Ancnoc Rutter is my favorite of the two peated NAS Ancnocs I’ve been able to try recently. Like the Flaughter, the Rutter is actually distilled by the Knockdhu distillery who has eschewed the more common convention of naming their whiskies after the distillery and instead giving them the moniker Ancnoc.
In addition to the Rutter and Flaughter Ancnoc has put out 2 other peated expressions of their Knockdhu single malt. The one called Tushkar is only slightly peatier than the Flaughter and the Cutter is the the peatiest of them all and has almost double the PPM of the Ancnoc Rutter I’m reviewing today. Rutter is the least peated of them all and that light peating gives it a nice balance and sense of restraint which, when I eventually try the Cutter & Tushkar is going to be hard to beat.
Ancnoc Rutter Review
Distiller: Knockdhu
Age: NAS
ABV: 46%
Price: $70*
Non-Chill Filtered
Natural Color
Peat: 11 PPM
EYE
Gold
NOSE
Peat and crisp complex fruit dance through my sinuses along with a menagerie of sweet and savory notes like honey, toasted nuts, smoked meat, vanilla frosting, malt and butterscotch. A light ethereal spice wafts through at the end.
PALATE
Peat, honey, apples and cinnamon. That sounds like the beginnings of an incredibly sweet and smoky dessert but it gets even better with light notes of leather, iodine, citrus, vanilla, wood and smarties.
FINISH
A slow roll of peat, spice, vanilla, orchard fruit, wood and ash.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
The balance on this is excellent. The dual pairing of peat and sweet with the added savory dimension creates a fantastic harmony across the senses. Warm and round it feels slick in the mouth.
OVERALL
Ancnoc Rutter is a marvelously balanced and complex dram that makes me think of a young Ardbeg like Still Young or even Almost There. I’m a big fan of sweet and peat so the nose on this is right up my alley and the palate doesn’t disappoint either with a honey drizzled and spice sprinkled smoked fruit character. I love big gnarly peat, but here the light peating is what gives it the balance and allows nuanced flavors and aromas to appear; making it a complex and flavorful dram.
SCORE: 90/100
*Disclosure: This bottle of Ancnoc Rutter was graciously sent to me by the company for the purposes of this review. The views, opinions, and tasting notes are 100% my own.
