(Photo: Nc’nean)
Scotland's Nc'nean Distillery has recruited ex-bourbon casks for its new U.S.-bound limited edition bottling.
The organic, female-founded brand has unveiled Aon 18-642, a 60.4%-ABV cask strength expression said to balance notes of clotted cream, apricot jam and candied lemons. Its name — which pays homage to the ancient Gaelic word for "one" — promises to meld flavors of Scotland with five years of maturation in characteristically Kentuckian first-fill bourbon barrels.
The new release is limited to just 224 bottles available exclusively in the American market at a retail price of $130.
"I had the pleasure of sharing a bottle or two of this unreleased ex-Bourbon cask with consumers on our trip to New York in February, and the reception was incredible - particularly the excitement about the Bourbon connection which seemed to resonate incredibly well with the US consumer," Nc'nean Distillery founder Annabel Thomas said in a news release.
"I particularly love the flavors of a quintessential British afternoon tea and can’t wait for more people to try it."
Nc'nean first set up shop in 2017 in the remote town of Drimnin, Scotland. The brand's flagship organic single malt expression is aged in a combination of treated red wine and American whiskey barrels.
In 2021, Nc'nean became the first distillery in the U.K. to reach net-zero emissions, beating out a Scotch industry target by nearly 20 years. The brand uses locally harvested woodchips to power its boiler, exclusively distills with organic Scottish barley and recycles over 99% of its waste.
"We're thrilled by the warm welcome Nc'nean has received in the US market, with our flagship bottling now gracing shelves in twenty-five states and counting," Thomas said. "To build on this momentum we couldn't think of a better time to unveil a very special cask strength single cask offering bottled exclusively for Nc’neans friends stateside."
