About two years ago, I found this bottle of Galloway single grain Scotch whisky somewhere in a small bottle shop and bought it. It was relatively affordable, and it was a single grain. Not that this means much, but the information on the bottle about it being made on the banks of Loch Lomond looked interesting.
According to the label…”Lowland Scotch whisky. Produced on the banks of Loch Lomond then aged and matured in oak casks in the heart of Scotland. The whisky comes to life on Loch Lomond’s beautiful banks, born from the pristine waters that arise in the surrounding hills.”
Thomson & Gray have named this whisky Galloway, after the ship the company owned from 1876 – 1882. The Galloway carried cargo to South Africa in the empire years.
The Galloway single grain bottle landed up in the back of the cupboard for about two years, and after cleaning up a bit, I found it again. There is barely anything available on the internet on this bottling, and an email to the company who imported it into SA went unanswered.
Looking at the map and distilleries around Loch Lomond, the only distillery that does grain (and malt) is the Loch Lomond distillery. Might this be a cask from Loch Lomond but bottled under a different name?
Or someone just wanting to piggyback off the success of the Loch Lomond grain whisky by using the name of the Loch? Is it some Loch Lomond single grain bottled under a different name? Let’s find out.
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Galloway Single Grain Whisky Review
ABV: 43%
COLOUR: Dark gold with red hints
NOSE: Overly sweet caramel. I let the glass stand for a while for the heavy caramel notes to disappear. There are faint notes of oak, cinnamon and vanilla.
PALATE: When you try to take a sip of the Galloway single grain, the heavy caramel sweetness is still overwhelming on the nose. However, not on the palate. There are notes of pepper, bitter lemon and very little sweetness with a sharp alcohol bite.
The sticky sweet caramel nose does not translate to the palate (small mercies). John describes the Galloway as “…cheap cane spirit laced with even cheaper corn syrup. Rich layers of benzine and methylated spirits overwhelm the senses.” He is not far off. Adding some water softens the alcohol burn a bit, but does little else,
FINISH: Fortunately very short ending in notes of pepper and bitter lemon. John describes it as”… What finish… I did not finish it…”
RATING: ORDINARY
This Galloway single grain whisky is the kind of whisky that people who have never tasted whisky would distil. It’s awfully, and John’s view is that someone is committing a crime bottling it. It is certainly NOT from Loch Lomond Distillery.
I don’t think this liquid has even seen Scotland. Let alone the beautiful Loch. If you happen to see this bottle somewhere, put it down and take something else; anything else.
Has anyone else noticed this bottle somewhere?
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