Tag Archives: anCnoc

anCnoc 24 Year Old Review

The core range of anCnoc whiskies is reaching our shores in a few weeks. AnCnoc (pronounced AH-nock) is the brand name for the whisky distilled in Knockdhu distillery from the Highlands region, The distillery is owned by Inverhouse Distillers who also control Old Pulteney, Balblair and two more far less familiar distilleries.

Since Old Pulteney stopped producing the Old Pulteney 21 (now replaced by a far more expensive 25 year old whisky), the anCnoc 24 seems like a good candidate to replace the OP 21 as the matured and affordable whisky of choice in this region.

The anCnoc 24, released back in 2015, is a combination of ex-bourbon casks and sherry-treated casks and thankfully it’s not being chill-filtered nor coloured and it’s also bottled at 46%. This is what I think we should expect as the minimum from a whisky bottle.

anCnoc 24 Year Old (46%, £116/€129,90/$129.69)

Nose: Gentle oak spices, sweet gluhwein (Mulled wine), candied and sugared orange peels, orange marmalade, leather, vanilla, honey, creamy. After a few minutes there’s more sherry influence with sweet dried fruit, nuts and fruit cake. Continue reading →

Whisky News: anCnoc 18 Year Old is launched (and favorite tipple comes to an end)

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Today Knockdhu Distillery announced their new core line addition – the anCnoc 18 Year Old.

When I read the announcement (full text below), I felt it was a weird decision: They have the 12yo, 16yo & 22yo expressions in the line up. Usually distilleries keeps a gap of 3 years between expressions, as most distillery stick to the winning formula of 12yo, 15yo & 18yo, so the logical addition would be 19yo between the existing 16yo and 22yo as 18yo is too close to the 16yo.

ancnoc-16-year-old-whisky So what does this new release means for the 16yo? I asked for clarification and the answer I got back was simple and clear: The 16yo is coming to an end.

So that means that the favorite anCnoc 16yo (which is widely available for £53) will be phased out and will be replaced by the new 18yo which will retail for around £70.

So if anCnoc 16yo is a favorite of yours, hurry and stock up!

anCnoc 18 Year Old launched

anCnoc18-LowRes anCnoc Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky has announced a remarkable addition to its multi-award-winning collection. The new 18 Year Old joins the family of single malts crafted at Knockdhu Distillery in true anCnoc style, offering a traditionally distilled, exquisite spirit with a modern twist. It follows a string of highly successful new releases and is expected to be just as popular. anCnoc’s Assistant Brand Manager Stephanie Bridge explains:

“2014 has been anCnoc’s most ambitious year to date. We unveiled our new Peaty Collection in April, two new expressions for Global Travel Retail and our hugely popular 2000 Vintage. We are confident that our new anCnoc 18 Year Old will be extremely popular amongst single malt aficionados with its unique taste profile and striking packaging.”

The Whisky

anCnoc 18 Year Old was matured in top quality hand-selected American oak ex-bourbon and European oak ex-sherry casks. The combination of the two types of wood gives this mature expression of anCnoc an outstanding depth, complexity and balance of flavour. It’s a single malt for the most discerning drinker.

The whisky is bottled at 46% ABV, non-chill filtered and presented at its natural colour. Initially 6,000 bottles will be available in key markets worldwide. The recommended retail price is £70.

Tasting notes

Colour: Pine sap

Nose: Gentle spices and intense sweetness of dried fruits are topped with silky chocolate ganache, a squeeze of ripe orange and a mere suggestion of oiled leather. Intricate and elegant, balancing both maturity and Distillery’s signature character.

Taste: Full-bodied and bold, the palate brings aromatic spices, fruit loaf and candied lemon slices followed by a surge of vanilla custard, honey and runny caramel. European and American casks play in harmony delivering a lush and irresistibly moreish drinking experience while retaining anCnoc spirit firmly at the heart of this whisky.

Finish: Long and rewarding, the finish transforms from peppery and hot to deliciously sweet and smooth with an undertone of bitter pralines.

Whisky News – Tomatin Cuatro & CuBocan Sherry, AnCnonc Cutter, Ardbeg Supernova 2014, BenRiach Single Casks bottlings Batch 11

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Hello there, I’m back! Did you miss me? 🙂

It’s been a long and busy summer, but now I’m back from summer holidays, recovered from the post-vacation blues (and virus) and it’s time to get in a high gear again.

Here’s a round up of the latest whisky releases, and this time I’m trying a different format for the whisky news roundup posts: We’ll start with headlines and Whisky gospel take on the release and only then we’ll provide the full PR. So, here’s take #1:

Tomatin Releases Cuarto limited edition series and Cù Bòcan Sherry edition

Whisky Gospel: Kudos to Tomatin to release a limited edition of 4 whiskies and keep the age statement on. Even the new Cù Bòcan is a refreshing addition (even if in a limited mode). oh, and the price is decent, very decent.

An Cnoc adds Cutter to their peaty collection

Whisky Gospel: Even more peatier! 20.5 ppm may not sound as much, but remember it’s post-distillation value so good chance it stands up to Laphroaig, Ardbeg, Lagavulin and Port Charlotte when it comes to peatiness. Should be an interesting dram.

Ardbeg releases Supernova 2014

Whisky Gospel: oh boy, I do understand the ‘need’ to release another community release (been a while since the last one, Alligator) but tie it with the space experiment? and dress Dr Bill Lumsden in Astronaut suit? I bet the supernova will be a solid dram (early review already confirm that), but the price is again ardbeg-y and the hype is there. Sigh.

BenRiach Releases Batch 11 of its Single Cask Bottlings

Whisky Gospel: Like a clock, as expected, on the heels of the Glendronach releases, here comes the BenRiach. Not much to see here except that it’s probably good (very good) whisky, some more affordable and some less. If you can afford it, go on and buy one – it’s probably worth it.

And now for the full press releases. Enjoy! Continue reading →

Reviewing AnCnoc peated whiskies – Rutter, Flaughter & Tushkar #LightOnDark

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A few weeks ago Knockdhu Distillery released their first ever AnCnoc peated whiskies to the world with three expressions in the series. All named on peat cutting tools – quite a refreshing change from non-whisky names given to most NAS expressions in the last few years.

The whiskies are bottled at 46%, all non chill-filtered and not coloured (should be mandatory for all whiskies if you ask me!). All were composed from casks laid down between 2004 and 2006, so formal whisky age is ~8 years old although it doesn’t appear on the label but kudos for publicly revealing the age -full disclosure is the way to go and what we customers want – give us the information so we can make a rational decision (or not ;)) if to buy it or leave it on the shelf.

ancnoc peated

Continue reading →

Whisky News – AnCnoc peated range, Ardbeg Auriverdes, J&B Urban Honey, Glenglassaugh Torfa, Arran 17yo

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It’s been a while since I posted some industry whisky news but there were some interesting new releases this week – AnCnoc venture into peated whisky, so does Glenglassaugh. The annual Ardbeg bottling is officially announced (although details were found via the TTB site a few months ago), new Arran 17yo and flavored whisky (well, a spirit, as you can’t call this whisky). Continue reading →

Whisky Review – anCnoc Peter Arkle ‘Bricks’

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Art. Whisky is art and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. And Whisky that comes bundled with art work is definitly something that catches the eye.

This is the 3rd Peter Arkle limited edition release from anCnoc and this time it’s ‘Bricks’. Unlike the traditional code expressions, this series is sherry influenced and we keep wonder – does this whisky liquid correlate to this name? let’s check!

AnCnoc Peter Arkle series ‘Bricks’ – (NAS, 46%, £49.99)

Nose: fruity and sherry influenced, raisins, pineapple. Background layer of honey and vanilla, definitly have some liquerish feeling to it, also some beeswax and plums notes. After few minutes in glass we have spices and honey with dash of lemon

Palate: Warm, spices again, honey, strong oak notes with vanilla. Much less sherry influence here. Some bitterness shows up after the initial sweet burst.

Finish: Dry and medium, some of the bitterness stays on and lingers with spices (mainly cinnamon) and wood notes.

Conclusions: This one shouts dry aperitif. This is not a soft Whisky. Many strong flavors who not fight between them but they still stay distinct – ‘Bricks’ name is very apt!