offered at Binnys but they don't have a pic of it so I can say absolutely that it is the same one I tried. I don't see any other 21 listed in the states though.

Wonderful, thank you!

I will email them to see if a picture might be available somehow, or at the very least a description of the bottle/packaging. I may call upon your experience with the bottle to help with identification to confirm whether it's the same or not.

Thanks again for the help.

Picked up a bottle of this in Waterloo today with two nice glasses for 56 euro. A little pricy, I guess, but everything is here if you shop locally.



Enjoying it now with an Undercrown. I get the sherry tastes, but not much of the sweetness. It tastes "dirtier" than I expected for a Speyside. Maybe it's just my newbie palate or since this is from 1991 unlike the original post, maybe it's changed a little. Great drink, imo, though, and well worth the purchase.

9 years later and only about $18 more then my review still seems like a good deal.