anCnoc 18 Year

Nose: Big dried pineapple presence. Sultanas. A sweet wood note. Some bakers spices. Palate: Stewed sticky orchard fruits. The spices come through a bit more. Sweet cinnamon bark. Finish: Warming spicy finish. Some raw chocolate comes through. The dried fruit sherry cask flavours are the main influence on the finish.

Nose: Sweet honeyed malt, butterscotch toffee, roasted hazelnuts, autumn leaves, red berries, dark cherries, boiled Christmas pudding and marmalade. There’s a very mild hint of eucalyptus and oak cask in the background. Palate: Sweet arrival (but not overly sweet – just enough) mainly showing chewy rich malt and mocha coffee with a dusting of dry cocoa powder. In the development a more spicy side shows through with mild ginger, sweet cinnamon and nutmeg in evidence, but it always remains genteel, elegant and refined. The texture is very good, full-bodied and creamy. Towards the finish an excellent orange note becomes prominent. Finish: Long. Malt and preserved fruits leading into an extended aftertaste with echoes of the spices from the palate and a finale of sweet leathery tobacco and orange liqueur. A most enjoyable dram. The nose is delightfully fragrant and improves with every second of rest in the glass – do not hurry this dram. The palate is longer than you might initially think. It’s one of those profiles that is immediately good and then just keeps rolling along, gradually revealing more and more subtle flavours. There is a twinge of sulphur in the background but it acts as a spice and adds complexity and depth to everything else. You may not even notice it, but you won’t miss the subtle and lingering positive effect it has on the spice notes and its contribution to the length. Highly recommended. While scanning the online sellers today I saw a bottle of this and after checking my database I discovered I had a tasting sample from another company already on my shelves! I had not planned any tasting today but decided to give it a try. Result? I just ordered two bottles. Tasted from a 30 ml sample. “Excellent” : 88/100 (4.5 stars)

Leathery and spice. Sweet a little bit like chocolate oranges. Runs a little hot & I didn’t have water. Would probably be really good with that to balance it out.

Ancnoc. Have you tasted anything from them? Because i recently discovered it after 900 whiskies, and believe me, it was one of the most important discoveries i have made lately. After a couple good expressions i wanted to step up my game. That is why i have picked the 18yo, which is one of the reddish whiskies i have seen, and we are talking about natural color here. Bottled at 46%abv. On the nose, it starts slow. Red fruits, Spicy prunes; Cigarrettes and Madeira wine. It is like a Cigarrette with a cherry infusion. On the palate, it is fantastic. Red fruits: Strawberries, Port wine and Prunes. It is so syrupy, red fruit syrup. Fresh farm fruits. It is like a strawberry marmalade. Aftertaste is very well delivered. Acid prunes and very astringent. Winey with mild ashiness. Strawberries. Overall, i have to say that the nose lost some points, but after that, this was a memorable whisky. I loved the mixture of peaty notes and the port wine red fruitiness. Amazing, enjoyable, elegant, complex, delicious dram. I would buy a bottle, and the price is not out of this world. My score for it is 90 over 100.