Tag: Loch Lomond Group

The Loch Lomond Group operates Loch Lomond distillery at Alexandria in Dunbartonshire and Glen Scotia distillery in the Argyllshire port of Campbeltown. Additionally, the group’s Glen Catrine bonded warehouse in Ayrshire is one of Scotland’s largest independent bottling facilities. Loch Lomond brands include: Loch Lomond, Glen Scotia, Inchmoan, Littlemill and Inchmurrin single malt whisky, as well as Clansman and High Commisioner blended whisky

Loch Lomond Signature Blended Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 11/19/2018

In Blended whisky

Today I try another mini from the stash I found in my cupboard. This time I try the Loch Lomond Signature blended Scotch whisky. Loch Lomond is located on the boundary between the Lowlands and Highlands of Scotland. The first mention of the original Loch Lomond distillery dates back to 1814.

It was situated at the north end of Loch Lomond near Tarbet. Somewhere in the years following, the distillery closed down and disappeared. The current Loch Lomond distillery was resurrected by the former owners of the Littlemill Distillery when they commissioned it in 1964. In 2014, the Loch Lomond distillery was acquired by a private equity company and is currently part of the Loch Lomond Distillery Company.

Loch Lomond has an unusual set up of stills. This allows them to release a variety of bottlings of both malt and grain whisky. A few of the other releases in the portfolio include Inchmurrin, Inchmoan, Crotengea, Glen Douglass, and Craiglodge, to name a few.

Also Read: Glen Scotia 15 yo whisky

The Loch Lomond Signature is made up of malt and grain whisky, which are blended and then added into the distillery’s 100 cask Solera system. The Loch Lomond Solera ageing process is made up of Oloroso sherry casks and re-charred American oak casks.

It falls squarely in the affordable category and retail at around R380 in South Africa. Not a bad price for a dram. But the more important question remains, what does it taste like?

Loch Lomond Signature Whisky Review

REGION: Highlands

ABV: 43%

COLOUR: Light gold

NOSE: Sun-dried grapes, hints of plump red cherries, bits of chocolate, oak and ginger.

PALATE: Dried fruit and sherry notes mixed with summer spices, vanilla and creamy oak. Water softens the Signature taste and takes away a bit of the sharp edges.

FINISH: Oak with lemon and pepper

RATING: VERY GOOD

An interesting blend from Loch Lomond distilleries. Worth a try. This is a distillery I will keep on exploring. The brand and taste variety they offer is impressive and quite a few of the releases are available in South Africa.

Another release from this distillery I have tried is the Loch Lomond 12 yo, Loch Lomond Single Grain whisky as well as the Loch Lomond Original whisky.

Also Read: Galloway Single Grain whisky

Glen Scotia 15 year old Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 10/29/2018

In Single Malt whisky

My second blog post on the Glen Scotia miniatures. I found this at the back of my cupboard while cleaning my whisky room. Last time I looked at the Victoriana whisky and today I look at the Glen Scotia 15 year old single malt Scotch whisky.

The golden days of Campbeltown were before Prohibition. Today there are only 3 distilleries left from the original more than 20. Glen Scotia along with Springbank and Glengyle still keep this unique Scottish region tastes alive. The characteristics of Campbeltown whiskies are a complex mix of flavours.

The characteristics of Campbeltown include a dryness with spicy fruit sweetness, smoke and a hint of saltiness. Imagine a cross between the Lowlands and the Western Highlands with a pinch of Island salt thrown in.

Stewart, Galbraith and Co. founded Glen Scotia in 1832 and it was family-owned until 1919. A turbulent period followed and much-needed stability arrived when the Loch Lomond Group bought the distillery.

The Glen Scotia range includes some core Single Malt expressions:

Double Cask
Victoriana
18 Year Old
25 Year Old

The Glen Scotia 15 year old whisky was released in 2015 and has been aged in specially selected American oak casks. It retails for around R800. Not a bad price for a 15 year old whisky. But the question is always; what does it taste like?

Also Read: The Singleton 15 yo whisky

Glen Scotia 15 year old Whisky Review

REGION: Campbelltown

ABV: 46%

COLOUR: Golden Honey

NOSE: Barley, toasted oak, apricot sweetness with a lemony zest. Hints of spices and freshly baked goods.

PALATE: Small jam tarts, candied ginger and vanilla with fresh apricots. The Glen Scotia has a fruity sweetness that is balanced by a spicy bite with little bits of orange peel.

Slight hints of freshly baked apple pie and a salty note somewhere. Adding water makes the Glen Scotia 15 year old very drinkable without diluting the sweetness and spice balance.

FINISH: Medium length ending on fruity sweetness and orange peel with hints of pepper.

RATING: EXCELLENT

The Glen Scotia 15 year old single malt whisky is nicely balanced and makes for smooth drinking. And best of all, it is not a bad price for a 15-year-old whisky. Excellent addition to any collection and probably one of the more drinkable Campbeltown releases available in South Africa.

Have you tried this release yet?

Also Read: Longmorn 15 yo Scottish whisky

Glen Scotia Victoriana Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 07/30/2018

In Single Malt whisky

A long story to get to my whisky this week; the Glen Scotia Victoriana single malt Scotch whisky. Winter is not my favourite time of the year. I love the summer. When it is warm, I can move, plan, function and do things.

During winter, all I want to do is hibernate until the temperature rises again. But being in hibernation does not lead to getting things done, so winter I try to use as a time to restructure, refocus and clean.

Preparing and cleaning, so that when Spring comes, I can shrug off the old and start something fresh and new. As part of the process, I started sorting and cleaning my ‘whisky room’; the room where I store my liquor bottles. Whisky, wine, gin, brandy and all the assorted liqueurs that we gathered over the years.

I updated my database with what I have and cleaned out old boxes and paperwork that seems to gather there. And lo and behold, I found a small box with some samples in that I have not officially tasted yet. The box was from a Loch Lomond function I attended a couple of years ago.

Also Read: Inchmurrin 11 yo Whisky

Two of the drams I have tasted and written about. But there was a few more that I have not covered yet. So, over the next couple of months, expect to see a few Glen Scotia releases popping up for tasting.

The first one I want to try is the Glen Scotia Victoriana whisky. I just love the name and the label. The label reminds me of that dying hobby of stamp collection. So it is making the first appearance.

The name and the label is a reminder of the Victorian era when Campbeltown was a booming whisky hub. The small Kintyre Peninsula boasted over 20 distilleries. Campbeltown was known as “The Whisky Capital of the World.” Then Prohibition hit and Speyside and the Highlands became more dominant and this caused the end of the of Campbeltown golden era.

I had written about the history of Campbeltown and Glen Scotia when I captured my tasting notes for the Glen Scotia Double Cask, the Loch Lomond Original release as well as the Loch Lomond Single Grain whisky.

The Glen Scotia Victoriana single malt aims to re-create a modern interpretation of classic Victorian Campbeltown malt. The Victoriana is a NAS release and has been finished in deeply charred oak casks and bottled at cask strength without filtration.

Glen Scotia Victoriana Whisky Review

REGION: Campbeltown

ABV: 51.5%

COLOUR: Golden wheat with hints of green

NOSE: A very delicate nose. It’s got light cereals with hints of floral character in it. Toasted oak and smoke, bits of overripe summer berries, vanilla, toffee apple sweetness mixed with winter spices.

PALATE: On the palate, it’s different from other expressions. It starts quite spicy then quickly settled down. The first sip has lots of oak dryness, dried citrus peel, cinnamon, pepper and vanilla.

The second sip brings fruit jam with malted biscuits and salted toffee with faint hints of smoke. The Victoriana has a medium body, and a bit of an alcohol bite and water brings down the heat. Water also releases more fruit and vanilla spiciness but tempers the salt and smokiness.

FINISH: The finish is remarkable and the highlight of the Victoriana. It builds quickly and warms your insides before slowly retreating to leave you satisfied long after you have swallowed. The addition of water tames the finish a bit. It ends in hints of chocolate and smoke with lemon peel and oak.

RATING: EXCELLENT

The oaky spiciness of the Victoriana whisky can be a bit overwhelming. But you just need to take a second sip for the ripe summer berries, vanilla and smoky notes to come through. It is an exciting release that is certainly worth trying. From all the Campbeltown releases I have tried, this is my favourite.

In a few weeks, I will feature the Glen Scotia 15 yo, and perhaps that will also impress. We will have to wait and see. For now, I need to get my hands on a full-size Victoriana as this little sample was not enough.

Also Read: The Arran Malt Sherry Cask Whisky

Loch Lomond Single Grain Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 06/27/2016

In Grain Whisky

A month or two ago, I found an affordable new distillery release at our local Checkers and grabbed it immediately. It was a Loch Lomond single grain whisky. Not too long afterwards, I got invited to the Checkers launch of this same release and accepted with great anticipation.

It is exciting to see Checkers go to great lengths to bring a broader range of reasonably priced whiskies to SA. Loch Lomond is just the latest in a long line of prominent brands that Checkers is building relationships with.

The Littlemill Distillery Company Ltd built the distillery in 1965. In 1984 the distillery fell silent, but shareholders bought the company and created the Loch Lomond Distillery Company. Malt production restarted in 1987, and grain whisky production began in 1993.

Loch Lomond has an unusual set up of stills. It allows them to release a variety of bottlings. There were three sets of stills; two were fitted with rectification columns as well as five continuous stills.

Bottlings under the names: Inchmurrin, Inchmoan, Inchfad, Crotengea, Glen Douglass, Craiglodge and, Loch Lomond comes out of the one distillery.

Loch Lomond marks the boundary between the Lowlands and the Highlands of Scotland and is classified as a Highland whisky. It is also the brand name of the whisky consumed by Captain Haddock in Hergé’s famous comic book series “The Adventures of Tintin”.

This Loch Lomond release (and a few others from this distillery) is available at Checkers Liquor stores and definitely in the affordable price range.

Also Read: Teeling Single Grain Whiskey

Loch Lomond Single Grain Whisky Review

REGION: Highland

ABV: 46%

COLOUR: It is one of the lightest colour spirits I have in my collection. It has a pale yellow colour with green hints.

NOSE: The first thing that strikes me about the nose of this single grain is that it’s very clean. I get malt and freshly baked cookies, flowers and grass mixed with juniper berries and fruit. Hints of butterscotch and vanilla come through. The nose is not very complicated.

PALATE: Initially surprisingly spicy with hints of fruit and almond floating around. Citrus zest from the nose is present, and the whisky has a medium mouthfeel. The dram needs a few drops of water to release the fruity notes. The addition of the water improves the drinking experience and makes it smoother.

FINISH: Medium length and ends in notes of citrus peel and vanilla sweetness.

RATING: VERY GOOD

It seems like this dram is just a tad too young. For me, it feels like there are a few rough ends to this whisky. A little bit longer in barrels might smooth this whisky out and create a more of a rounded integrated feeling.

Not a bad whisky at all! It is a versatile addition to my collection. And it is affordable as well. In South Africa, it retails for around R350. With all the spicy notes, it might make an excellent dram to pair with food. Let me go and experiment.

Have you tried this Loch Lomond release? I have also tried the Loch Lomond Original whisky, and you can read all about it to. There is a new batch of Single Grain available with a new label, and I captured my tasting notes about it as well

Also Read: Glen Scotia Victoriana whisky

Littlemill 25 year old Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 11/18/2015

In Single Malt whisky

Great was my excitement when I received an email from Steve (The Whisky Wire) confirming that we have been chosen to take part in the Littlemill 25 year old single malt Scotch whisky flash blog. A week or two earlier, I saw a request for bloggers who wanted to take part and responded.

Then the (long) wait began. About a week before the due date (14 Oct), I started ‘stalking’ our local Post Office. I became a regular in the queue. The man behind the counter saw me so often that he handed me the ‘Packages Received’ book as soon as I walked in.

No package arrived. The day of the Littlemill Whisky Flash Blog came and went. I read all the amazing blogs and tasting notes of the other (lucky) bloggers but left the Post Office empty-handed each time. I nearly gave up hope of ever getting our package.

And then, low and behold, a slip of paper arrived in my post box. Just before we depart for a short break away to the Drakensberg (Dragon Mountains).

It was with much excitement that I skipped into the Post Office. The man behind the counter reached for the book, but I was waving my slip of paper. I got my Littlemill 25 year old whisky sample.

Established back in 1772, this Lowland distillery fell silent in 1994 and was destroyed by a fire in 2004. The fire only left a few last barrels. Once they are consumed, there will be no more. The whisky chosen for this release was casked in 1989 and 1990, respectively.

The Littlemill 25 year old Scotch whiskywas matured in a mixture of American and European Oak and has been finished in first-fill European Oloroso Sherry casks.

Also Read: Auchentoshan American Oak Whisky

Littlemill 25 year old Whisky Review

REGION: Lowland

ABV: 50.4%

COLOUR: Golden wheat. It is quite an oily whisky.

NOSE: Notes of sherry sweetness, Christmas Pudding and candied fruit. There are hints of oak, caramel, toffee and butterscotch.

PALATE: Without water, the Littlemill 25 year old is creamy and rich with fruity sweetness, crème brûlée and spice. There are hints of nutmeg, black peppercorns and cloves. With water, the Littlemill palate releases notes of grape jam, vanilla and sultanas.

FINISH: Long and lingering and end in notes of sweet spiciness, citrus and toasted oak.

RATING: EXCELLENT

The Littlemill 25 year old single malt is a complex and robust whisky. With the beautiful golden Drakensberg in front of us and the sun setting, this dram glowed golden bright. A wonderful dram in an amazing setting. Dinner was a slow-cooked lamb potjie (lamb stew), and the 25 year old was the dessert.

Only 1500 individually numbered bottles were released. The remaining Littlemill casks are owned by the Loch Lomond Group. The Littlemill 25 year old retails for GBP 1690. (R36 500)

Also Read: The Balvenie Roasted Malt whisky