This was a tasting of the anCnoc 24 yr old, Rutter, and Tushkar bottlings.
Ancnoc 24yr old 46% ABV.
anCnoc 24 Years Old has been bottled in its most natural form – neither chill-filtered nor coloured, and as a result may develop a light haze with the addition of water or if kept at a cold temperature. This haze is a natural characteristic of whisky that is non chill-filtered.
ancnoc.com
Appearance
Chestnut/mahogany in colour, nice and viscous on the glass, and thick syrupy legs.
Nose
Noses higher than 46% ABV, a light perfume aroma, tropical fruits, fruit cake, a touch of menthol, foam bananas, dusty, old leather, I could nose this for ages tbh.
There’s linseed oil, cereals and grains, nuts too, and a touch of cherry? It’s developing nicely, i’m getting spicier for me now, blackcurrants, aniseed, coffee beans, ginger.
What a nose! #thewhiskeychaps
— Dram it Mick! (@StillSurreal) July 15, 2021
Palate
Lovely and viscous, coats the whole mouth, and it’s quite spicy. Root ginger, cinnamon, anise, Jamaican ginger cake, ginger nut biscuits, pineapple, guava, black pepper.
Would be a good drop to help a cold I reckon, very chest warming as you say l. #thewhiskeychaps
— Dram it Mick! (@StillSurreal) July 15, 2021
Finish
Long, warming and spicy, with a touch of sweetness. Espresso, cough candy, dandelion and burdock, high cocoa chocolate, cloves and dates, very nice indeed.
My thoughts
I have to simply say that in my opinion this is a fantastic whisky. The aromas and flavours in it are just delightful, and it develops beautifully. I will have to sit with the remainder of the sample for an hour or so one evening, just to see what else i can tease out of it.
In all honesty this is a bit of a “wow” moment for me. As whisk(e)y drinkers we hope that an aged bottling brings that extra something with it, well this one truly does.
Would i buy a bottle?
Coming in at around £115 this bottle isn’t cheap. Considering what other distilleries are asking for a lot younger whiskies this is well worth the price tag in my opinion. I would very happily buy a bottle.
Ancnoc Rutter 46% ABV
The Rutter spade is used to size and separate the peat blocks producing a turf that is slow burning. This peat creates less reek and therefore gives the whisky a more fragrant smokiness, in this case, with a PPM of 11.0.
ancnoc.com
Appearance
Very light in colour, white wine/straw. Decently thick swirl line, thick legs and teardrops.
Nose
Again this comes across higher than 46% ABV, and is a real fruit/peat bomb. Cherries from a jar, blood oranges, cranberries, there is a royal icing sweetness too. Bbq sauce, stick bbq ribs, and some earthiness.
It’s a little vegetal, and it has a speyside way about it. Rose water, plums.
A proper nose full 👍 #thewhiskeychaps
— Dram it Mick! (@StillSurreal) July 15, 2021
Palate
Nice mouthfeel, quite oily, with sweet lemon, apricot, bonfire smoke and ash, chocolate, those chocolate coated ginger biscuits, some tannins, aniseed, I’m liking this too.
I like that both the peat, sweetness and spice are so well balanced, it’s easy to find them all. #thewhiskeychaps
— Dram it Mick! (@StillSurreal) July 15, 2021
Finish
The mouthfeel improves further, it’s quite long in length, lovely and warming, baking spices, chocolate Orange, cinnamon, ginger again, black coffee, aniseed, the bobbly sweets in a bag of liquorice allsorts.
My thoughts
This was my first experience of a peated ancnoc whisky, and for me it’s a very positive one. It can best be described as a fruit/smoke/ash/spice experience, where the smoke and ash don’t dominate the palate. All the flavours are accessible for me, with plenty of fruit throughout.
Would i buy a bottle?
As if you couldn’t guess already, it’s a resounding yes. There are many peated whiskies available these days, and with time iv’e come to realise that they all have their place, peat and peated whisky is far from a 2D landscape as such. Rutter certainly has it’s place, and again i’d very happily buy a bottle (if i could, it’s been discontinued now).
Ancnoc Tushkar 46% ABV
The Tushkar spade has a long blade that cuts down through the peat, producing a turf with a medium to slow burn. This peat creates and adds a complex but medium smokiness to the whisky, in this case, with a PPM of 15.0.
ancnoc.com
Appearance
Damp straw in colour, thick swirl line beads up and drops more of an all over film and teardrops.
Nose
This also noses higher than 46% ABV for me, and this one is a little more fruity. Plums, pomelo, dried apricots, bbq smoke, mango. BBq’d meat, a little lemon again.
Does start to become more Smokey, vegetal, a perfume scent, meadow flowers, faint Parma violet sweets.
Weird eh? It’s a much better use of the peat #thewhiskeychaps
— Whisk(e)y Chap 🏴🥃 (@whiskeychap) July 15, 2021
Palate
There’s more peat now than smoke, and still quite fruity, tropical fruits, lemon again, a little cherry, cherry flapjack, strudel, vanilla custard too, quite different to the Rutter, mouthfeel improves with time.
I agree, and definitely a perfumed kind of note, it’s quite light tbh. #thewhiskeychaps
— Dram it Mick! (@StillSurreal) July 15, 2021
Finish
Long side of medium in length, warming, a little spicy but definitely more fruity than the Rutter. Getting more spicy now, ginger, cinnamon, pears, apricots, lemons.
My thoughts
When we decided to do this tasting i was a little concerned with having two peated whiskies from the same distillery. Especially as the Rutter is 11 PPM, and this Tushkar being 15 PPM, i thought they may be very similar. Turns out that isn’t an issue. Both are different enough to be able to tell them apart, which really pleased me to be honest, it’s what i’d hoped for.
This bottling, like the Rutter, is very quaffable, it comes across as being stronger than 46% ABV like the 24yr old and Rutter do. Again there’re plenty of aromas and flavours to enjoy here, and they are easily accessible.
If your intention is to just fall into a comfy chair with a peated dram that isn’t medicinal but is fruity, this could well be for you.
Would i buy a bottle?
I believe that this bottling is only available in Sweden, which is such a shame as i’d buy a bottle. Tasting the Rutter and Tushkar this evening has expanded my experience with peated whisky. It’s a Speyside dram, not an unusual thing these days, but i find non Islay peated whisky just as exciting as the Islay peated stuff, it’s just “different”.
Overall tasting thoughts
This tasting was again superb. We’ve now tasted 6 ancnoc whiskies, and they are just so good, just so delightful and enjoyable to drink, and their pricing is rather impressive for the current whisky market.
We will be keeping our eyes open for more whiskies from ancnoc to do a third tasting of their wares.
Thanks to George- @bigbaddod, for the samples of the 24yr old, George your a gent 👌. (Follow George below on Twitter).
Follow @bigbaddod Follow @thewhiskeychapsAnd now for something completely different
Continuing my whisky/music theme, for tracks iv’e listened to either during the tasting or during doing my review. Garbage are a band iv’e enjoyed for many years, and this is one of favourites from them, i hope you enjoy it.
