Knappogue Castle 16 Twin Single Malt Irish Whiskey

Knappogue (pronounced Nah’ Pogue) Castle 16 Single Malt is a limited edition Irish whiskey. As the name suggests, this single malt Irish whiskey has been matured for 16 years, one of the oldest Irish whiskeys in the market today.

Only 4500 bottles of this whiskey of the Knappogue Castle were produced, each number and signed. The brand is named after the historic Knappogue Castle in Ireland and the word Knappogue translates to “hill of the kiss” in Gaelic.

History of Knappogue Castle Irish Whiskey

In 1966, Mark Edwin Andrews, an official in the United States Navy, and his wife Lavone, a famous American architect discovered the remains of Knappogue Castle, a 15th century castle in County Clare, Ireland. The husband and wife decided to buy the castle and its surrounding land and set on a mission to restore the castle to its former glory. It was around this time when Lavone worked on the architecture of the castle that Mark also began purchasing casks of fine pot still whiskey from top distilleries in the country and bottling them under the Knappogue label.

What sets this label apart is that unlike blends, which was the trend at that time, Knappogue is a single malt. Mark’s last bottling, a 1951 vintage aged 36 years, is revered by connoisseurs as the oldest and rarest commercially available Irish whiskey on the market. Many years later, Mark Andrews III, son of Mark and Lavone bought the Knappogue to the United States of America and other markets around the world. Today, the members of the Andrews family carry on the legacy of Knappogue Castle with their vintage dated Irish single maling Process of Knappogue Castle 16 Twin Single Malt Irish Whiskey

The Castle 16 Single Malt is made with pure Irish spring water and malted barley. The malted barley is ground and mixed with hot water to extract the sugars, and this liquid is then cooled to room temperature. Yeast is added to this liquid, thus converting the sugars to alcohol.

This alcohol is now distilled one batch at a time in traditional copper pot stills, producing an alcohol of low proof. A second distillation is performed to increase the strength of the single malt. To improve the smoothness and richness of the whiskey, it is distilled a third time for the final result.

The spirit is now placed in bourbon oak casks for 14 years to bring the right balance between colour and flavour. After 14 years, it is then transferred into an Oloroso sherry-infused casks for an additional 21 months, bringing the total ageing time of the Knappogue Castle 16 Single Malt to 16 years. The Knappogue is also lightly chill filtered to remove impurities.

Alcohol Percentage in Knappogue Castle 16 Twin Single Malt Irish Whiskey

The Knappogue Castle 16 Single Malt Irish Whiskey contains 40% ABV (80 US Proof), the standard permissible limit for Irish whiskeys

Awards

Silver at the International Wine and Spirit Competition in 2019.

Gold at the Irish Whisky Awards in 2019.

Gold at the Irish Whisky Awards in 2016.