Former strategy consultant Annabel grew up in Essex and she spent her childhood summers making the 12-hour journey to family holidays on the West Coast of Scotland. It was through these magical journeys of expectation and experiences of the mountains, the views, and the sea, that Annabel fell in love with Scotland.  

Passionate about whisky, the inspiration for Nc’nean came from a combination of two things. It began with a trip to Islay where Annabel witnessed first-hand how many Scottish distilleries do things in a very similar way and often the way things had always been done. This left her wondering if there was any scope to do things differently. The second was the location itself – Annabel’s parents bought the land that the distillery is on more than 10 years ago – an area of Scotland that is wild, beautiful and in many ways perfect for a whisky distillery. From these beginnings, Annabel started to develop the idea to create a whisky distillery that practices another of her great passions - sustainability. The Nc’nean whisky distillery was born: a distillery Made by Nature, Not by Rules.