Location and contact details
Location: Knockdhu Distillery, Knockdhu Distillerym, Knock, Huntly, Aberdeenshire , AB54 7LJ, UK
Visit Type: Vistor Centre
Co-ordinates: 57.562725, -2.760237
Telephone: +44 (0)1466 771 223
Email: kennedyl[at]inverhouse.com
Web: https://ancnoc.com/ 
Twitter: anCnoc Single Malt (@anCnoc_whisky)Facts and figures
| Location | Knockdhu Distillery, Knockdhu Distillerym, Knock, Huntly, Aberdeenshire , AB54 7LJ, UK |
| Founded | 1894 |
| Founder | John Morrison |
| Owner | Inver House Distillers Limited |
| Water Source | Spring water from Knock Hill |
| Stills | 1 wash still 1 spirit still |
Tours
Distillery Tour
Free
Daily tours run at 1000 and 1400 each day between Monday and Friday. There are limited space so booking in advance is recommended using the contact details above.
Review: Distillery Tour (14:00 on 01/10/2019)
Price: Free
The tour at Knockdhu must be booked in advance by either emailing or calling the distillery.
When I arrived for the tour, there was about twelve people waiting for the tour an two arrived just after me. The ones before me were one group and were taken round before myself and the two others as the distillery decided it eas too large a group. This was great news, as it meant I was on a tour of only three people.
The tour guide was Lorraine, who you book the tours through. She knows Knockdhu very well and can provide an information packed, enjoyable tour.
On the tour you see the kiln, which is no longer used, the mill, mash tun, wash backs, intermediate chargers (not used elsewhere, although I think I might have the name slightly wrong), stills, spirit safe and worm tub. Each process is clearly explained, in depth, so you will fully understand what it being done. We then visited the dunnage warehouse for a discussion on casks and maturation.
The tour was nicely paced with no rush and plenty of time to ask any questions. In addition, photography was allowed throughout with the only restriction being no flash.
At the end of the tour, as I was driving Lorraine provided me with a drivers pack to take away. I got the following three samples:
- anCnoc 12 Year Old Highland Single Malt Whisky
- anCnoc 18 Year Old Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
- anCnoc - 125th Anniversary Peat - Whisky
I had a bit of a choice for the third of the samples above, but as I o like sherried whisky and peated whisky, Lorraine suggested the special edition one which is both sherried and peated. I look forward to tasting it.
The other two on the tour got the anCnoc Peatheart Scotch Whisky which is peated from bourbon casks.
The tour at Knockdhu is free, but they encourage you to leave a donation to one of two charities for which they have buckets.
I've been to Knockdhu twice now and the tour has been really good on both visits.
History
The distillery was founded in 1893 by John Morrison, who bought the land from the Duke of Fife[citation needed] to produce whisky for Haig's after several springs on the southern slope of Knock Hill were discovered. The site was also chosen for its proximity to the Knock Station on the Banff branch line of the Great North of Scotland Railway (GNSR) between Aberdeen and Elgin.[citation needed] Not only was the new location convenient to the railway but it was also within a few miles of a district noted both for its barley and inexhaustible source of excellent peat. The distillery was built using local eye grey granite, with two steam heated stills. The two pot stills could turn out 2,500 gallons of spirit per week.[citation needed] It was also the first malt distillery built for the Distillers Company Ltd. It started production in 1894 and remained in continuous operation until 1931, when it was forced to close for a few years due to the economic depression. Wartime restrictions on barley forced a second closure from 1940-1945.
After the war, with the distillery connected to the national grid, the steam powered engine, which had been used since the its founding, was retired in 1947.
Knockdhu was closed in 1983, and was sold to Inver House in 1988,[1] after which production resumed in February 1989. Various bottling ages are available the most popular being 12 years old, there is also an annual vintage bottled around 14–15 years old, a 16-year-old (matured solely in second fill bourbon casks) and a 30-year-old. Previously named Knockdhu after the distillery, the whisky was renamed anCnoc in 1994 to avoid confusion with Knockando.
Knockdhu Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky is currently bottled under the Gaelic name anCnoc meaning "the hill".
