Yet another iteration of ‘I shamefully admit having lost this sample somewhere in the cupboard’, until recently of course. With this being released in 2020, I suspect this came in during the construction work being done on our house last year, and me having to stash this somewhere out of the way for a while.

Anyway, it is still available so the marketing value of this post might not be completely voided. As with the Christmas Malt, it’s a shame that Brexit is making ordering from the UK such a hassle, and so ridiculously expensive.

To continue that last paragraph I searched a bit on The Whisky Exchange’s site to see if the same could be said about the Black Friday whisky, but that’s sold out. Unfortunately, I now regret Brexit happening even more. There’s some cracking whiskies available there. Anyway…

This Loch Lomond, from one of the more obscure distilleries in Scotland, although they’ve been making a bit of name for themselves over the last five years or so. What both is and isn’t confusing is the sheer amount of brands they release. Every different setup of their stills, or peating level is a new brand name with Loch Lomond, Croftengea, Inchmurrin, Inchmoan, Inchfad and Old Rhosdhu.

Loch Lomond being the most straight forward, without any weird distillation, or peating happening compared to the others. Of course, this has a big ‘If I’m not mistaken’ attached to it.

Sniff:
A very heavy nose of cereal, quite rich on a porridge note. In the background there’s a whiff of candied lemon, and lots of barley.

Sip:
The palate is a slow starter, do it gives some room go fresh grassy notes with hints of candied lemon. After that, a sharp zesty palate kicks in. Lots of white pepper, sweet barley notes, lemon drizzle cake.

Swallow:
The finish combines the nose and the palate. Lemon drizzle cake with a heavy focus on the barley flavors. Oak shavings, a hint of vanilla.

This one starts slowly, but gets better with every sip. I really enjoy that this is, in a way, such a straight forward whisky. That gives room to the spirit, and it can shine nicely. The lemon notes are really enjoyable and with the heavy cereal note it truly is a grain product. Recommended!

88/100

Still available at The Whisky Exchange for £ 63