Club Corner
Single Malt Club Q1 2025: Nc'nean Quiet Rebels "Amy"
Nc’nean Distillery As our first selection of 2025 coincides with Women’s History Month, I am pleased to present a single malt whose namesake is a woman, from a distillery founded by a woman. Nc’nean distillery further distinguishes itself by being at the forefront of sustainability in Scotch Whisky production. This is a very approachable, pleasant whisky. I hope you enjoy it! Sláinte! Sam Crocker Spirits Buyer Nc’nean Distillery Quiet Rebels “Amy” Region: Western Highlands, Scotland “Annabel Thomas started Nc’nean to change the way the world thinks about whisky from Scotland. Her mission was to create a whisky which could exist in harmony with this planet we call home. After leaving her job in London in 2013, she spent four years raising funds and building the distillery from the ground up on the west coast of Scotland. In 2017, Nc’nean started distilling our very own organic whisky, and in 2020 our first bottle was born. We now have four different series of whiskies as well as a Botanical Spirit. Sustainability runs in our veins. We believe it is our responsibility to constantly improve our impact on this earth in terms of carbon footprint, pollution and biodiversity. B Corp certified, we use only unpeated organic Scottish barley in our distillery powered only by renewable energy. We bottle our whisky in a 100% recycled clear glass bottle (a first in Scotch whisky, we think), and we divert 99.97% of our waste from landfill. As of 2021 we became the first whisky distillery in the UK to be verified as net zero carbon emissions for scopes 1 and 2. The Quiet Rebels series is released each autumn, when a new bottling is selected by and named after one of our small team. Quiet Rebels Amy, named after our Visitor Manager and Head of Sustainability, includes whisky finished in ex-Maury casks from a small organic vineyard in France who produce a fortified wine that is made in a similar way to port. The 60-year-old vines are maintained with a variety of sustainable farming methods including agroforestry which involves integrating trees amongst the vines to improve soil richness. The farm also follows biodynamic principles such as following the lunar calendar which several studies show is an effective way to determine the best time to plant and harvest crops. These ex-Maury casks have been blended with Nc’nean’s house style STR red wine and Ex-Bourbon casks to create Amy’s dream bottling.”(source: www.ncnean.com) Founder: Annabel Thomas Cask Type: 63% STR (shaved, toasted, re-charred) red wine casks, 19% ex-Maury, 18% ex-Bourbon ABV: 48.5% Price: $118.99/700mL Tasting Notes: Lemon custard, damson jam and brown butter muffins.
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Single Malt Club Quarter 2 2024
Isle of Raasay Distillery The Isle of Raasay is probably not a place you’ve ever heard of. With a population of only 161 people, it is located in Scotland’s Inner Hebrides, between the mainland and the more famous (and larger) Isle of Skye. It is roughly 14 miles long from North to South, and 3 miles at its widest point east to west. Once ruled by the MacLeod Clan (my distant ancestors), today it is primarily a site for tourism, fishing and crofting. This quarter’s club selection comes from the island’s first (and as yet only) legal distillery, opened in 2017. The aptly named Isle of Raasay Distillery was named Distillery of the Year at the 2022 Scottish Whisky Awards. This limited release commemorates that honor and was limited to 9,500 bottles globally, with 1,200 allocated for the U.S. Sláinte! Sam Crocker Spirits Buyer Isle of Raasay Distillery of the Year Edition Region: Inner Hebrides, Scotland Co-founders Bill Dobbie and Alasdair Day first met in 2013 and formed R&B Distillers with the common goal of building Scotland’s leading artisanal distillery. Focusing on local production, provenance, quality, and doing things differently, by 2015, they had identified the Isle of Raasay as providing the ingredients for the perfect spirit. In 2016, they were granted permission to transform the Isle of Raasay’s nineteenth century Borodale House into a state-of-the-art distillery, visitor center, and luxury accommodation. Starting from scratch, they set about designing a distillery to create exceptional whisky that develops elegance, complexity, and depth early on in the maturation process, and a handcrafted Hebridean gin that encapsulates Raasay’s style, character and impressive geological variety. Since its establishment, the Isle of Raasay Distillery has brought job opportunities to the island, worked closely with other local businesses and become embedded in the island’s tight-knit community. Part of the distillery’s ethos is to produce, mature, bottle and market every drop of spirit directly from the island. This seeks to maximize the influence of the island on the spirit, and the distillery on the island. To quote the inimitable Whisky Writer Dave Broom at our distillery opening: “we are not just making alcohol, we are making spirit.” Courtesy of Impex Beverages Cask Type: Matured in ex-Four Roses Bourbon casks with a second maturation in Quercus humboldtii (Andean or Colombian Oak) ABV: 50.7% Price: $118.99 Tasting Notes: Unpeated spirit with notes of vanilla and butterscotch and a long finish of Crème Brûlée.
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