Ancnoc (pronounced An-nok) is the name of the whisky produced by the Knockdhu distillery which is located in the Highlands immediately east of Speyside. My introduction to this distillery was via tasting of the Ancnoc 22 year old a couple of times on different occasions. I was very impressed by that malt and gained a desire to investigate the distillery bottlings further. Although I wasn't quite ready to plunk down the cash for the 22, I thought it good to start at the beginning with the well-priced 12 year old.
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| Ancnoc 12 Year Old - click picture to enlarge |
Colour: Gold.
Nose: apples... almost like pie filling. Brown sugar, spices, and pastry dough. Quite pleasant!
Palate: gentle, malty, a little sweet. Easy to drink and soft yet flavourful with no off-notes. Light vanilla and maybe dried coconut. As it sits in the glass a while, I think a touch of chocolate appears along with a creaminess. Tasty stuff!
Finish: on the short side with spices. Clean.
This is a nice "every day" dram and can be taken pretty well any time or situation. Having tasted the Ancnoc 22 Year Old, I really wish this 12 Year Old were bottled at higher than 40% and with no colour or chill filtration. I feel like this is a good malt that could have been a truly stellar one had that been the case. I have to say that it bothers me when distilleries decide to bottle only much older, more expensive whiskies without colouring and chill-filtration; it makes me feel as though they don't care about the drams that most of the public can and will buy. This doesn't align with my philosophies at all!
Off my soap box - I don't want to take away from this 12 Year Old. It is good and actually something I'd pick ahead of a number of other older, more expensive bottles.
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