Nc'nean 2019

Nc'Nean Quiet Rebels Lorna 48.5%. 30ml sample Apr 2023. Pale yellow. Aroma is apples and carrots, white pepper, creamy, hint of dill cream sauce. Body is lightly oily. Taste is spicy and spiky, certainly hotter spirit than I’m used to seeing in Nc'Nean bottlings, creamy biscuity background with salty and floral flavours coming through. Gets hot towards the swallow and finishes salty and simple. Trying to be objective and looking at this in isolation, this is a pretty decent offering from a young distillery. From experience though, this is nowhere near the quality I have seen from time to time from Nc'Nean so it is slightly disappointing in that context. In the wider whisky landscape I would place this as slightly below average. Still a decent young whisky though. 3.3/79

A very nice whisky. I am initially skeptical about the quality of all the new distilleries, because the new distilleries are of course usually relatively young bottlings. This one is also just over three years old. Nc'nean stands for Organic, i.e. biologically clean and regionally produced whisky. I think this bottling fits this profile and you don't notice the young age at all. The price - as with many of these newer bottlings - is perhaps a bit high, but by no means overpriced. I will continue to monitor this distillery and look forward to older bottlings in the years to come.

The golden color. Light oily.

I can't understand the high ratings. Not particularly complex on the nose. The alcohol stings all the time. In terms of taste, it has an off-note for me, which I like to call Gerstler or Obstler note. Can come from the cask selection, or at least from the distillery character. Difficult, I have to try another bottling again. But I think only in a few years. There is still a lack of maturity.

https://whiskylovingpianist.wordpress.com/2023/04/05/croydon-whisky-festival-2023-part-1-2/ C: Huskier/dryer than the previous core release and sweeter too with a creamy spiciness. Later on, I pick up on flower petals and elderflowers on the nose, but again, without being overly botanical. Coming along nicely, I’d say, and beautifully made.

Lady Distiller Nc'nean is steadily working on their releases and the number of bottles is also increasing. While the first Quiet Rebels – a tribute to founder Annabel – had a circulation of 4,504 bottles, Lorna's – in honour of Lorna Davidson, one of the female distillers – gets one of more than 7500 bottles. The composition is also interesting, because this vatting was made with 84% former bourbon barrels and 16% barrels that previously held Pineau des Charentes! The nose starts surprisingly closed and needs some air and handwarmth to get going. But if you can afford that (just do it!) you will still be rewarded with a beautiful, sweet and fruity nose. Honey, caramel, vanilla and malt sugars are quickly embellished with apricots and peaches and overripe pears. At first an acid note appears as if from gooseberries, but with some patience this evolves into darker notes like figs and dried plums. Even later, some green garden herbs appear that complete the picture. Quite oily and mouth filling on arrival and immediately quite spicy on white pepper and even some nutmeg. Then the fruit follows in full regalia, although it tastes less sweet than the nose made it seem. Nevertheless, I find this, especially for a 3-year-old malt, very beautiful. Midpalate appears some white chocolate and green grapes. That must be from the Pineau. The finish is a bit on the short side and slightly drying, but that can no longer spoil the fun. I have a soft spot for Nc'nean, that is known. And this Lorna confirms once again why I love this house. A disadvantage is undoubtedly the price tag. In Belgium you pay between 90 and 100 EUR for this.

I agree with those who don't understand what the hype is all about with this distillery. I found the relases I have tried so far pretty basic in character and taste, and mediocre at best overall. In fact, in a recent tasting with other new kids on the block including Lindores, Cotswolds, Kingsbarns, Annandale, Ardnamurchan and Torabhaig it came in dead last by a margin. But it's all subjective, of course.

Has very little to do with whisky. Way too much money for that stuff... 2000 ér Marketing is everything...

First of all: allow enough time to breathe; Air is good for the malt. there is a diverse transition in the nose; from light acidity to light sweetness to herbs and spices back to vanilla and white mousse with grapes, then more floral notes again. The taste is then strong and voluminous in the mouth, peppery on the tongue with - let's call it youthful sharpness - but it doesn't last long. The alcohol is well integrated. More herbs, more fruits. Not as sweet as QR:Annabel, but this malt also has an underlying sweetness. This malt brings a lot of variation into play on the nose if you have enough time. You can drink it in company, but I recommend enjoying the malt consciously - you know what I mean. You get the high proportion of ex-bourbon, especially on the nose. [86 - 82 = good whisky -> get (second) bottle? Perhaps...]

Immediately after pouring the nose was rather deterrent, but this gets much better after 5 minutes. Still the weakest NcNean I've had so far (5 in total). 2nd dram today, and easy drinking. No longer. 61-70 - Okay, but not more than 1 dram

50+2+8+11+4

UVP/RRP: £75.00 GBP

An unusual, modern, and exceptionally fruity Highland single malt. The combination of 84% ex-American whisky and 16% Pineau-des-Charentes casks works well. Not a top contender for my rather smoky and robust palate, but a very interesting fruity contrast in my collection.

Good raw material, which in my opinion was bottled too young. The aroma reveals the potential of this malt.

Excellent for such a young age of Highland whisky. Strongly fruity, with a lot of vanilla, ice cream, and at the same time very delicate and perfectly drinkable. Alcohol is completely imperceptible, and the aftertaste of rum adds blush to the body and warms it up. Perfect for winter evenings.

Ok, the whisky is three years old. And it matured partly in the Pineau des Charentes Cask. That could end the matter. Pineau des Charentes is something made from grape must and eau de vie de Cognac. Do you need that? I have no idea, but the barrels appear every now and then in the whisky industry. Because the whisky industry can use all the barrels. Pineau des Charentes is likely to be very sweet - does that actually help a whisky that is only 3 years old? Nc'nean was founded in 2017, so they could have bottled slightly older whisky. glen-efze.de

Taste in the Barrel. Light yellow. Finish, vanilla, if peppery, light fruits, floral. Light body.

I am becoming a fan of this distillery more and more, I am so looking forward to upcoming older versions of this fantastic whisky.

You could also add rose water to it, but if the bottle already says the drinking recommendation is “2 parts NcNean, 6 parts water and mint” you should start thinking...

not particularly complex, the malt is still missing something very sweet and lots of malt Time in the bottle makes it better don't need a bottle