Noble Rebel Three Blended Malts

@LochLomondMalts have always been a little different, experimental you might say: straight neck pot stills, use of refill casks to let the spirit character shine through, barley through continuous stills etc.

Last year they released @SpearheadWhisky, a single grain barley distilled in a continuous still, this year they've released three blended malts under the banner @NobleRebelMalts.

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. This time we're talking about Blended Malts - as a reminder these are single malts from different distilleries blended together - no grain whisky involved.

Loch Lomond explained that Noble Rebel "sums up what we want to do with blended malts – be refined and creative about how we combine bring together flavours using non-traditional techniques." The boxes and bottles stand out from the crowd with strong branding, colourful pictures and a lot of information in small type.

There are a huge number of warehouses at Loch Lomond and as with the rest of the industry they swap new make with other distilleries maturing it in their own warehouses for blending. Michael Henry, their Master Blender, has taken a core of Loch Lomond single malts and blended in some single malt from other distilleries.

"Only the very finest malts have been blended to create three wonderful whiskies. Malt whiskies that have been carefully selected by one of Scotland’s most creative Master Blenders, Michael Henry. When it comes to making an all-new blend, Michael is a highly accomplished artist. And each paints a different picture. A picture that will delight the senses with ingenuity, complexity, and depth."

Bottler thoughts:

There are currently three bottles in the range, all at 46% ABV, non-chill filtered and natural colour:

	Orchard Outburst : Apple, Citrus, Vanilla 46% ABV NCF Natural colour, finished in ex-bourbon casks. We invite you to savour a whisky that sings with hints of zingy lemon and lime. Enjoy a matchless mix of crisp ripe orchard fruits, with underlying hints of salty ocean waves. A beautifully balanced blend that’ll surprise and excite the palate with every sip.
Hazelnut Harmony : Hazelnut, Pear, Honey 46% ABV NCF Natural colour, finished in toasted American oak casks. Satiate your desire for a slightly sweeter Scotch with Hazelnut Harmony. A perfectly balanced blend of sweet honeycomb and warm baked nuts combined with subtle pear undertones and light floral notes. A masterpiece to sip and savour.
	Smoke Symphony : Smoke, Spice, Dark Berry 46% ABV NCF Natural colour, finished in Rioja  casks. Our Noble Rebel Smoke Symphony is far from your everyday dram – this expertly blended malt will prime your palate with smoky peat and hits of chilli. And it doesn’t stop there. Its subtle berry tartness and spicy finish comes together for a wonderfully unexpected flavour finale..

My thoughts:

Yes I'm a huge LL fanboy but these bottles were bought by me to review independently. 

Orchard Outburst

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

Nose: Loads of citrus to start: lime zest and lemon drizzle cake; there's also some orchard fruit: peach, apricot, pear; and then some notes of honey, toffee and vanilla. There's a big waft of salinity in here too.

Palate: Thick sweet oily arrival: spicy lemonade, salted lemons and a bite of ginger spice. Stewed orchard fruit, runny honey and salt cover the tongue before the liquid disappears leaving vanilla and a gingery spice.

Finish: Lingering dry salinity with some lemon and honey.

Overall: To me a well integrated blend of Inchmurrin and unpeated Glen Scotia - fruit and salinity. Yummy!

 Hazelnut Harmony 

 

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

Nose: Toasted oak, orchard fruit: pears and apples; some grassy herbal notes, a little pine forest floor and a hint of gentle smoke. There's a little Carrot and maybe Jamaica ginger cake.

Palate: Thick sweet arrival: honey, orchard fruit: pears, apples, apricots. Immediately drying. There's some toasted nuts here but I'd suggest pistachios rather than hazelnuts. There's some icing sugar, vanilla, sour grapefruit and a peppery spice.

Finish: Long dry citrus, vanilla, hazelnuts and a little honey.

Overall: This is the least Loch Lomond tasting dram of the three - I'm guessing there must be some in it blended with something from Speyside?

Smoke Symphony

Appearance: Mid gold in the glass with a reddy tinge, swirls leave thin lines which bead up slowly and fall as slow thin legs.

Nose: Dirty medicinal smoke, oil, rubber, tarmac - well into Ledaig territory here! Some berry hints, but well hidden by the smoke.

Palate: Thick sweet arrival, berries, honey and some citrus. There's a little salinity, caramel, gentle dry smoke and a bite of peppery spice.

Finish: Lingering berries, toffee, citrus and smoke.

Overall: The smoke on the nose isn't reflected as much on the palate - the Rioja finish has calmed it and added lovely berry notes. This reminds me a lot of last year's Open Special Edition finished in Claret but it has the added complexity of smoke. Maybe a sign of things to come with this year's Open Special Edition? This could easily be an Inchmoan with a wine finish, but being a blend there must be something else - it could be more Glen Scotia?

 

Summary: As I said above I'm a huge LL fanboy and may be a bit biased but these bottles were bought by me to review independently. An interesting set of drams, great to try together, and for £40 each, very affordable. The mouthfeel on each is really good but you'd expect that from the lack of chill-filtering. A lot of spice on all 3 drams - maybe too much? - showing their youth possibly?

For me the Smoke Symphony stands out, but I'm a sucker for wine finishes at the moment! The Orchard Outburst is next in line - it's got to be Inchmurrin fruit and Glen Scotia salinity! The Hazelnut Harmony is maybe the weakest of the three, it doesn't taste like a Loch Lomond.

It's been very interesting that Loch Lomond have given Michael Henry the opportunity to experiment and come up with these blended malts - I'm sure there's malt from their sister distillery Glen Scotia in one or two of them and there must be other malts from what they have in their warehouses from swaps with other distilleries. The Orchard Outburst and Smoke Symphony still shine with Loch Lomond distillery character but the Hazelnut Harmony has lost it somewhere.

I reached out to Loch Lomond to try and get a breakdown of the blends and maybe some idea of their components, they were obviously very tight lipped but did reveal the following:

Orchard Outburst is a blend of 7yo LL straight neck still low collection strength unpeated, some using wine yeast fermentation, 8yo unpeated straight neck still high collection strength, 8yo Glen Scotia and a small amount of 9yo malt from two Speyside and Highlands distilleries vatted and married for 3 months prior to bottling.

Hazelnut Harmony is a blend of 9yo unpeated LL swan neck still, 7yo unpeated straight neck still low collection strength & 8yo unpeated high collection strength and 35% malts from three Speyside distilleries between 6 and 8yo. These were vatted together in a combination of 1st fill and 2nd fill toasted American Oak casks. 

 

Smoke Symphony is a blend of 5yo LL straight neck still low collection strength 50ppm malt, 9yo unpeated swan neck still and 10% malt from two Speyside and Highlands distilleries vatted and finished in Rioja Alto Gran Riserva casks for 6 months.

An amazing level of transparency that you'd never get from other distillery's blends!

So my guesses of the Orchard Outburst being a LL and GS blend, Hazelnut Harmony having a high percentage of non-LL malts (loosing it's identity a little) and Smoke Symphony being a wine finished Inchmoan were pretty close! Try the three and let me know what you think!