A recent trip to Scotland gave me the opportunity to discover one of the most revolutionary projects in the whisky industry: Nc’nean. Through this interview with its founder, Annabel Thomas, I have been able to delve into a vision that is transforming the way we think about the production of spirits.
What impressed me about Nc’nean was their unwavering commitment to sustainability. They are the only 100% organic distillery in Scotland, using organic Scottish barley and applying innovative practices in every aspect of their production. It is fascinating to see how they have managed to balance the tradition of Scotch whisky with a modern and responsible vision.
Their passion for experimentation is their other great hallmark. Their Huntress limited editions are a testament to how innovation can give rise to unique and surprising flavors. The use of different yeasts and production techniques shows that there is always room for creativity, even in such a traditional industry.
But perhaps most inspiring is to see how Annabel, as a female founder, has broken barriers in a traditionally male-dominated industry. Her success lies not only in creating an exceptional whisky, but also in leading a change towards a more sustainable and inclusive future in the spirits industry. A philosophy that can be felt in each and every one of the people who make up her team and in the leadership with which this young distillery already stands out in the international whisky market.
This interview shows us that it is possible to create an extraordinary product by being pioneers in sustainability, and that tradition and innovation are not at odds with each other when you have a clear vision and a defined purpose.
Nc’nean was born on the remote and wild Morvern Peninsula on the west coast of Scotland. A place where the mountains meet the sea, where ancient forests whisper centuries-old stories and where nature dictates the rhythm of life. This pristine environment, with its crystal-clear waters from natural springs and pure air laden with the sea breeze, not only provides the essential ingredients for creating an exceptional whisky, but has also inspired the distillery’s deep commitment to sustainability. The very name of the distillery, Nc’nean, comes from Neachneohain, a legendary fairy queen from Gaelic mythology, known as the protector of nature, thus reflecting the perfect symbiosis between the distillery and its natural environment.
“Sustainability and tradition can absolutely go hand in hand in whisky production.”
What specific measures has Nc’nean implemented to achieve its organic and sustainable production goals?
At Nc’nean, our mission is to create experimental spirits and to pioneer sustainable production. From the start, we have tried to incorporate sustainability into the way we operate and assessed the biggest impact areas we need to tackle. For whisky, they are 1) Organic sourcing of agricultural products, 2) the use of renewable energy, 3) sustainable waste solutions, 4) water re-use and 5) sustainable packaging.
Our distillery and everything we produce is certified organic: the barley that we use is 100% organic and Scottish, and we are the only 100% organic distillery in Scotland. This protects and improves the biodiversity and soil health on those farms by avoiding synthetic fertilisers and chemicals. But.. it also creates a more delicious grain, which in turn creates more delicious whisky – rich and buttery, the quality of the soils transfer all the way through to what you drink.
Our distillery is powered by 100% renewable energy, using locally available resources, and we also re-cycle or re-use 99.94% of our waste (more on those below).
For water, distilling requires significant water resources, primarily for cooling purposes, rather than distillation (it’s about 90% of Nc’nean’s water needs). Instead of using mainstream methods like abstraction from a river or a chemically intensive cooling tower, we opted to build a cooling pond: warm water flows in, cool water flows out. It’s a completely natural solution and rare for a Scotch distillery.
When it comes to packaging, we have considered every detail. Our whisky bottles are made from 100% recycled glass—an industry first in Scotch—which has a 40% lower carbon footprint compared to a same weight new (flint) glass bottle. Every packaging element is carefully considered: natural cork and wood stoppers that contribute to carbon sequestration in the cork forests, tamper seals made from plant-based materials, and UK-made cardboard gift boxes containing 90% recycled content. All gift tubes on our flagship whisky are optional for our consumers and trade customers, which ensures as little waste as possible.
How does your renewable energy system work, and what percentage of your operations does it power?
From day one, we committed to minimising our carbon footprint by running the distillery on renewable energy. We’re verified as net zero for scopes 1 and 2 (for our on-site emissions), by using a biomass boiler powered by timber sourced just two miles away. All the trees that are harvested are replanted. Our biomass boiler powers all of our heat needs on site including our two copper stills and in addition we source a very small amount of low carbon electricity from our green energy partners, Engie. We have even replaced diesel with HVO fuel in our tractor.
Could you explain your zero-waste policies and how they impact your production process?
The majority of the waste that we produce is pot ale and draff. Pot ale is the leftover liquid in the stills after distillation and draff is what is created by leftover barley. We have found a purpose for both of these leftover materials. We use the liquid to spread on the fields as fertiliser and the draff makes tasty feed for the cows on the local farm.
But we don’t stop there, we also offer re-fills of our whisky bottles at our distillery shop, and free return postage labels for UK customers to post their bottle back for re-use.
We believe that everything should be treated as a resource rather than as waste, so we orientate our distillery operations to remove waste altogether and make sure that we reuse, compost or recycle as much as we possibly can. Between 2022 and 2023 we reused or recycled 99.94% of our waste, putting only 684kg of waste into landfill. Our goal is to make sure that we maintain or improve on that figure as the company grows.
What makes Nc’nean’s whisky production methods different from traditional Scottish distilleries?
Our approach is to put more focus, time and money into creating a fantastic spirit – by putting time and effort into fermentation and distillation to create a pure and fruity spirit before it even goes into a cask.
Fermentation is key for creating the flavour in whisky. This stage is often sidelined, and distillers tend to focus on maximising yield. In our flagship recipe we use two different yeasts to create our whisky (most distilleries just use one) and we have adopted unusually long fermentation times of 68-114 hours (c. 60 hours is standard in Scotland).
Much like fermentation, we distil slowly. This allows maximum contact between the spirit and the copper. And for most of our spirit, we take a very ‘high cut’ on the still, to emphasise the light, fruity notes in our distillate. These efforts create additional flavour and complexity in our whiskies.
All of this is to achieve the best possible spirit before the cask maturation starts – essentially giving it the best start in life!
We also dedicate 10% of our annual production to yeast experiments which we use for limited edition releases and mature our whiskies in all sorts of interesting casks on the hunt for delicious flavours in whisky – including ex-Tequila, ex-white port, ex-British rum, beer casks and many more.
Can you tell us about your experimental batches and what you’ve learned from them?
Each year in spring time we release a new limited edition whisky as part of the Huntress series. This series is all about pursuing innovation and hunting for new flavours in whisky. I think what we’ve learned is what a range of delicious flavours you can get by varying the yeast and other spirit production parameters, and how important that is for the quality of the final whisky.
The rum yeast used in our Huntress 2022 release resulted in a whisky packed full of minerality and wonderful tropical aromas. Then in 2023, we used the combination of four different yeast strains, including red and white wine years for Huntress Woodland Candy. The botting was named for its bold and creamy flavours of buttery toffee and forest fruits, reminiscent of the mossy woodlands which surround us on the west coast of Scotland.
In 2024, the Huntress release was our most innovative whisky to date. We run two different spirit recipes each year, one for a whisky set to be released at a younger age, and one set to be released after ten plus years. The spirit matured for our latest Huntress release, which is called Orchard Cobbler, comes from the distillation in the week after this spirit recipe is switched over – a time where cut points are changed and unusually high fruity compounds flood into the spirit. So fruity, that the whisky is named after one of the team’s favourite desserts.
How do you balance innovation with maintaining the traditional qualities that whisky enthusiasts expect?
We believe that tradition and innovation can absolutely go hand in hand. Throughout the long production of whisky in Scotland, innovation has always been an important element, and we are merely continuing to push that forward.
When we were getting the distillery up and running we were very lucky to be able to work with Dr Jim Swan. A man with more than 50 years of experience in whisky, and an expert in creating delicious, modern whiskies. Jim helped us design the equipment, source the barley, yeast and casks and defined our ‘recipe’.
Sadly, Jim died just before we started production in 2017, but we’ve been working with his expertise and adding plenty of ideas and experiments of our own ever since. Ultimately, this is all about creating delicious flavour in whisky.
What are your main goals for Nc’nean over the next five years?
We are focused on reaching new customers each day – we are continuing to expand the number of markets where you can buy Nc’nean, and we are now in over 20 countries worldwide including most of Europe, the USA, Canada and Japan. I want the word of sustainable whisky to reach as many consumers as possible and to bring new consumers into this wonderful world too!
But the bigger picture is that we are looking to continuously improve our sustainability as a business. For example, we are currently exploring several early stage technologies that might allow us to further improve the use of some of our waste. Also, not all of our products have a high recycled footprint, our Botanical Spirit bottle is currently made from flint glass, which has less than 35% recycled glass content. At the moment it’s a small percentage of the products we bring to market, but we are looking to switch over to recycled glass soon.
How do you see the sustainable spirits industry evolving, and what role do you hope Nc’nean will play in that evolution?
The spirits industry is a particularly energy intensive one, so our ambition is that our role as a pioneer in sustainability will encourage more companies to move towards a sustainable future – e.g. to start to use renewable energy sources, continue to apply for and become B Corp certified, and look deeper into their packaging and its impact. We also hope that as new technologies arise, we can be at the forefront of adopting them, whether this is new types of lower carbon packaging, sustainable shipping methods, and investing in new types of energy sources.
Are there any new products or initiatives that you’re particularly excited about?
We are currently in the process of creating our next Huntress release which will come out in spring 2025. It will bring to life our first ever yeast experiment from 2017 so not only will it incorporate this incredible spirit made with sparkling wine yeast, it will also represent some of our oldest whisky released to date.
We have just launched Scotch whisky’s first 100% recycled glass minis and we are working on a gift pack for these minis so that consumers can try a wider range of our products.
As a female founder in a traditionally male-dominated industry, what has been your experience leading Nc’nean?
It’s a really mixed bag! I don’t really experience resistance from within the industry itself. It is a great place to work and there are loads of brilliant women in all sectors right the way through from making it to selling it and everything else in between.
However, the difficulty of raising funding as a woman has been well documented – it is significantly less likely that you’ll get funding as a woman than a man – however, I did it, and given the added difficulty of raising for a whisky distillery given the high capital investment and long-term nature, I’m pretty proud of that.
One thing I do often get asked is ‘Do you actually like whisky?’ by those outside the industry. I think there is still lots to be done in certain markets to shift consumers perspective of whisky which has long been seen as a man’s drink, but there is no doubt attitudes are changing. What makes me happiest is hearing someone has been persuaded to try Nc’nean and that they have finally discovered a whisky they like. There is a whisky for everyone out there – it’s just a question of finding the right one!
How do you think the whisky industry can become more inclusive and attract more women to leadership positions?
Yes, I think it can, and we work hard to try to do our small part for that by offering experience weeks in the company to showcase all that working in whisky has to offer! I also feel we should not deter people from working with us if they do not have prior experience in the industry. This is important for making the industry a more open and welcoming place and means that people bring new and fresh perspectives too. Our team of 21 people is over 50% female. However, to us it is just a brilliant team of individuals all united under the mission of creating delicious tasting whisky that is good for the planet.
What advice would you give to other women looking to enter or advance in the spirits industry?
Firstly, go for it! It’s a great place to work! Secondly, do your research and try to narrow down exactly where. Thirdly, just get started – your first move is just that, so getting a job somewhere from which you can build your experience and your network is critical.
Organisations like Our Whisky Foundation are fantastic for providing mentorship, guidance and resources for building a career in the industry. Read, network and connect with people and stay in the loop with industry news and developments. There are brilliant journalists like Becky Paskin and Kristiane Sherry who are well worth the follow for keeping up to speed with what is happening in the industry.
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