Knockando
A 19th Century Speysider
Knockando distillery was founded in 1898 as the Knockando-Glenlivet Distillery Company in the town of Knockando, overlooking the river Spey. It is one of only a dozen Scottish whisky distilleries founded during the 19th-century whisky boom that is still in operation. The name Knockando comes from the Gaelic 'Cnoc-an-dhu', meaning 'little black hill', which is thought to be a reference to the hills which lie in-between the site of the distillery.
The relatively light style of Knockando malt features prominently in J&B blends, although a substantial percentage of the distillery’s production is retained to be bottled as Knockando single malt. Most of this is reserved for European markets such as France and Spain.
Unusually, Knockando chooses to declare the vintage on the labels of its standard single malt bottlings. Every year it releases 12, 15, 18, 21 and 25-year-old expressions. Other official bottlings include an 18-year-old vintage release and a 21-year-old Master Reserve. Independent bottlings are extremely rare.
