All anCnoc Single Malt is distilled using traditional methods and aged on site at the Knockdhu Distillery in the village of Knock, Aberdeenshire. anCnoc 22 Year Old was matured predominantly in top quality American ex-bourbon casks but some Spanish casks seasoned for two years with Oloroso sherry were also used. The whisky is bottled at 46% ABV, non-chill filtered and presented at its natural colour.

Read on for my tasting notes:

Yellow to gold in colour.

A fairly clean and young seeming nose, slight hints of varnish, lots of other things going on here that need some time to pick through, the age has added some good complexity here. After a while some chocolaty malt comes through hand in hand with some oak and some light smoke whiffs.

The mouth feel is warmingly spicy and fairly thick, the older wood notes come through much more than the nose leads you to imagine they will; they’re not overpowering, but add a mature gravitas to this rather delicious dram. There’s just enough sweetness to make this enjoyable, but not to overpower it and take away from its clean, fresh roots.

The finish is long, fruity, complex and just bloody lovely, some more wood notes pop in to play right at the end, and the smoky note lingers just a touch, as it does on the nose.

My opinion of anCnoc has always been high, the 12 is great and the 16 is excellent, but this 22 is a granddaddy who’s still got all his hair and youthfulness to play with the kids, but who likes to retire to a leather armchair in the evening to listen to some quiet jazz by a fire. Cheers to that!