Knockando Distillery: Quiet Elegance on the Spey

Overview

Knockando, on the Spey near Cardhu, makes a light, elegant, gently fruity Speyside malt — traditionally sold at the point its makers judged it ready rather than at a fixed age. It is a key filling for the J&B blend and quietly well regarded as a single malt.

The history

Knockando was built in 1898 during the whisky boom, and secured sole rights to its spring at the outset. It has long been part of the great blending houses, latterly Diageo, and keeps a deliberately low public profile.

The water & the land

Knockando draws on the Cardnach Spring, to which it secured sole rights in 1898.

Knockando had no founding clan — it was a boom-era commercial venture in Knockando parish, on the Grant/Seafield estate lands of Speyside.

How it’s made

Knockando runs two wash stills and two spirit stills for about 1.8 million litres a year, using water from the Cardnach Spring and maturing in American ex-bourbon and European ex-sherry oak. Founded in 1898 by John Tytler Thomson (the name comes from the Gaelic for “hill of commerce”) and now owned by Diageo, it is best known as a J&B component — it contributed casks to the 1994 J&B Ultima celebrating 500 years of Scotch — and is bottled as a vintage of around 12 years rather than carrying an age statement.

Visiting

Knockando is not open to the public. Its neighbour Cardhu is the distillery to visit in this stretch of the Spey.

Nearby & more whisky

• Its neighbour, a couple of miles off: Cardhu — the home of Johnnie Walker.
• Also at Knockando: Tamdhu.
• Planning a day of it? Our Speyside Whisky Trail rounds off Base 2 right here.
• The whole picture: Scotch whisky — the full guide
• At Carron on the old Imperial site: Dalmunach, Chivas’s award-winning modern distillery

Sources

• Knockando distillery — Wikipedia.
• Diageo; Scotchwhisky.com.