Knappogue Castle 1951 (1987) - Tullamore Distillery (Closed)

[cathach]

Kanppogue Castle 1951, from the Tullamore D.E.W. distillery, aged 36yrs. Sample courtesy of IWC.

Nose: Like a sweet fermented banana, and some other strange notes like rum & raisin icecream, leather and spices.

Palate: Lighter than you'd expect from the nose, with a spicy tangy pot still taste. Like a Redbreast without some of the metallic notes it can have sometimes.

Finish: Warming and smooth, but quite short.

Overall: This whiskey reminds me most of the other old-style pot still whiskey, the Jameson 7yo from the 1940s. Some of the same leather, or tool-shed type aromas but softened by the wood. Oddly enough I would have thought this whiskey to be younger than it is, in its late teens. Maybe this is proof of Jim Murray's statement that pure pot still ages a lot better than malt or other whiskeys.
My companion says it reminds him of US rye whiskey to some degree, like a Sazerac.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

I was actually looking for this section and totally over looked it here

Anyway Catach great notes there I'll stick up mine from what I can remember.

Nose: Very obvious Sweet ripe banana and couriously an unusual mix of freshly opened unripened (green) banana skin, toffee. A touch of pepper & plasticine through the sweetness and some of that familiar pot still charachter.

Taste: As catach says very underwhelming compared to the nose. You are expecting a mouth full of flavours but it comes across very watery. The flavours are there but require added concentration a bix waxy, brown sugar, banana skin

Finish: I actually found the finish to be quite long. It is quite deciving as the taste is so week you think it just goes but then it comes back very gently the banana and toffe and a sprinkle of faded white pepper & later still a soft woody dryness at the back of the troath. The finish can stay with you for a very long time as long as you don't kill it with anything else in te mean time. Quite unusual.

Comment: This is a whiskey that has to be given your full attention and plenty of time. It has an amazing nose and a pretty impressive finish if given the time and space but the taste unfortunately dose not match what you'd hope from the both of those. This possibly could of been spectauclar if bottled a few years earlier.

[DavidH]

I was actually looking for this section and totally over looked it here

If the guy who put it there can't find it... Want to move it to the top level?

[JohnM]

I thought the best bit was the finish. I thought it was quite long and predominantly ripe bananas. It gets better every time you taste it.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

I was actually looking for this section and totally over looked it here

If the guy who put it there can't find it... Want to move it to the top level?

I know cracked or what I suppose the fact it is set up so that it does not show if your not logged in that caught me out.

Well there has to be some sort of bonus for signed up members.

I thought the best bit was the finish. I thought it was quite long and predominantly ripe bananas. It gets better every time you taste it.

It took me a while to figure this finish out but thanks to you I gave it time ... you hit the nail on the head with the long Banana finish.