A few years ago, at Nürnberg’s The Village whisky fair, I was introduced to a new Highland distillery – Nc’Nean. The ladies were passionate about their venture – committed to crafting an organic whisky in harmony with the environment, aiming to make a big impression with a small footprint. In a short time, their founder Annabel Thomas and team have made their mark.
Here’s how the folks at Nc’Nean introduce their distillery:
Hello, we’re Nc’nean. A small team of eco-conscious drinks fanatics on a mission to change the way the world thinks about whisky from Scotland. To create delicious, experimental spirits which can exist in harmony with this planet we call home.
Our small distillery is located in the village of Drimnin on the Morvern peninsula on the West Coast of Scotland, and our copper pot stills are powered by 100% renewable energy. B Corp certified and verified net zero carbon emissions for scopes 1 and 2, we put the planet first. Using only organic Scottish barley, long mashing and fermentation times, and playing with yeasts not always used in whisky distilling, we produce elegant unpeated whiskies which are fruity on the palate, and are bottled in 100% recycled glass bottles.
The Nc’Nean whiskies selected by our Bombay Malt & Cigar club host were:
- Nc’Nean Organic Single Malt Original 46% £51.75
- Nc’Nean Huntress – Orchard Cobbler (2019 / 2024) 3rd Release 48.5% £85.71
- Nc’Nean Quiet Rebels – Gordon (2018 / 2023) 3rd Release 48.5% £71.55
Nc’Nean Organic Single Malt Original 46%
- Nose – Delicate, floral, fresh farm to apples and honey. It was fruity and fun, with loads of fresh apple juice, with the florals fading as it opened up. Over time, it was joined by sweet lemon barley water
- Palate – Initially a bit spicy, with a debate whether it is more cayenne or black pepper. It settled down into a warm apple pie
- Finish – A long, peppery finish
- Water – We added just to see what it would do. It enhanced the bitterness, tempering the sweetness, so that the apple sauce morphed into the apple core with seeds
- Revisit – With the revisit, the lemon barley became more pronounced than the apple cider
It was described as being like walking through a garden into an orchard… It was a pleasant, easy-going dram, making it a rather good start to our explorations.
What more do we know?
This is our flagship whisky – elegant and fruity with flavours of citrus, peach, apricot and spice. Those lovely citrus and peach flavours come from our spirit, the spice from our STR casks and the signature body and texture comes from our 100% organic barley. Find out more about what casks we’ve used for which batch, the source of the barley, the yeast used or the date it was bottled using the dropdown menu below. You’ll find the batch number or code on the back of the neck label.
Unfortunately, I didn’t catch a glimpse of the batch, so didn’t want to guess any further details!
The Huntress series is an annual limited release. The team at Nc’Nean introduces this Huntress – Orchard Cobbler expression as follows:
This particular Huntress release is incredibly unique, in that the spirit used is only produced once a year when the distillers cross over from one distillation recipe to another.
We run two different spirit runs each year, one for whisky set to be released at a younger age, and one set to be released after ten plus years. The spirit matured for Huntress Orchard Cobbler comes from the distillation in the week after this spirit recipe is switched over – a time where cut points are changed and unusually high fruity compounds flood into the spirit. So fruity, that the whisky is named after one of the team’s favourite desserts.
What did we think?
Nc’Nean Huntress – Orchard Cobbler (Aug 2019 / March 2024) 3rd Release 48.5%
- Nose – Quite active to start, unripe plums, some ginger spice, lots of candied apples, toffee that was nearly fudge, banana peel, ripe fruits
- Palate – Warm apple sauce, toffee sweetness. Think of an apple mille-feuille with vanilla custard!
- Finish – A nice peppery finish
- Water – Amps up the spice, then settles nicely
We found this interesting – youthful yet with enough going on to work.
Casks make all the difference; this Huntress expression is a product of three casks: STR (66%), ex-Bourbon (31%), and Oloroso (3%).
Nc’Nean calls their team the Quiet Rebels. Hence, it is only fitting that they have a series devoted to key members of their team!
Our bottle? We tried “Gordon” for Gordon Wood, distillery manager, described as having:
Spent 23 years with one of the giants of the industry. Loves the West Coast. Bringing it all together at Nc’nean. Has a life goal to get to work by boat one day.
And what about the whisky expression?
Nc’Nean Quiet Rebels Gordon (2018/2019 – Aug/Sep 2023) 3rd Release 48.5%
- Nose – Very different than both the Original and Huntress! Instead of apples, we were greeted with lemon drops, an evolved floral, vanilla, and yellow fruit blend – particularly yellow plum, lemon custard pie, apple compote, candied ginger, lightly milky, and dulce de leche. Yum!
- Palate – So smooth, buttery, a great mouthfeel, candied orange rind, gentle spice, oak, vanilla, ripe orchard fruits… all in great balance!
- Finish – Lovely
- Water – Not necessary; however, if you want to add, it enhances the wood element
- Revisit – After remaining in the glass for some time, it was even creamier. A delight!
We really enjoyed this one. It was by far our favourite! For me, this was the dram to settle down with for the rest of our evening!
What more do we know? It is made from a trio of casks filled between September 2018 and July 2019, and a third undisclosed cask from an earlier period: 74% STR red wine casks, 19% ex-sherry, and 7% ex-Rivesaltes (French fortified wine). Bottled between August to September 2023, it is unfortunately sold out.
There you have it – a nice leisurely exploration of a trio from Nc’Nean!
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