Highland distillery Knockdu, which labelled its whisky ‘anCnoc’ to avoid confusion with Knockando Distillery (which is a 45-minute drive away from Knockdu in the Aberdeenshire village of Knock), has released a new expression in its vintage collection. Previous iterations of this series have included whiskies bottled as early as 1975.

The distillery says the Vintage 2009 expression exhibits a delicate spicy, woody nose, combined with anCnoc’s classic honey and citrus notes. The whisky was matured in a combination of first-fill Spanish oak butts and ex-bourbon American oak barrels, creating what are described as flavours of rich spice, sweet green apple, dark chocolate, and butterscotch, along with a smooth finish.

Distillery manager Gordon Bruce commented, “We’ve been waiting twelve years for this vintage, and it has definitely been worth the wait. This is a dram that has all the light, fresh qualities of anCnoc that are so loved by our drinkers, but there’s also a rich spiciness and complexity from its time in the casks… anCnoc 2009 Vintage will be...a special addition to the Christmas list of anyone who appreciates a well-crafted single malt.”

Vintage 2009 (46% ABV) comes in anCnoc’s usual contemporary packaging and is non-chill-filtered with natural colour. It is available from specialist retailers only, at an RRP of £50. Only 1,320 cases are available for the UK and global markets.