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KWM 2020 Whisky Calendar Day 24 - Loch Lomond 12 Year Old

Posted on November 7, 2021

by Evan

The End Is Nigh! - on the 2020 KWM Whisky Calendar. When we pull out this bottle we will have opened all twenty-four panels on the front of the Whisky Calendar box, and we will only have the special bottle up top to open tomorrow. What do we have to look forward to today, so close to the holiest of days when we crack into that secret and special SMWS bottle? For Day twenty-four we have the Loch Lomond 12-Year-Old!

The Loch Lomond 12 Year comes to us from Loch Lomond Distillery. Founded in 1965, Loch Lomond is a bizarre operation that is capable of making multiple different styles of spirit all under one roof.  The distillery is capable of producing Single Malt, Single Grain, and Blended Whisky entirely at one site. It can and does do this, and it also makes Single Malt in and a wide variety of styles, including both peated and unpeated types.

There are a total of thirteen stills within the Loch Lomond Distillery, however, they are definitely not all the same. Included in this number are your typical swan-neck style pot stills: the type you see at most Scottish distilleries that make single malt whisky. Beyond that though, things get weird. There are also three pairs of straight-neck pot stills, which are sometimes called Lomond stills. One of these pairs has a water cooling system installed on the top of the still that the heated vapour hits before going through the narrowing neck/pipe for collection. This results in much more reflux and leads to a lighter, softer, fruitier spirit being produced.

 

Last but not least, there is a six-story Coffey/column still that is actually split in two to accommodate the three-story building it resides in. This still is used to distill malted barley, but due to SWA regulations, it is still classified as a Single Grain spirit. The whisky made with this still is used in their blends, but you can occasionally find it bottled as Rhosdhu by indie bottlers.


With this unusual combination, Loch Lomond Distillery is capable of producing its own blended whisky entirely on-site, without having to source whisky from other distilleries. It is one of the very few (possibly only) active distilleries in Scotland and even the world to be able to do this.

Loch Lomond as a brand currently has three product lines for the different styles the distillery is capable of producing. Inchmurrin is the unpeated, lighter and fruity side of Single Malt Scotch. Inchmoan represents the more meaty, heavily peated end of the spectrum. Loch Lomond itself covers the space in between, focusing on a moderately peated style that still showcases plenty of fruity notes.There are other names that have been used on bottles in the past or on indie bottles as well - such as Croftengea which is another of Loch Lomond's peated styles.



Just to make things even more confusing - Loch Lomond just announced they are once more revamping their product line and look back in August of this year. The new line brings the Inchmurrin and Inchmoan right into the Loch Lomond brand, instead of marketing them as 'similar but different' as they were before.

I am looking forward to tasting this bottle. Its older sibling - the Loch Lomond 18-Year-Old - ended up being my personal favourite bottled in the 2019 KWM Whisky Calendar from last year. I am not expecting this 12 Year Old to be as complex as the 18 is, but I am a fan of this medium peat plus fruit style. Let's give this twenty-fourth whisky a taste!



Loch Lomond 12-Year-Old - 46%

Evan's Tasting Note

Nose: Hazelnut, walnuts, olive oil, oranges, chamomile, leaves being raked up in the fall, fennel seed, coconut oil and suntan lotion.

Palate: Popeye cigarette candies, orange oils, hazelnuts again, slight bitter and earthy smoke, milk chocolate, and just a touch of pineapple.

Finish: Soft almond notes with earthy smoke and a hint of apples and cinnamon.

Comment: This is a flavourful, peaty dram that gives notes that many others do not. This and the Loch Lomond are worth seeking out.

I would say this works well as a Christmas Eve Dram, how about you? There is something about the Loch Lomond style that really grabs me.  See you tomorrow for the final dram in the 2020 KWM Whisky Calendar!

Cheers,
Evan
evan@kensingtonwinemarket.com
Twitter and Instagram: @sagelikefool

This entry was posted in Store, Whisky, Tastings, KWM Whisky Calendar 2020, Whisky Calendars

 

 

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