Whisky Discovery #258

anCnoc Peter Arkle Travel Retail Exclusive NAS (46% abv OB, 2012)
Single Malt Whisky
circa £38 1ltr (from airports)

The Travel Retail Exclusive from anCnoc' Peter Arkle range

This is the third bottling by anCnoc in partnership with graphic designer Peter Arkle and was launched in conjunction with the release of the second edition that I tried a couple of weeks ago (Whisky Discovery #218). The first edition being released earlier this year (Whisky Discovery #143) and if you check on that post you'll find some of the background information on the Peter Arkle series. This bottling as listed as a 'travel retail' expression which means you'll only be able to find it at airports and on ferries ordinarily

The packaging has been once again design by Peter Arkle and is inspired by an old-fashioned traveller’s leather suitcase, and the bottle label a luggage tag. The whisky inside is all the work of anCnoc and has been matured in first fill bourbon casks. Released with no age statement, the whisky is bottled at 46% abv, non chill-filtered and presented at its natural colour.

Official taste notes

Colour Light golden

Nose Sweet and spicy with honey and butterscotch closely followed by oranges and lemons. Rich vanilla is punctuated by green apples. Subtle hints of leather and chocolate float in the background. Complex and satisfying.

Taste Honey, vanilla cheesecake and caramel sweetness are followed by bright notes of pear drops, freshly squeezed lemons and coconut. The finish is long and sweet with hints of toffee and spices.

So what did I think?

This has a lovely fresh and fruity nose; creamy vanilla, zesty citrus with grapefruit and lemon, crisp green apples and even a little orange blossom. With a little time in the glass the malty notes start coming out; malted milk biscuits and shortbread and with the citrus and vanilla, it reminds me of a lemon cheesecake.

On the palate it was fresh and bright too. Sweet and tangy, with light orange marmalade notes, sweet honey. The crisp apples are on the palate too and there is a light peppery spice. The finish is not as long as I was expecting, the honey sweetness remains as does the citrus and light pepper spice notes and remains fresh and bright to the very end. The empty glass however reveals rich malty toffee notes.

Out of the three Peter Arkle expressions tasted this year, I think this one has been my favourite, but without some of the first expression to taste alongside it can't be one hundred percent sure, but if anyone is travelling soon could you pick one of these up for me? Ta!

Whisky Discovery #218

anCnoc Peter Arkle 2nd Edition (46% abv OB, 2012, 70cl)
Highland Single Malt
circa £50.00 70cl

The new limited edition Peter Arkle Second Edition launched September 2012

Following the first release earlier this year, the anCnoc Distillery unveiled their second expression in a series created in collaboration with a renowned Scottish illustrator based in New York – Peter Arkle. The partnership, launched in April 2012, revolves around a series of limited anCnoc expressions presented in packaging designed by the artist.

The illustration for the Limited Edition No. 2 is a powerful image of rows of casks disappearing into darkness of a warehouse. It was inspired by Peter's visit to Knockdhu where he did much of his creative work for the project and where all anCnoc Single Malt is made and matured. The artist later commented: ‘Working with anCnoc as a collaborative partner on its limited edition campaign has been an incredible thrill, and I am delighted with this new release. My illustration aims to capture the essence of what makes the whisky so special – time, as the sense of time passing was almost tangible inside the warehouse. I hope that drinkers get as much enjoyment from my design as they do from the magic inside the bottle!' 

The whisky has been matured in a fifty/fifty mix of Spanish oak ex-sherry butts and American oak ex-bourbon barrels, both first fill, with a predominant age of eight years, although released with no age statement. Although a limited edition, 12,000 bottles have been released which is double that of the first release. The whisky is bottled at 46% ABV, unchill-filtered and presented at its natural colour.

Official Tasting notes

Colour: Light amber.

Nose: Sweet and full-bodied bursting with spicy vanilla and rich toffee aromas followed by fresh lemons, cooked green apples and a just hint of coconut.

Taste: Sweet, warm and spicy. Dried fruit cake, creamy vanilla and toffee are followed by a distinct note of zesty orange peel and enveloped in leathery richness.

So What did I Think?

With a 50:50 mix of sherry butts and bourbon barrels I was expecting a little more of the sherry influence to come through on the nose. There is bags of vanilla and butterscotch initially, before the fruit first emerges in toffee apples. There's also a little furniture polish, or rich polished wood notes, with some spice and a delicate floral note like orange blossom that drifts in and out as on a breeze wafting through. I left the residue in the glass over night - covered, (a tip I picked up from The Perfect Whisky Match) and re-nosed in the morning; Figs and walnuts! Lovely!

It's sweet on the palate with honey and vanilla but with a good measure of white pepper and a light syrupy texture. I started to get a sweet stewed apples note which reminded me of my Mum's home-made apple pie (we had apple trees in the garden, and around this time of year there always seemed to be stewed apples on the stove!).

The finish was long, ending up quite dry, like finishing a cup of Earl Grey (black of course!) with light spice and a touch of salt at the very end.

A very nice drop of drammage, and certainly compliments the first edition nicely. The bourbon casks are certainly at the forefront of this expression, but the sherried fruits coming through in the end.

Thanks to anCnoc, The Edinburgh Whisky Blog and @alembic_tweets for the sample

Whisky Discovery #143

anCnoc Peter Arkle NAS (46% abv OB)
Highland Single Malt
circa £48:00 70cl

The limited edition Peter Arkle anCnoc

The last week if May was a very busy whisky week! A five dram Skype tasting on the Tuesday evening, a four dram Tweet Tasting with The English Whisky Co on the Wednesday and this Tweet tasting was on the Thursday.

Hosted by The Edinburgh Whisky Blog and Alembic Tweets I was sent a wee sample of the new limited edition release from the anCnoc distillery. I've not come across anCnoc in my journey so far, so this was the first expression from this distillery, although the 16 year old has been on my list for a while.

Knockdhu, which means 'black hill' was built in 1894 at Knock seven miles from Huntly. Knockdhu is unique in that it was the only distillery to have been entirely built by the old DCL company, and was constructed mainly to supply malt to the Haigs blend which it did until closure in 1983. The distillery was bought in 1988 by Inver House and re-opened the following year. It was only in the early 1990's that the distillery make was bottled as a single under the name of An Cnoc (in order to avoid confusion with Knockando). Independent bottlings from the distillery are sometimes still bottled as Knockdhu though, just to add to the confusion.


Peter Arkle Project

Peter Arkle is a reknowned Scottish illustrator based in New York who has worked with some of the worlds biggest brands (Guinness, Nike, and Starbucks are just a few!) He has developed an exclusive range of limited edition designs for anCnoc, of which this is the first.

While sipping his anCnoc, Peter found himself considering the ingredients: Yes, it’s made from malted barley, spring water (from the nearby Knock Hill), yeast, heat and the passing of a lot of time (ageing in a cask). However there’s another ingredient... something that can’t really be seen: something MAGIC!

If you look carefully, you will see that Peter has captured all these ingredients in his design for this pack. The liquid inside is also very special. Selected by the Distillery Manager, Gordon Bruce, this Limited Edition is matured in Spanish oak sherry butts. Traditionally anCnoc is matured in American wood. This gives the whisky a darker colour and notes of dark spices and dried fruits.

The Tweet Tasting

So what did I think?

Bottled at 46% abv, the whisky is naturally coloured and non chill-filtered. On the nose it was rich and spicy. There was vanilla, butterscotch toffee, a bit of a fruit cake aroma to it, some orange zest, there was a salty note too.

The nose got better the longer it was in the glass, the vanilla started to build and then sweet caramelised bananas, sticky toffee pudding, yum yum yum

It had a lovely mouth feel, honey smoothness with raisins, creamy vanilla, light apple juice then richer fruit, black cherry.

There was a good long peppery, spicy finish to it, a little sweetness, a little saltiness - nicely balanced.

I was really impressed with this first anCnoc and the smell in the glass at end of the evening was very alluring, leaving me wanting some more. I've now ordered myself a bottle to add to my shelf!

Thanks to anCnoc, The Edinburgh Whisky Blog and Alembic Tweets for the sample and hosting the Tweet Tasting, and Royal Mile Whiskies, anCnoc and Alembic Tweets for the images.