Knappogue Castle 12 Year Old Château Pichon Baron French Oak Cask Finish Single Malt Irish Whiskey 750ml

Knappogue Castle's Cask Finish Series opened with this bottle, and it set a high bar the brand spent the following years chasing. The base is the house 12 Year Old, a triple distilled single malt made exclusively from malted barley in copper pot stills and matured in bourbon barrels for a minimum of twelve years. Where it departs from the standard bottling is what happens afterward: the whiskey is transferred into French oak casks sourced from Château Pichon Baron, the Pauillac estate classified as a Second Growth in the original 1855 Bordeaux ranking. Those casks previously held claret, and the influence is unmistakable. The green apple note that usually defines Knappogue Castle recedes almost entirely, replaced by a wave of red fruit: strawberry, cranberry, raspberry and red grape, with the tannin structure of the Bordeaux wood adding a dryness that keeps the sweetness in check. It is bottled non chill filtered at 46 percent alcohol by volume, a meaningful step up from the 40 percent standard release, which preserves the texture and lets the fruit carry rather than thin out. This was a limited release from the start, with the bottle count printed directly on the label, and it has been off shelves for years. Knappogue Castle itself dates to the 1960s, when Mark Edwin Andrews, an American who had bought the fifteenth century castle in County Clare, began privately bottling rare Irish single malt under its name. The brand went public in 1998 and built its reputation on vintage dated and specialty limited editions. This bottle sits firmly in that tradition, and it is the kind of thing collectors of Irish whiskey went looking for once it was gone.

ABV / Proof

Tasting Notes

Color: Warm gold with a faint rosy cast from the wine casks.

Nose: Soft and fruit forward. Ripe strawberry and red berry lead, with golden raisin, apricot and plum behind, plus vanilla, toffee, malt and a note of Irish soda bread.

Palate: Juicy and tart. Cranberry, raspberry, red apple and red grape carry through, with sweet berry fruit giving way to vanilla and toasted nut.

Finish: Medium to long, with cinnamon and baking spice over dry oak tannin and a lingering malt note.

FAQ

Q: What is Château Pichon Baron?
A: A Bordeaux estate in Pauillac, classified as a Second Growth in the 1855 official classification. The French oak casks used for this finish previously held its wine.

Q: How is it different from the standard Knappogue Castle 12 Year?
A: The standard bottling is bourbon matured and bottled at 40 percent. This one adds a French oak wine cask finish and is bottled non chill filtered at 46 percent, which shifts the profile from green apple toward red berry fruit.

Q: How limited is it?
A: The label states a bottle count of 1100. It was the first release in the Cask Finish Series and has been out of production for years.

Q: What does non chill filtered mean?
A: The whiskey skips the chilling and filtration step used to prevent cloudiness, which preserves more texture, body and flavour compounds.

Q: What else was in the Cask Finish Series?
A: Marsala and Barolo cask finishes followed, also 12 year old single malts at 46 percent. Each is a separate limited release.

Q: Where can I buy Knappogue Castle 12 Year Château Pichon Baron online?
A: Available here at Liquor On Broadway while stock lasts, with fast insured shipping nationwide.