Loch Lomond Distillery Edition One

One of my favourite distilleries have just launched their first Distillery Edition, oooh you might say - a new distillery? Well no this is an old one, but due to their very industrial nature they don't have a Visitor's Centre.

So how do you get a Distillery Edition? Well it's only available on their website.

I've written lots about @LochLomondMalts, you can read about the distillery here, it's core range here and some special editions here and here but you'll notice that I really love their Wine Yeast fermentation releases here and here. Well their first Distillery Edition is also a Wine Yeast single cask!

Let's find out a little bit more:

Loch Lomond say:

"At Loch Lomond Whiskies, we strive to explore new depths of flavours, pushing the boundaries of our whisky making capabilities and elevating the already remarkable nature of our spirits. The newly launched Remarkable Makers series will see masters from the worlds of food and drink, engineering, craftwork and science come together to share their knowledge, journey and aspirations. Our first collaboration is with Bread Ahead, a popular London bakery chain, which was selected to show the parallels of whisky and bread making - two age old crafts that use simple ingredients to create maximum flavour. 

Our partnership explains the role of yeast in the whisky-making process and uncovers the story of our  Distillery Edition, which has been crafted using chardonnay wine yeast, an unusual and innovative ingredient in the world of whisky-making."

Bottler thoughts:

Single Cask #119 Distilled 2009, Bottled 2020, 265 bottles

Unpeated - Straight Neck Still - Low Collection Strength

This first release is a 9 year old single cask malt whisky, produced using Chardonnay wine yeast in the fermentation process, distilled in our unique Straight Neck Stills and matured in an American oak cask. The result is a remarkable whisky with notes of lemon citrus, creamy vanilla and tangy pineapple. 

Nose: Opens on freshly grated lemon peel, pear and white peach with vanilla and icing sugar

Taste: creamy vanilla with a honey sweetness, grapefruit and tangy pineapple

Finish: A long finish of mouth-watering citrus, elderflower and gentle cinnamon spice

So what does it all mean?

Single Cask means the whisky spend all of it's 9 years in a single cask, in this case an American oak cask with the number #119 - probably the 119th fill of the year 2010.

Distilled 2009 obviously the year it was distilled.

Bottled 2020 obviously the year it was bottled, except this was a misprint and it was actually late 2019! Why has it taken so long to release? Well that was all thanks to Covid, Loch Lomond were all ready to release and then Lockdown happened and their plans were put on hold.

265 bottles there are only 265 bottles of this whisky available - ever!

Unpeated is obvious - unpeated barley.

Straight Neck Still means is was distilled in a Straight Neck rather than Swan Neck pot still.

Low Collection Strength means the new make spirit was collected over a wider range as it came off the still typically between 90% and 60% ABV i.e. over a longer time period and probably with the still's cooling ring turned off.

Chardonnay wine yeast instead of using 100% distillers yeast, some of it was replaced by wine yeast - this gives the unique and delightfully unusual lemon effervescence on the tongue!

OK, enough science (or is it art?) let's try the whisky!

My thoughts:

Appearance: Pale gold in the glass, swirls leave thick lines which bead up, hang and eventually fall as slow thin oily legs.

Nose: It's all lemon to start - bonbons, drizzle cake, zest and even some meringue pie. There's a little vanilla, honey and orchard fruit: apple, pears and peaches. There's a little toffee and some bread dough notes.

Palate: Thick sweet oily arrival, mouthcoating. The sweetness gives way to citrus: a little clementine and then the lemon from the nose is back: bonbons, drizzle cake, zest and the meringue pie - it leaves a huge effervescent fizz on the tongue as the liquid disappears. Icing sugar gives a slight drying meaning you have to sip some more. This gives some tropical fruit notes, reminiscent of the Inchmurrin 12yo from those same Straight Neck Pot stills, some almond-y marzipan and a little peppery spice. Yummy!

Finish: Lingering spice, a little salinity, and loads of citrus. Yummy!

Overall: It's horrible - don't buy any 😉

 

 

🤔