Knappogue Castle goes down well as an ice cream, too. Read more about their limited-time OddFellows collaboration on Edible Brooklyn.
Ireland recently crowned Knappogue Castle their Irish Whiskey of the Year, and so it’s only fitting that their portfolio of rare, old whiskeys need some very serious perusing from a sniff to a tipple.
According to Knappogue (pronounced “nah’pogue”—try saying that after a sip), it translates to “hill of the kiss” in Gaelic. The brand is named after a grand castle located in County Clare, Ireland, originally built in 1467. The castle was purchased in the 1960s by Mark Edwin Andrews, who also began buying casks of fine pot still whiskey and single malts from top distilleries in Ireland. The casks were further aged and bottled, and there you have it: the Knappogue Castle label.
In fact the Knappogue Castle 1951 vintage, aged 36 years in Oloroso Sherry casks, is one of the oldest and rarest Irish whiskies in the world—“the unicorn of Irish whiskey,” if you will.
So what happens is, each of Knappogue Castle’s core expressions is made from malted barley that is then dried in ovens without the use of peat and mixed with pure Irish spring water. This portfolio, as they call it, includes Knappogue Castle 12 Year, aged exclusively in bourbon barrels; Knappogue Castle 14 Year Twin Wood, a marriage of whiskey aged in both bourbon barrels and Oloroso Sherry casks; and Knappogue Castle 16 Year, aged in bourbon barrels and finished in Oloroso Sherry casks.
So on that one day a year where everyone is seemingly Irish, it’s best to enjoy one of the finest whiskeys from the Emerald Isle. Offering elegant fruitiness and mild spice flavors, it is perfect to enjoy it neat, on the rocks or mixed in a cocktail. Unicorns rejoice.
Emerald Old-Fashioned
Created by Joaquín Simó of Pouring Ribbons
2 ounces Knappogue Castle 12 year
1 teaspoon honey syrup (2 parts honey : 1 part water)
1 teaspoon Green Chartreuse
1 teaspoon Dolin Genepy des Alps
Add all ingredients into a rocks glass. Add ice and stir briskly until chilled and combined. Garnish with mint sprig, spanked and inserted.
