Knockando 12 & Fettercairn 12 Reviews

Hi everyone,

I’ve got two 12’s today from distilleries Knockando and Fettercairn. Both random places that you’ve likely never heard of.

Knockando is a big seller in France (where its hella cheap), while Fettercairn have recently redone their entire range with a new bottle design and stuff. The Fior was alright but Fetter doesn’t have that great a reputation.

Knockando 12 40%

Colour: E150a

Body: Light/medium

Nose: Classically Speyside, fresh with red apple, clean malt, some oak and generic ginger.

Taste: A little harsh but sweet start with some brown sugar, then softer with red apple, apple pie, generic oak and ginger, becoming more harsh again towards the finish. Quickly distilled methinks.

Finish: Short/Med. alright mouthfeel here but pretty average in terms of flavour with more of the generic oak and ginger.

Read the above as BORING. There is nothing special about this at all.

63/100

 

Fettercairn 12 40%

Colour: E150a

Body: Medium

Nose: Funky and more than a bit odd. Fruit but with cheese and apple, creamy nose.

Taste: Oak to start then green apple before funky cream going on. Odd.

Finish: Medium length. Some oak and spice here, more average.

New packaging 2018. Nose reminded me of a Tobermory with the funky stuff, but not in a good way. The taste follows on from that, while the finish is pretty boring.

64/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch reviews #726-#727

Whisky Network Reviews #864-#865

Network Average: 75.1

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Knockando 18 (1994) Review

Hi everyone,

Today I've got an obscure one, unless you live in France. Knockando is a giant Diageo Speyside distillery. It's also the reason why the whisky from Knockdu distillery is called anCnoc.

Knockando is sold as a cheaper single malt in France. When I saw an 18 year old single malt for under €40 I thought, well why not.

Apparently this has been 'Slow Matured' in sherry casks. From the darkest, dampest corners of the warehouse.

Knockando 18 43%

Colour: E150a

Body: Medium

Nose: Damp and musty. Damp earth, musty warehouse, damp dust, dust motes, light fruitiness in the background. More fruity with time with sherry influence coming through. Dusty fruit- Apple, some raisin, peaches and cream, creamy vanilla, rose, Turkish Delight, some charcoal, coffee. Wine-y fruitiness, almost port-like- Blackberries, plums, blackcurrents.

After some time- More fragrant and floral with lots of rose petals, oak and general youthful zestiness- Lemon and lime.

Taste: Creamy arrival with light dusty fruit- Apple, lots of bitter lime peel, lemon, wine-y note- Red grape and bitter oaky tannins. Rich spices develop and build going very dry- Dry cinnamon powder and ginger mingling with bitter lime citrus.

Finish: Long length. Big bitter black coffee hit then spices linger nicely.

Hits in some ways, falls short in others.

70/100

Thanks for reading!

Review #322

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, I have never accepted free samples from anyone in the whisky industry, but have bought bottles or samples with my money, bringing a different set of biases. Also, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Network Average: 74.4

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 44

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just about OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent