Nc'nean distillery![]() |
| Location | Morvern, Scotland |
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| Owner | Drimnin Distillery Co |
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| Founded | 2017 |
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| Water source | Two nearby springs |
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| No. of stills |
- 1 wash still
- 1 spirit still
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| Website | ncnean.com  |
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Nc'nean distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery in Drimnin on the Morvern peninsula of the Highlands, Scotland.[1][2] The distillery is beside the Sound of Mull, opposite the Isle of Mull.[3] The distillery name Nc'nean, comes from "Neachneohain", a Gaelic legend which translates as the Queen of Spirits (it is pronounced Nc-ne-an).[4]
The distillery focuses on producing an organic spirit with minimum impact on the local environment.[1] The distillery was the first in the UK to reach net zero carbon emissions during whisky production.[5][6][7][8] The distillery uses renewable electricity, offsets emissions by forest planting and uses 100% recycled glass in its bottles.[7][5] The whisky is unpeated.[9]
History
The distillery was founded by Annabel Thomas and commenced produced in 2017.[3][4][10] Initial funding for the distillery came from family, friends, loans, seed investors under the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme and a £600,000 grant from the EU via the Scottish Government.[3] One known investor is Jeremy Paxman who owns a 0.6% stake.[11] Just prior to the first distillation in 2017, the master distiller Jim Swan died suddenly.[3][10] The current master distiller is Gordon Wood, who previously worked at Diageo.[10][12]
In March 2020, the distillery raised £1.7 million of funds to allow for expansion.[4][13][14][15]
In August 2020, the distillery sold its inaugural bottle of single malt Scotch whisky at auction, raising £41,004 for charity.[10][16]
In February 2022 Nc'nean became a certified B Corp.[17][18]
Production
Along with a single malt whisky, the distillery also produces a botanical spirit that is unaged whisky (newmake) spirit mixed with botanicals.[3][4] The botanical spirit was first released in September 2018.[14] The first bottling of the 'quiet rebels' series was released in November 2021. It is named after founder Annabel Thomas.[19] Nc'nean released a single cask bottling for Germany. Nc'nean Aon is four years old and was matured in an ex cream sherry hogshead with the cask number 17-257.[20][21] In April 2022, Nc'nean launched another whiskey series. The first bottling of the series is the "Huntress '2022'.[22] The second bottling of the series was released in April 2023.[23] As the second release of the Quiet Rebels series, the Nc'nean Lorna was released in September/October 2022. It is named after the distillery's first employee Lorna Davidson.[24] With the Nc'nean Aon Cask 18-294, the distillery has released its second single cask whisky for the German market in February 2023.[25][26] In fall of 2023, the third bottling of the 'Quiet Rebels' series followed with the Nc'nean Gordon. It is named after the distillery manager.[27] The distillery released the third bottling in the Huntress series in 2024.[28]
References
56°35′55″N 5°57′55″W / 56.5987°N 5.9654°W / 56.5987; -5.9654
