Knockdhu is a charming 19th century distillery in the Scottish Highlands that for many years was a quiet operator, happy to supply the blenders with excellent quality, robust single malt whisky. That all changed in 2004, when Knockdhu’s owners Inver House pulled off a fantastic relaunch of Knockdhu’s AnCnoc single malt whiskies, earning the distillery some long-deserved recognition.

The AnCnoc name was chosen as the main brand identity for Knockdhu's single malts to avoid confusion with rival Diageo's Knockando distillery in Speyside.

Interestingly, during the makeover process for the marketing relaunch Knockdhu’s traditional Speyside status was dropped and AnCnoc was rebranded by Inver House as a Highland distillery. This self-reclassification was confirmed a few years later by the Scotch Whisky Regulations of 2009 which redrew the legal boundaries of Speyside based on electoral wards, leaving Knockdhu a couple of kilometres outside the new Speyside region.