Kininvie 17yo Batch 1

Kininvie 17yo Batch 1

Region: Speyside

ABV: 42.6%

Price: £60.00 (35cl, Auction)

This is our first time reviewing a Kininvie bottling, so a quick introduction is in order. Kininvie Distillery sits on the Balvenie estate in Dufftown, Moray. Founded in 1990 by William Grant & Sons to bolster malt production, particularly for blends such as Monkey Shoulder. It was officially opened by Janet Sheed Roberts, William Grant’s granddaughter. Although its stillhouse stands barely 200 metres from Balvenie and Glenfiddich, Kininvie operates as a separate plant, mash and fermentation take place in Balvenie’s buildings, after which the wash is pumped to Kininvie’s stillhouse for distillation.

The distillery has an annual capacity of roughly 4.5 to 4.8 million litres of pure alcohol, achieved by running the stills 24/7. Fermentation typically lasts at least 75 hours in ten Douglas-fir washbacks, fed by an 11-tonne stainless steel semi-lauter mash tun. The still room contains three wash stills and six spirit stills. These are onion shaped copper pots modelled after Glenfiddich’s stills.

Kininvie uses its own malt specification (Balvenie malt is not employed) and relies on indirect steam heating with computer controlled runs. New make spirit is matured on the Dufftown estate, sharing the site’s 47 dunnage and rack warehouses; some one million casks in total.

While Kininvie’s output underpins many Grant’s blends, single malt releases remain rare, making this bottle an intriguing prospect for review.

Distilled in 1996 and matured for 17 years in a vatting of 80% American oak ex-bourbon barrels and 20% sherry casks, this small batch Kininvie was bottled in 2014 as a travel retail exclusive, released in 35cl bottles. The release was individually numbered, though the exact outturn has not been made public. 

Nose

The nose opens with fresh strawberries, fizzy cola sweets and sour cherries, dusted with icing sugar. A little air reveals white crusty rolls, Cadburys fudge fingers, pineapple chunks, candy floss and marshmallows, plus the faintest citrus note. Minimal peppery alcohol spice sits behind these other notes, making it pleasant enough to nose.

Palate

The palate echoes the nose in a lot of ways, icing sugar, cola syrup and those fudge fingers all appear. On the mid palate there’s a gingerbread spice, and some pear that carries through on the medium finish, along with brown sugar sweetness, and a little of lemon juice. The mouthfeel is thinner than we’d like, but better than expected given the drams 42.6% ABV.

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose gains more fruitier notes, with strawberry Chewits, strawberry Angel Delight, and orange juice all now prominently on display. Behind the fruits sits some salted fudge, a drizzle of honey and a touch of warehouse funk. For us it’s improved slightly with water, but isn’t quite blowing us away yet.

Palate (with water)

The mouthfeel on the reduced palate holds up well with a splash of water. There’s also now more citrus coming out, that gingerbread spice has diminished, and now we’re getting some whipped cream on the mid palate through the still mid length finish, along with just a hint of dark chocolate bitterness. 

Conclusion

There’s plenty of sweetness here in a good variety of flavours, and it holds up well diluted or without water. Our biggest issue with it is the mouthfeel, that lets it down a touch, but there’s still plenty to enjoy here. We wish we could have tried this at cask strength as we’re sure we’d have enjoyed it more. Still it’s one that makes us want to try other releases from the distillery.

Score: 7/10

Value

Long sold out at retail but still available at auction for roughly £60 a bottle; not a bad price for something that is otherwise hard to come by.

• 10 - Perfection. One in a million
• 9 - Outstanding. Exceptional whisky.
• 8 - Great. Would seek this out.
• 7 - Good. Quality whisky.
• 6 - Above average. Happy to have a dram.
• 5 - Average. Drinkable whisky.
• 4 - Below average. Passable.
• 3 - Flawed. Noticeable negatives.
• 2 - Defective. Significant faults.
• 1 - Offensive. Pour it out.

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