Taking a stab at Nc’Nean Distillery

Nc’Nean Distillery relaunched their products in my home country a few weeks ago, under the wings of a new importer. Tasting notes from a hosted event caused a modest stir among bloggers, including myself, about the core values of the distillery, their presentation, their marketing, the retail pricing and, ultimately, the product that ends up in your glass. The balance seems a bit off. Reading their website, I can only applaud all the effort that goes into Nc’Nean’s attention to sustainability, being an organic whisky distillery, all that jazz. As a council member of one of the greenest political parties of my country, this makes my heart beat strong. I form my hands in heart-shape for Nc’Nean.

But in the end Nc’Nean is also a whisky producer, and whisky is judged on quality of the product. If the quality of the product is still a work in progress, as it is with many newcomers to the Scotch whisky industry – we are in the midst of a wave here, one needs marketing, likeability and respect for the customer. For me, that latest part, is a bit under pressure by the pricing of the Nc’Nean whisky products. Maybe they count on a progressive audience with deeper pockets to ensure some financial sustainability as well as environmental sustainability? At the end of the day, this is of course entirely up to Nc’Nean. If it works for them, who am I to talk. But if sustainability is the USP, you might as well produce shoelaces.

As a whiskyblogger that cares less about “influencing” and marketing banter in general, for me the most important thing will always be: does this stuff taste good? That goes for The Macallan, Springbank and also Nc’Nean. Whatever the approach, we taste whisky. So, after the online discussion I obtained a random sample of Nc’Nean (it is telling there is not much sharing going on of this distillery among enthusiasts, a worrisome signal in itself).

Nc’Nean Organic 2019, bottled at 46 %

Makeup: This is batch KS17 and 11.178 bottles were released. The whisky matured in 43 % American oak, 55 % STR red wine casks and 2 % oloroso to top it off. The whisky is organic and distilled in April 2019, bottled in January 2023.

General impressions: Sharp floral and fruity tones that gives the whisky a vibrant attitude. The wine cask’s influence is very pronounced, in the form of overripe red grapes and blue berries. If I try hard, I can definitely find the malt underneath the dominant wine layer. This creates the image of freshly baked bread with strawberry marmalade on it. Let’s take a sip. Hmm, yeah, a bit … bleak? It seems the liquid itself is in doubt about which side to show. 

It feels very soft on the tongue, that is nice, but the taste lingers between a sweet ‘n sour note and the dry tannic character coming from the STR treated cask. Wine maturation is so invasive on whisky, but with this very young Nc’Nean it seems to even shroud the entire experience.

We add a drop of water. Now this seems to bring out more of the malt character. The aromas from the glass are truly lovely, it is the taste where I really have to take points off. It is so weird that wine cask maturation can create such lovely smells, but fails to deliver on the palate. PX-casks is as far as I would go. It makes for sweet nosing but also sweet taste. Wine makes a whisky dry, leaning towards rubbery influences. It worries me that an entire generation of whisky enthusiasts think whisky is supposed to taste like this. Anyway, back to the whisky. A bit of water does improve the Nc’Nean, but makes the finish quite bitter.

Conclusion: Nc’Nean has won the award of being the marketing darling of the Scotch whisky industry. I think releasing some more honest products without too much tempering with the core that is malt whisky, may also win over the whisky enthusiast. The distillate seems just fine, even though I understand some adjustments are in place (or maybe in wood management, I did not get a memo so this is hearsay). My suggestion: put it in a bourbon cask for a few years and bottle it. You might surprise yourself. To consumers I would say: try before you buy. If you love wine in your whisky, you can go for it.

Score: 79 points

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