Some whiskies want to impress. This one just wants to be good company. Bright, honeyed and without a single hard edge, the kind of bottle you open on a Wednesday evening without feeling you have used something up.
The Expert's Description
anCnoc 12 Years Old is a Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky bottled at 40% from the Knockdhu distillery in Banffshire. It is the house core expression and the best place to meet the spirit: bright, floral and with a light waxy texture that is the distillery’s clearest signature.
Knockdhu works with a clean, pale spirit, and that puts demands on the casks. Let them get too active and the house style disappears. The 12 year old is therefore built to keep the distillate up front, with the wood as a frame rather than a lead role. The result is often described as a dessert malt, sweet without turning syrupy.
The distillery was built in 1894 by John Morrison near Knock Hill, where barley, spring water and peat were all within reach. It closed in 1983, was taken over by Inver House Distillers in 1988, and since 1993 the whisky has been sold under the anCnoc name.
Tasting Notes
Nose
Soft and aromatic. Honey and lemon set the tone, with pale flowers and a touch of green apple behind. A fine malty floor runs underneath it all, close to white bread.
Palate
Sweet to begin with honey, vanilla and ripe pear. Then a lightly spiced note arrives along with that characteristic waxiness, which lends more body than 40% would promise. Clean and straightforward the whole way, with no bitterness.
Finish
Short to medium. Honey and malt linger, with a dry citrus note at the close. It disappears neatly.
Specifications
Name: anCnoc 12 Years Old Single Highland Malt Whisky 40%
Distillery: Knockdhu
Bottler: Inver House Distillers
Region/Country: Highland, Scotland
Type: Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Age: 12 years
ABV: 40%
Size: 70 CL
EAN no.: 5010509427067
Flavour Profile
Honeyed · Floral · Fruity · Soft · Malty · Light
Did You Know?
Knockdhu was the first distillery Distillers Company Limited ever built from scratch. It was completed in 1894 and so formed part of the great whisky boom of the late nineteenth century, a boom that collapsed a few years later. The distillery survived, though it later closed in 1983 and stood silent for six years before Inver House got it running again.
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