Scotland, Speyside: Single malt whisky through the producing distilleries: history, making, production and tasting notes

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An Cnoc (Knockdhu)

Tasting notes Distillery pictures

The distillery

Allt-a-Bhainne
Knockdhu Distillery
Knock by Huntly
Aberdeenshire AB54 7LH
+44 1466 771 223
Owner: Inver House Distillers Ltd
Creation date: 1893

Photos

John Morrison bought the Knock estate in 1892 from the Duke of Fife and discovered later some nice water burns on the Knock hillside. John Morrison was so impressed by the quality of the water that he let examine it by a specialised laboratory. One month later, the negotiations necessary to build a distillery were finished, and Knockdhu was born.
The choice of the site was also partially imposed by the proximity of the railway station on the "Great North of Scotland" line, between Aberdeen and Elgin. This railway does not exist anymore.
The architects Gordon & Macbey from Elgin were in charge of the construction and the foundations were ready in May 1893. The distillery is build with granite from the area, and is still admired by all the visitors, even more than one century after its creation.
The first whisky production happened in 1894.
A new malt grinder has been installed in 1928, in replacement of the old one which was at the origin of a fire who destroyed partially the wall of the still room.
During the great recession from 1931 to 1933, the distillery was closed. World War II also forced the distillery to close due to restriction on the barley distribution in those days.
Lots of distilleries have been used to lodge soldiers during the war. Knockdhu was occupied by an unit of the Indian Army. Stables and a slaughterhouse were build on the site to feed the troops.
The distillery closed down a third time in 1983 before being acquired by the Inver House group who resumed the production on 6 February 1989.
It's single malt has been renamed An Cnoc in 1994 to avoid any confusion with the famous Knockando.
The single malt of the distillery is used in lots of blends, among others in Mac Arthurs's, Catto, Inverhouse, Blairmhor, Glen Talloch, Heater Cream and Hankey Bannister.

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The whisky

The sites below offer tasting notes for this distillery. Please click on the logo to access this notes.

France whisky-distilleries www.whisky-distilleries.info
Comaw Club o. mosellan des amateurs de whisky
English whisky-distilleries www.whisky-distilleries.info
Whiskyfun www.whisky-fun.com
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Geography

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Speyside

Speyside Map

The Speyside area is situated at the North of the Cairngorm mountain and goes to the Moray firth. It is delimited by two rivers: the Findhorn at the West side and the Deveron on the East side.
The area is named after the river Spey. Most of the distilleries take their water in one of its affluents; the Fiddich, the Livet or the Avon.
About sixty distilleries from Speyside are described on this site.

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Click on the map for a list of the distilleries of the area, on the title for further information
about the Speyside area, and if you want to make an "alphabetical journey" through the area, please
click on one of the pagode roofs, according to the direction you want to follow

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Photos of the distillery

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