It’s been ages since I tried an anConc, and this one wasn’t recent either. Last year, when I was still a member of the Usquebaugh Society, I participated in the Blind Tasting Competition, and this was dram number one.

Of course, no information was given and I don’t think I participated on the right days, but I did go through all the samples eventually.

This is the official 18 year old anCnoc, from KnockDhu distillery in the Highlands of Scotland. However, based on the map, I’d have called it a Speyside. It matured in bourbon and sherry casks and was bottled in 2014.

Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
Lots of barley, slightly dry and with a little bit of oak. A bit light on the nose, and rather simple. Some twigs and old leaves.

Sip:
Light, slightly dry and grain driven. Lots of barley, husk, dusty. Some oak, hessian, very old fashioned.

Swallow:
Here it gets a bit deeper, a bit more complex with some dry spices, oak and hessian. Not too short.

The finish livens up a bit. It cannot really eliminate what came before, which was a bit bland. I guess that even though anCnoc has a pretty good reputation in my book, the regular releases are just a bit ‘regular’. Their single casks, vintages and older releases are pretty stellar, but this is a bit more accommodating to less experienced drinkers. A good whisky, but nothing stellar.

At € 75/80 it’s priced pretty decently. Although most shops have it at a higher price point.

85/100

anCnoc 18, bottled in 2014, 46%.