Sips & Sites & Bites

Recently coming to American liquor shelves, an innovative, sustainable and female-founded Scotch whisky made its U.S. debut.

Scotland’s female-led NC’NEAN Distillery was recently ranked 21^st in Drinks International’s Top 50 Most Admired Whisky brands in the world, which helped put the fledgling distillery among some of the world’s most revered brands. 

Founded by Annabel Thomas, NC’NEAN is an independent, organic whisky distillery on the west coast of Scotland which began operations in March of 2017. Their mission? To make a delicious whisky that exists in harmony with the planet, which brought about a high scoring B Corp certification for the young distillery. 

Their award-winning single malt, previously only available in the UK and Europe, features light and fruity flavors of citrus, peach, apricot and spice.

The fully-organic whisky distillery in Scotland is powered by 100% renewable energy, resulting in verified net-zero status for carbon emissions from its own operations. Its bottles are made from 100% recycled glass, which the distiller notes can save 40% of the carbon emissions compared with using virgin glass.

Founder and CEO Thomas said, “I’m really excited to see NC’NEAN launching in the U.S. When I left my previous job as a consultant in London 10 years ago, I could have only dreamed that one day we’d be launching our award-winning whisky in America. To be able to share our story of sustainability and innovation with the U.S. consumer is both a privilege and a landmark moment for our small distillery.”

NC’NEAN’s Organic Single Malt Whisky also took home Double Gold at the San Francisco Spirits Competition. Now, it’s available in specialty retailers across the United States (pricing varies by state, around $70-$95 a bottle depending on location).

And a second whisky, from NC’NEAN’s limited-edition Quiet Rebels series, will soon be headed to the U.S. For more information or to find a bottle, check out https://ncnean.com/pages/north-america or visit their Instagram @ncnean.