Kininvie 17 Year Old (Distilled 1996)

Enjoying my very first taste of a Kininvie whisky. This malt whisky label is distilled and bottled by the William Grant & Sons family, whose main malt whiskeys are The Balvenie and The Glenfiddich brands. (Tullamore Dew is the company's big whiskey in Ireland). Kininvie had historically been a blending whisky for the Grant company and is distilled on the grounds of The Balvenie property. It is one of the three malt whiskies that constitutes the Monkey Shoulder brand.  

The color is a bright gold in the glass, but appears as soft amber in the bottle. No peat appreciated at all in this whisky, whether on the nose or the palate. The nose suggests a bourbon casking with some milder sherrie cask finishing. (I later read the label and it is indeed 80% American oak and 20% sherry cask). Vanilla toffee, nutmeg, clove, almost like a root beer, with a gently floral fruitiness.

A very nice, fulfilling whisky with plenty of complexity and flavor despite a relatively low 42.6 ABV. I drank my dram neat. Smooth, yet strong on the palate, but not creamy like its cousins at Glenfiddich. A nice flavor of crisp apples and honey, with a mild somewhat floral finish of vanilla and spice lingering long on the tongue. This dram is sure to please, but it is not a bargain brand. This particular expression is bottled for travel retail and bottles are only 35 centiliters, so this is not an everyday whisky.