|
|
Release Notes
The Rascan tool is used to break up the top level of rough ground and prepare the land for peat harvesting. It clears the heather turf to expose the peat used to produce a whisky, in this case, with a PPM of 11.1.
anCnoc
3rd Party Tasting Notes
Colour: Muted gold in appearance.
Nose: An initial honey sweetness followed by green apples and the accents of oranges and lemons so typical of anCnoc.
Taste: Sweet and spicy notes of vanilla and honey are carried forward at the first sip. Hints of toffee then push through outlined by subtle spices and a smooth leathery undertone. The finish is floral yet pleasantly smoky.
Nose: An initial honey sweetness followed by green apples and the accents of oranges and lemons so typical of anCnoc.
Taste: Sweet and spicy notes of vanilla and honey are carried forward at the first sip. Hints of toffee then push through outlined by subtle spices and a smooth leathery undertone. The finish is floral yet pleasantly smoky.
anCnoc
The Distillery: Knockdhu (An Cnoc)
| Established: 1893 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: Knock, by Huntly, Aberdeenshire AB5 5LI, Scotland, UK |
| → website |
The proprietors of the Knockdhu distillery have managed to confuse their customers by repeatedly switching between the brand names "An Cnoc" and "Knockdhu" over the years. I bought my first bottle of An Cnoc around the year 1995 and wasn"t impressed enough to look for another bottle for circa five years. When I got around to tasting an official bottling again 5 years later the name had changed to Knockdhu.
Pacific Spirits bought Inver House Distillers (also owner of the Balblair, Balmenach, Pulteney and Speyburn distilleries) in 2001 for 85 million dollar - a princely sum... The owner of Pacific Spirits is the Great Oriole Group (ThaiBev) from Thailand, the largest alcohol producer in Thailand. This means that Knockdhu distillery is part of a growing number of malt whisky distilleries in Scotland that are owned by Asian companies. Tomatin distillery, for example, is owned by Takara Shuzo and the three distilleries of Morrison Bowmore (Glen Garioch, Auchentoshan & Bowmore itself) were obtained by Suntory from Japan in the early 1980"s when a crisis in Europe had made the whisky industry vulnerable to foreign take-overs.
Anyway, there"s a little more to tell about the early beginning of Knockdhu. It was the first distillery to be built by DCL, but they didn"t discover the source at the foot of Knock Hill themselves. That was discovered by John Morrison who had bought the Knock Estate in 1892. When he discovered the water source not long after obtaining the estate and the farm, he had the water analysed by an Edinburgh laboratory that belonged to DCL. The spring water turned out to be of excellent quality for whisky production, so DCL offered to buy Morrison"s property. John Morrison accepted the offer and in May 1893 construction of the Knockdhu distillery started.
Fortunately, the closure wasn"t permanent. Inver House bought Knockdhu distillery from United Distillers in 1988 and resumed production of whisky on February 6, 1989. An official bottling under the name Knockdhu was released a year later in 1990.
To avoid confusion with Knockando distillery (located a few miles south-east of Knockdhu), the name of the official bottlings was changed to "An Cnoc" in 1993. As described before, they switched to the name "Knockdhu" one more time in the late 1990"s or early noughties (unless I had unwittingly bought an antique bottle) before they made the final (?) choice for the name "An Cnoc" in 2003. In this case "they" are Pacific Spirits - the new owners.
So, at the turn of the millennium the name of the official bottlings had reverted to the old name they used around the year 1990; Knockdhu. And then, in 2003, they redesigned their 12yo standard official bottling and changed the name back to "An Cnoc" yet again. After the relaunch a number of limited releases and vintages were introduced as well.
As far as the history of the An Cnoc / Knockdhu distillery is concerned: DCL (Distillers Company Limited) started construction in 1893; a few years before "the whisky boom" of the late 19th century reached its peak. Actual production started in October 1894 and it continued uninterrupted until 1931 when the distillery was closed. One year earlier the management of Knockdhu had been taken over by Scottish Malt Distillers (SMD), who decided to ressume production again in 1933. Knockdhu distillery remained in operation for exactly fifty years until the economic crisis of the early 1980"s hit Scotland; United Distillers (the owners at the time) decided to close Knockdhu again in 1983.
Knockdhu distillery is located in the Eastern part of Speyside (some say Eastern Highlands), North-east of the Isla river, South-east of Knock Hill and nearby the Knock Farm. Apart from the periods of closure that I mentioned earlier, Knockdhu was closed during both world wars. In fact, during World War II the distillery was used to house troops from India. They were in a relatively comfortable position; unlike the distillery workers before them they benefited from the electricity that wasn"t installed at the distillery until 1940. There used to be a railway nearby the distillery as well, which was used for the transportation of whisky and materials; it was closed in the late 1960"s.
The relaunch of the 12yo official bottling of An Cnoc in 2003 marked a change in the release strategy of Knockdhu / An Cnoc distillery. One year later the first "vintage" edition was released, a 14yo that was distilled in 1990. In 2005 two more vintages followed; another 14yo (this time from 1991) and a 30 years old expression that was distilled in 1975. More vintages of a 14 years old expression have been released in recent years and a 16 years old official bottling was added to the line-up in 2008.
3) The name Knockdhu means "black hill" - while the name An Cnoc just means "the hill".
4) Knocdhu is one of almost two dozen malt whisky distilleries that were founded over a century ago during the "whisky boom" of the late 19th century and which have managed to survive until this day. The other survivors include Aberfeldy, Ardmore, Aultmore, Balvenie, Benriach, Benromach, Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain, Dalwhinnie, Dufftown, Glendullan, Glenfiddich, Glenrothes, Glentauchers, Knockandu, Longmorn, Tamdhu and Tomatin.
2006 - Pacific Spirits and the Knockdhu distillery are sold to International Beverage Holdings.
Trivia:
1) Independent bottlings of Knockdhu / An Cnoc are virtually impossible to find.
2) Apparently, the local dialect has changed along with the name changes back and forth. The "silent K" in the name Knockdhu (pronounced "Nok-doo") became a silent C when the name changed to An Cnoc (pronounced "An Nok").
Some of the water that is used for the production of the Knockdhu malt whisky still comes from the original water source that inspired the construction of the distillery, but water from five other sources on or near Knock Hill is used as well. The Ternemney brook that flows alongside the distillery supplies the cooling water.
In the new Millenium:
2001 - Pacific Spirits (at the time a subsidiary of the Great Oriole Group) acquired the Knockdhu distillery.
2003 - A new packaging for the 12 years old official bottling of An Cnoc is introduced. That name was first used in 1993 to avoid confusion between the Knockdhu 12yo and bottlings from Knockandu.
from Malt Madness
The Owner: Inver House Distillers
| Established: 1964 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: Towers Road, Airdrie, ML6 8P, Scotland, UK |
| → website |
Being part of a larger group ensures the company"s continued success in an increasingly competitive market place.
Inver House is also committed to the training and development of its employees and in 1999 received the coveted Investors in People accreditation.
In October 2001, Inver House entered a new chapter when it was purchased by Pacific Spirit (U.K.) Ltd, now International Beverage Holdings Limited (InterBev) - the international arm of Asia"s leading drinks business, the Thai Beverage Public Company Limited (ThaiBev) with an outstanding portfolio of beverage alcohol brands across spirits, wine and beer categories.
The substantial warehousing, blending and office facilities all remained, and do so to this day, as do the state of the art Gin, Vodka and Cream Production Facilities.
However, following the takeover by the management team in 1988, and the revival of the Scotch Whisky industry, Inver House Distillers purchased 5 highly regarded malt distilleries over a period of 9 years. Since then Inver House has gone from strength to strength in its commitment to a worldwide market. This continued commitment was recognised in 1992 with the granting of the Queen"s Award for Export Achievement.
Inver House Distillers was established in 1964 as a subsidiary of the American company, Publicker Industries. In the 1970"s the Scotch Whisky industry faced competition from other spirit categoreis and coupled with the death of its American Chairman, Publicker Industries did not focus its business interests in its Scottish subsidiaries. As a result of this, the malt and grain distilleries at the Scottish site in Airdrie became surplus to requirements and were closed in 1985 and 1986.
Trivia:
- IHD currently owns 5 distilleries: Pulteney, Balblair, Knockdhu (including anCnoc Single Malts), Speyburn and Balmenach.
- IHD also produces blended malt scotch whisky Blairmhor and the blends Hankey Bannister, MacArthur"s, Catto"s and Green Plaid.
- IHD"s portfolio also includes Vodkas, Gins and Liqueurs.
from Inver House Distillers
The Owner: International Beverage
| Established: 2005 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: 14 Vibhavadi-Rangsit Road, Chom phon, Chatu chak, Bangkok 10900 Thailand |
| → website |
International Beverage"s aim is to become the leading Asian international drinks company.
International Beverage now has responsibility for the growth internationally of a strong portfolio of beverage alcohol brands across spirits, beer and other categories. These global operations are managed out of our four regional headquarters located in United Kingdom, Singapore, China and North America.
We export our brands to over 80 countries outside Thailand and our operations include distilleries in Scotland, China and across South East Asia.
International Beverage Holdings Limited (International Beverage) has been formed to be the international arm of Thai Beverage Public Company Limited (ThaiBev) and was established in 2005 to facilitate the continued expansion of the drinks business outside of Thailand.
Trivia:
- IB"s brand portfolio includes Chang beer, Mekhong Thai whisky, Sang Som liquor, Old Pulteney, Balblair, anCnoc and Speyburn single malts, Hankey Bannister, MacArthur"s, Catto"s and Drummer blended scotch whiskies, Caorunn gin, Old Pulteney and Heather Cream scotch liqueurs."
from International Beverage
The Owner: Thai Beverage Public Company
| Established: 2003 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: 14 SangSom Building,Vibhavadee Rangsit Road, Chomphon,Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900 Thailand |
| → website |
White spirits are distilled liquors made from molasses without any mixture or color, and produced in four strengths of varying degrees of alcohol: 28, 30, 35 and 40% alcohol per volume. The company"s largest-selling white spirits are branded Ruang Khao or rice stalk. The labels are color-coded to reflect the alcoholic strength but do not have the brand name printed on them. Other brands in this category are Niyomthai and White Tiger.
ThaiBev produces brown and white spirits. Thai liquor is technically rum. Rum is derived from distilling cane juice, sugar or molasses until the product is with 60-95 degree alcohol content. The content is mixed with purified water to produce a satisfactory level of alcohol content before being transferred to age in charred oak barrels for at least one year. Before being bottled the liquor may be further mixed to adjust for desired color, aroma, and taste, but it has to have at least 40 degree alcohol content.
ThaiBev"s most famous, but not highest selling, liquor brand, Mekhong, originated in 1941 at the Bangyikhan Distillery west of Bangkok. Originally a state-owned distillery, it dates back over 200 years to the beginning of the current Chakri Dynasty. The launch of Mekhong was aimed at producing high-quality Thai liquor to stem the increase in the import of foreign liquor and to eventually replace imported brands. Sang Som however, has been the country"s most popular liquor brand for over 29 years, until 2006 holding almost 50% of the entire brown spirits market in Thailand. The company also produces Mungkorn Thong and Hong Thong and brands based on malt whisky, like Crown 99 and Blue, as well as Scottish whisky brands such as Hankey Banister and Pinwinnie Royal Scotch Whisky.
Thai Beverage (ThaiBev) is one of the largest beverage alcohol companies in South East Asia. Listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange, Thai Beverage Plc has a market capitalisation in excess of US$4bn.
Thai Beverage Public Company Limited owns and distributes a number of significant brands including Chang beer and Mekhong and Sang Som rum. Chang Beer, which first started production in March 1995 at the brewery in the district of Bang Ban, Ayutthaya Province, is the top-selling brand in Thailand. It managed to win 60% of market share in Thailand after a hard market fight with the previously biggest brand Singha. In 2006, the company"s market share was 49% of the beer market, according to research company Canadean.
"ThaiBev" was incorporated in Thailand in October 2003 in order to consolidate Thailand"s leading beer , spirits and non-alcohol businesses owned by the principal shareholders and their business associates under a single holding company.
from Wikipedia, ThaiBev.com