Made with nature

Nc’nean was built on your passion for changing the way the world thinks about whisky from Scotland and your love of nature and the wild. Where does that come from and how did that translate into starting Nc’nean?

I had always had an affinity for Scotland and preserving its beautiful nature, mostly inspired by many years of holidaying on its wild west coast. This turned into a dream of building a unique distillery on my parents’ farm in Drimnin, on the Morvern Peninsula in Western Scotland – it’s hard to be in that part of the world and not think about whisky. The dream brewed over time (and the dinner table) until one day I decided to take some unpaid leave from my corporate job in London to do some research and write a business plan. This turned into immersing myself fully into building Nc’nean from the ground up.

From a secondment at Innocent Drinks I’d always been interested in brands with purpose, and had a natural feeling that the environment should be protected. After a whisky road trip to Islay my vision became clear: challenge the norms of whisky making while minimising environmental impact. It took four years of hard work, fundraising and physical building to create our distillery in the Western Highlands, and then another three years for the spirit to mature until we produced our first bottle of whisky.

Why did you feel it was important to change the perception of Scotch whisky and why hadn’t there been a focus in the industry on making drinks that exist in harmony with the planet before?

There are so many perceptions around who enjoys and makes Scotch whisky, many of which I hadn’t really considered before I started Nc’nean. But things became clearer as I started to speak to people about our distillery and maturing whisky – often being asked what it is like to be a female in such a male-dominated industry and ‘do you even like whisky?’. I am working hard to shift the perception that it is only men who work in and drink whisky. It doesn’t always have to be about leather armchairs and cigars, it can be about enjoying a whisky and soda (our Whisky Six) before dinner, or a delicious cocktail in a bar.

On the sustainability side, after touring lots of incredible distilleries I realised that, while there is a strong heritage in whisky making, the industry was still very traditional and not many distilleries were talking about sustainability or thinking creatively about the spirit. Whisky can be incredibly carbon intensive to make – it requires a lot of energy to distil liquid to very high temperatures to extract alcohol, so I felt it was integral to our distillery to be able to do this with as low an impact on the planet as possible. Many distilleries which have been around for hundreds of years just don’t have the agility to install new infrastructure like biomass boilers or natural water cooling ponds, whereas we were young and nimble enough to start off this way (albeit at a high monetary cost). I also knew there would be increasing demand from consumers for sustainable products.

What does the alcoholic drinks industry look like in terms of sustainability and what are the main areas that need to change?

There is good change happening in the alcoholic drinks industry with many more brands setting out sustainability goals, measuring carbon emissions, and switching to more renewable energy sources. However, there is still so much work to be done. One of the key areas that needs more attention and focus is packaging. A third of the environmental impact of supermarket packaging stems from beers, wines, spirits and non-alcoholic drinks, according to research published in The Grocer. Excessive use of single-use materials leads to substantial waste generation and more needs to be done to improve packaging.

Hopefully more brands will start to use materials like natural corks and biodegradable tampers, and switch out flint glass for 100% post-consumer recycled glass – by using recycled glass, we reduce the carbon footprint of our glass bottle by 40%, and it is still infinitely recyclable. Imagine if every distillery in the world did this, the impact would be amazing.

We’ve recently implemented a bottle return scheme for our UK website orders so we can refill those bottles at the distillery. It was really easy to set up, and we hope that more brands will also implement this to reduce CO2 emissions, increase the lifecycle of their packaging and educate the consumer about the importance of circularity.

Tell us about building and growing the distillery. How did you approach it and how did you ensure sustainability and connecting with nature were at the heart of each step?

We set out to incorporate sustainability into as many elements as we could. We constructed the distillery from the ground up so we were able to carefully consider each element of the build and think about how we could apply our low-impact approach into the design, but it wasn’t easy or cheap. A biomass boiler set us back about half a million pounds, much more than the conventional option which would have cost significantly less. Our commitment to our values never wavered because we knew sustainable production would be such an integral part of what we would stand for.

Water was another important element to look at. Many people don’t realise that the majority (90%) of a distillery’s water usage is for cooling vapour as it comes off the still. We built a cooling pond to address this. Instead of using energy or the flow of a river to cool the water, we continuously recycle rainwater via our natural cooling pond which is highly unusual for a distillery. It means we can use the same water over and over, and we don’t need to use energy to cool it down, or chemicals to keep it clean.

Why did you choose Drimnin and the West Coast of Scotland? Do you think location is important for the sustainability ethos you’ve instilled in the business?

The distillery is built on my family’s farm on the Morvern peninsula. It’s a beautiful spot which looks right over the Sound of Mull across to Tobermory. The distillery team’s journey to work along the winding single track roads surrounded by woodlands, views across the water, and beautiful wildlife serves as a constant reminder of how vital it is to protect the planet. It’s impossible to visit Nc’nean and not think about nature because we are so immersed in it. It’s very inspiring and something which reinforces the importance of sustainable production for me, our team, and our visitors too.

Tell us a little more about Nc’nean and its products.

Nc’nean is an organic single malt scotch distillery on the Morvern peninsula on the west coast of Scotland. We are a small team of eco-conscious drinks fanatics on a mission to change the way the world thinks about whisky from Scotland. Our name Nc’nean (pronounced Nc-nee-an), is an abbreviation of Neachneohain, an ancient Gaelic goddess known as the Queen of Spirits, a protector of nature and a trailblazer in her own right. This choice symbolised our commitment to environmental stewardship and determination to forge our own path. Our ethos is ‘Made by nature, not by rules’, which pretty much sums it up.

We are currently about to enter our ninth year of distilling. It takes three years of maturation to legally call any of your spirit Scotch whisky, so the first three years we had to sit and wait until we could release our first ever whisky in 2020. Since, we have grown to a team of 21 and expanded into almost 20 countries worldwide, including Germany, the USA and Japan. We now have a range of products that includes our Flagship Organic Single Malt, Cask Strength, our Organic Botanical Spirit, the Quiet Rebels series, the Huntress series, and our Aon single cask bottlings. You can find out more about our range here.

Explain to us how sustainability runs through the veins of Nc’nean, in particular in the three core areas of carbon footprint, pollution, and biodiversity.

When I was designing the distillery I wanted to make sure sustainability was all-encompassing, with the big elements of carbon, raw materials, water and waste being at the heart of it. But I also wanted to protect biodiversity, soil health, and water – a big task.

We built the distillery with a biomass boiler, which is fuelled by woodchip sourced from two miles from the distillery. This source of energy, alongside a small amount of green electricity, means our distillery is powered by 100% renewable energy – making our carbon emissions for our on-site emissions very low – about 10 times lower than a fossil fuel powered distillery of a similar size.

We take a huge amount of care not to pollute our local environment. This includes using a natural water cooling pond to cool our stills, as opposed to diverting a natural water source or using a very energy intensive fossil fuelled water cooling tour. Additionally, we divert 99.96% of our waste from landfill, reusing and recycling as much as we possibly can.

Biodiversity makes the world go around, and I think it’s sometimes overlooked when it comes to sustainability. This made our decision to use organic barley incredibly easy. By using organic barley instead of conventionally farmed barley we protect one square metre of biodiversity and soil health per bottle we produce, on the Scottish farms where we source our crop.

How does being organic contribute to protecting the environment and can you give examples?

We use only organic Scottish barley to create our whisky. It’s important to us that we protect the biodiversity and soil health on the farms where we source our barley from, by avoiding the use of artificial fertilisers and chemicals. By abstaining from using these chemicals, birds, bees and wildlife thrive, pollinating more plants. They are a vital part of the ecosystem and help to maintain a stable biosphere.

In addition to organic barley’s gentler impact on the planet, we’ve discovered that it’s also great for the flavour and texture of our whisky. The healthier soils mean better quality grains, giving depth of flavour, and a buttery texture to our whisky. Just taste our whisky alongside some other organic ones and you’ll be able to see a similar flavour profile. We also keep our own bees at the distillery, encouraging biodiversity locally (and making delicious honey for hot toddies in the process).

How does being powered by 100% renewable energy and sources like biomass contribute to you being the first distillery certified net zero in Scope 1 and 2?

We set the distillery up to operate on renewable energy from the beginning. Our two copper pot stills are powered solely by our biomass boiler using wood chip from the local forest for its power – all the trees that are harvested are replanted. We run our tractors on biodiesel and we source a very small amount of renewable electricity from our green energy partner Engie, a global supplier of low-carbon energy who are committed to accelerate the transition towards a carbon-neutral world.

We are officially verified as producing net zero carbon emissions from our own distillery operations (scope 1 and 2), confirming that the few emissions we produce whilst distilling are less than the amount which we have removed from the atmosphere. But we don’t stop there and are constantly looking for ways to improve whether it’s insulating our stills or tweaking our production processes to further minimise energy use.

What about your approach to waste and the materials you use? How does that extend across your use of materials and return and reuse schemes and reuse and do you find customers buy into that circular approach?

In addition to recycling the water through the cooling pond, for the least glamorous element, waste, we have a very traditional solution. As we are on a farm the local cows eat our leftover barley and the waste liquid is spread on the fields. When it comes to our packaging we use 100% post consumer recycled glass bottles – this was a first in Scotch – and has a 40% lower carbon footprint than a comparable ‘flint’ glass bottle. But we don’t stop there, every element of our packaging is considered very carefully – our natural cork and wood stoppers are carbon negative, our tamper seals are made from plant-based materials and our gift boxes are made in the UK from 90% recycled material.

We even offer bottle refills if you visit the distillery in person: the scheme has been really successful and has recently been extended to customers ordering through our UK website. In a move to further reduce environmental impact, every parcel now includes a free post returns label for empty whisky bottles, allowing customers to send them back via Royal Mail for refilling. Each empty whisky bottle returned to Nc’nean saves an estimated 280g of carbon.

I love your approach to experimentation with your drinks and how it ties in to the sustainability ethos – can you tell us about foraging and how you use the nature that’s on your doorstep?

We are very lucky to be located in an area where nature’s bounty is plentiful, so naturally, we use this as inspiration for our recipes. Our Botanical Spirit includes bog myrtle, wild thyme, sorrel and heather, all found locally to the distillery. For our botanical spirit to be certified organic, we have to use botanicals that are also organic. For those that are handpicked by us, we ensure that they are picked in areas where there is no application of fertilisers or chemicals.

We are fortunate to have Clare Holohan, local herbalist, forager and author of Scotland’s Wild Medicine on hand for expert advice and tips when it comes to making the most of the abundant plants available to us. Local visitors who are interested in learning more about foraging can book appointments or courses with Clare. This enables visitors to explore the local paths and forests and find out about reconnecting with nature for health, well being and healing. Please always remember to consult an expert before foraging!

What does being B Corp mean to you and the business, and what are your main areas of focus moving forwards when it comes to making products that exist in harmony with the planet?

We are very chuffed to be B Corp certified as we strongly believe in doing business responsibly by putting social and environmental duties on equal terms with profit. You can read more about our B Corp certification here. As I mentioned earlier, we are also proud to be certified Net Zero for scopes 1 and 2 (our own operations). Our ‘cradle to gate’ footprint is not the full picture, but it’s a really good start. Once we have a better idea of our distribution lines and when our consumer base is more established, we will be looking to expand this to ‘cradle to grave’. This means taking into account all transport to the end consumer and the energy used in disposal.

Not all our products have a high recycled footprint. Our Botanical Spirit 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 transition over to 100% recycled glass in the coming year.

To keep up to speed with our sustainability journey you can check out our annual report here which goes into what we are currently doing and what we would like to do to be better.

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