Nc’nean Debuts Inaugural Release "Annabel" In New Series “Quiet Rebels”, Named After Distillery's Founder
What you need to know:
- Sustainability-focused Scottish distillery Nc’nean is releasing their debut seasonal release, “Quiet Rebels” aimed at honoring the people who’ve helped build Nc’nean.
- The first of the series is befittingly named after its founder, Annabel Thomas, and is a combination of ex-Bourbon and ex-Tokaji barrels, a Hungarian dessert wine cask that is known for its sweet and velvety texture.
- The resulting whisky is one that is “richly perfumed, with notes of floral almond biscotti, desiccated coconut and tropical fruits”.
- A total of 4,505 bottles will be released, is bottled at 48.5% ABV and measures 700ml. It is certified organic.
- We’re huge fans of the distillery’s work and really enjoy their core organic single malt whisky, and we appreciate both their eco-conscious mission, their gorgeous bottles and their cask experimentations.
- Cop the Drop or Not Verdict: Cop
The new series "Quiet Rebels" will honor the people who helped build Nc'nean, the first of which is named after founder, Annabel Thomas. (Image Source: Nc'nean)
Sustainability-focused Scottish distillery Nc’nean is an independent, organic distillery that was started by Annabel Thomas, who left her job as a consultant in London to start the distillery. What would compel someone to do that is probably what is on your mind, and a very reasonable question at that. Annabel wanted to change the way Scottish whisky is perceived and to create whiskies that existed in harmony with our environment.
Four years of fundraising and distillery-building later, Nc’nean was ready. Located in the west coast of Scotland, the distillery has been chugging out whiskies since 2017 and in 2020, released their inaugural bottle, Ainnir, via auction, the proceeds of which went to charity.
Top to toe it's all about dat sustainability at Nc'nean. (Image Source: Nc'nean)
In line with their sustainability-focus, Nc’nean is conscious of their carbon footprint and the local biodiversity, opting to use organic Scottish barley and even powering their distillery with renewable energy, with 99.97% of waste being recycled. Even their whiskies are bottled in 100% recycled clear glass bottles.
Fast forward to 2021, and the distillery has their inaugural bottling Ainnir, their core organic single malt scotch bottling now in its 9th batch, and even an ex-Tequila cask finished whisky bottled in partnership with British departmental store Selfridges, under their belt, the distillery is now debuting their first seasonal release!
A single cask bottling that was done in collaboration with departmental store Selfridges, Aon, which was finished in ex-Tequila casks. (Image Source: Whisky Shop)
Quiet Rebels, the seasonal release, will look to honor the people who helped Nc’nean to become what it is, and is a nod to the team’s shared passion for eco-consciousness. How befitting, given that the small distillery is so hands-on with a team of only 13 staff!
And who better to share a namesake with than their founder, Annabel, which the first bottling will be named after.
The leader of the Quiet Rebels, Annabel Thomas. (Image Source: Luxurious Magazine)
The bottle is a combination of ex-Bourbon and ex-Tokaji barrels, a Hungarian dessert wine cask that is known for its sweet and velvety texture. The resulting whisky is one that is “richly perfumed, with notes of floral almond biscotti, desiccated coconut and tropical fruits”.
“The Quiet Rebels series celebrates the team that makes Nc’nean what it is. A group of passionate, skilled and adventurous people who are the driving force behind our mission to pioneer sustainable production and do things differently.
“The best part was obviously picking the casks for this release. I’ve had my eye on the Tokaji barrels for a while as their sweeter side appealed to me. But I also love our spirit in ex-Bourbon casks and I wanted to create something that let me shine through.
“It’s my turn to go first with this release but I can’t wait to see what the rest of our amazing team come up with in years to come.”
- Annabel Thomas, Founder of Nc'nean Distillery
A total of 4,505 bottles will be released (and is currently out now or are in the process of being rolled out, on most online retailers). It is bottled at 48.5% ABV and despite the non-standard bottle shape, it does measure the standard 700ml. It is of course certified organic.
Our Take
We’ve been big fans of Nc’nean to be quite honest, we even snagged ourselves the core single malt when it was in its first batch, and we would’ve gotten Ainnir too if it wasn’t for those dang meddling bidders! We jest, of course. As if the bottle itself and the distillery’s story wasn’t an instant sell, the whisky inside was really good too. Young, of course, we don’t deny, but we really enjoyed a whisky that tasted like a spiced apple pie – spicy, lots of orchard fruits and a good amount of maltiness as well.
It’s also nice to see that the distillery has been playing around with a couple of interesting casks even at such a young age, from Tequila and Tokaji, of course that’s not to say it’ll all go down well, but if results were assured, it wouldn’t be called an experiment.
So to that, we say, try on, try on! We love their mission, their whiskies and we continue to look forward to these new releases, each one more unique than the last!
Cop the Drop or Not Verdict: Cop
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Kanpai!
@111hotpot