Nc'nean Organic Single Malt

One of the newest scottish distilleries, founded in 2017 is Nc'Nean, a rather unpronounceable name, that comes from "Neachneohain", who was known as the Queen of Spirits in a Gaelic legend. The legend says "she was a huntress, a fierce protector of nature and never afraid to walk her own path". This is why the whole strategy of this distillery is organic barley and renewal energy and resources. It is a 100% environmental friendly. Having said all that, i have had some fair share of organic whiskies before and i wasn't impressed. This one... it did impress me. Bottled at 46%abv, the whisky has this peach juice color. On the nose, it was absolutely surprising. A lot of stewed fruits; stewed apples, sider, malted barley and the most perfectly accurate pineapple pie aroma i have ever nosed, it took me through Memory Lane right to my childhood. Stewed grapefruits and vanilla powder. On the palate, it was not complex nor amazing, but fairly good and there was a new tasting note for me, it was... QUAKER OATMEAL. You should understand something first: in Ecuador where i live, Quaker Oatmeal is super popular as a drink used in lunches and breakfast. Starts pretty sugary, then stewed apples, sider and pepper. It also had this salty popcorn flavor. All this happened in the first sip, since everything that happen after that first sip, was Quaker Oatmeal. Aftertaste did not follow the same rythm and i found it to be a little short, but very well delivered. A nice Hay note, a dim but pleasant smoke puff, a little sulphuric profile. There is some burnt hay and vanilla powder. Overall, i loved this whisky. It was super interesting, specially for a 3yo dram. For a 46%abv whisky, no alcohol was ever felt, this has been beautifully crafted with love. Having said that, it is not complex, it doesn't have a long aftertaste, but the existing notes in this spirit are actually very clean and sympathic. My score for it is a solid 88 over 100, and i will be looking closely for expressions of this distillery in the next years, to study its development. Sláinte!

I had been looking forward to trying this for a long time. My parents had a holiday home when I was growing up that was only a few miles from what is now the site of Nc’nean Distillery at Drimnin on the west coast of Scotland. It’s about as remote as you can get on mainland Scotland, and it’s a place that is very close to my heart. This, weirdly, felt like it was a whisky close to my childhood! I had tried their botanical spirit (which is somewhere between a whisky and a gin in character) and had rather enjoyed it. I had them tried their early new make at a festival, which was really interesting. Then, in 2019, I was lucky enough to be invited to taste their ‘A’ and ‘B’ tasters to give some tasting notes. So, I was starting to feel a little invested! I’m very happy to say that this young NAS whisky is a good dram. BATCH .01 Distillation dates: April, May & July 2017 Number of bottles: 5040 Spirit recipe: Light and Fruity Yeasts: Anchor and Fermentis Cask mix: 65% STR Red Wine, 35% Ex-Bourbon Cask numbers: 2017 / 67, 68, 69, 91, 93, 94, 95, 121, 122, 124, 177, 179, 208, 212 Disgorging date: 20/08/2020 Bottling date: 27/08/20 - 04/09/20 Bottling strength: 46% Non-chill filtered. Natural colour. Nose: Sweet, caramel, floral. Palate: Slightly ‘hot’, peppery, zingy fruit (citrus), but mellowed by a lovely soft mouthfeel. There’s an almost herbal note underneath. Finish: Quite a long finish, warm, spicy and a softer citrus at the very end. It’s not a fireside whisky, it’s a summer sipper. It has a delicate, lightness that both shows and belies it’s young age. It is a nice - if youthful - dram. It has an elegance that makes me think this will be a cracker with a few more years on it. This particular bottle was a birthday gift from my parents, brother and sister-in-law. I’m currently tasting it - and writing this review - on my 46th birthday!

Nose: Sweet, orange zest, honey, Golden Syrup caramel, floral. Palate: Slightly ‘hot’, peppery, zingy fruit (citrus), stone fruit (peach), caramel. A lovely soft, buttery mouthfeel. There’s an almost herbal note underneath. Finish: Quite a long finish, warm, butterscotch and malt loaf. Light spices, caramel and gently spicy. Softer citrus on the aftertaste. I had tried (and enjoyed) the Batch 1 and was pretty impressed. I was also looking forward to seeing what they did with subsequent releases of the core range, to see if they had tweaked the recipe, and I’m surprised to say that this is very, very similar to the Batch 1. They did do a lot of market research before the first core batch release and they seem to be sticking with the taste profile. I’m glad this their approach overall, it’s still a great light summer dram and has a decent complexity for such a young dram. I’ve found myself going back to this a few times and have even started looking out for it in the bar - always a good sign. I just bought a replacement bottle! BATCH. 11 Distillation dates: February, March, May and June 2018 Number of bottles: 5040 Spirit recipe: Light and Fruity Yeasts: Anchor & Fermentis Cask mix: 65% STR Red Wine, 35% Ex-Bourbon Cask numbers: 2018 / 51, 120, 243, 240, 36, 37, 47, 48, 101, 233, 229, 230, 299, 23 Disgorging date: 21/10/2021 Bottling date: 01/11/202 - 29/11/2021 Bottling strength: 46% Non-chill filtered. Natural colour.

This is an exiting young whisky. Versatile on the nose. Young, yes but also very intense. Vanilla milk, crumbly butter cookies, white chocolate with blanched almonds, mild white grape vinegar. The nose is short and falls a bid flat at the top. Understandable for a 3y old and not bothering really. Nice, interesting and charming. The palate is nice and also very unique and different to anything really. Sweet grapefruit, crispy buttered toast with lemon jam, sugary, bitter almonds. Quite hot but the finish is rewarding. This whisky here is interesting and well crafted. Exiting and different.

First time trying this distillery but seems like they’re doing everything right! The first pour on the nose is lovely. The ex red wine casks coming through with a juicy nose, not harsh at all for a young whisky. Sugary sweetness I can’t place the nose and there is good complexity and super fruity! Nose does transition to palate, keeping sweet and fruity. Medium finish and nice and warming. Not too sweet but very nice! Love the addition of the STR casks!

I like the direction that this distillery is going and its great to read about how they only use renewable energy to run their distillery. For being only three years old, the whisky has a lot of promise moving forward with older barrel stocks. But for the time being the flavors are light and the youthfulness is still relatively noticeable.