Loch Lomond 2023 Open Golf Releases

@LochLomondMalts release a pair of bottles (and some special editions) for each Open Golf Tournament.

This year's to celebrate the 151st at Royal Liverpool have just been released!

The pair of bottles are the cheaper Open Special Edition (OSE), a NAS at 46% for around the £45 mark and the more limited Open Course Collection (OCC) usually a 19+ year old age statemented higher ABV release for anywhere from £160 upwards. This years OCC is £240 so I won't be buying one of them anytime soon!

Just let me clear up that I am a huge Loch Lomond Fanboy, I buy most, if not all, of their releases. I buy them myself, they don't send me any samples to review. Most of you will also know that I have a top limit of £100 a bottle so haven't bought any of the OCC bottles when they are released but have picked up a few for less that £100 when they have been on offer.

I've reviewed previous Open Golf releases here and last year's here. This review is concentrating on the 2023 OSE release which was finished in Spanish Rioja Alta Reserva red wine casks. but for completeness here's a little info on the OCC release first.

Distillery info:

2000 22yo 151st Royal Liverpool

"Using a combination of whisky from our unique Straight Neck pot stills and more traditional Swan Neck stills, then aged in Organic American Oak casks to create the signature fruit, honey and soft smoke style only found in Loch Lomond single malt whisky.

This whisky uses predominantly unpeated Organic barley and has been taken at a range of collection strengths to create a complex whisky that showcases our capability in distilling and the impact on flavour."

Nose: Honey, peach, melon, lemon, stem ginger.

Palate: Grapefruit, vanilla, caramel, pineapple, mango.

Finish: Long spicy finish with ginger, cinnamon and toasted oak.

So on to the 2023 Open Special Edition, this year it's described as "to explore the influence of elegant Spanish Rioja Alta Reserva casks on the Loch Lomond signature style".

Distillery info:

"Michael Henry, our master blender, has crafted this exceptional single malt with Colin Montgomerie to explore the influence of elegant Spanish Rioja Alta Reserva casks on the Loch Lomond signature style. A range of casks have been hand-selected by Michael for finishing in Rioja Alta Reserva to complement our signature distillery style with additional depth of flavour.

These rich, exceptional red wine casks help create a whisky that has notes of red berry, orchard fruit and creamy vanilla with dark chocolate that complements the soft smoke on the finish."

Nose: Floral notes of rose, soft fruits, peach and pear.

Palate: Red berry and orchard fruit. Raspberry and peach, creamy vanilla and dark chocolate.

Finish: Medium length, a touch of smoke gives way to lasting fruit notes.

I'm guessing the "Loch Lomond signature style" as described here is the "Perfectly Balanced" 12yo which uses Loch Lomond's unique Straight Neck stills and more traditional Swan Neck Stills giving a spirit delivering delicious notes of peach and pear layered with vanilla sweetness and a gentle hint of smoke on the finish after having being aged in three varieties of American Oak casks - first fill, refill and re-charred. As this is a NAS I'm guessing it's slightly younger than 12 years and has had a short finish in the Rioja casks to add a layer of red berries and dark chocolate to the flavour complexity.

Let's see what it's like!

My thoughts:

Appearance: Dark gold with a red tinge (coloured), swirls cling as a thick line, bead up and fall as slow thin oily legs.

Nose: Orchard fruit to start: apples, pears, apricots; there's some brown sugar, vanilla and a little cinnamon spice. There's a little beer note, some mint and a hint of dark chocolate.

Palate: Oily arrival, berry jam to start, some brown sugar, vanilla ice cream and dark chocolate. It's immediately drying and the cinnamon spice from the nose is back. There's a little hint of smoke - I was expecting more. A few more sips and the berries come to the fore - strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and a some cherry notes. Maybe the Rioja finish was a bit longer than I thought? There's a little sour citrus and more dry spice as the liquid disappears - Yummy!

Finish: Sweet, dry and spicy - brown sugar, cinnamon and a lovely smoke note at the end.

Overall: I was expecting a bit more smoke on this one, something similar to the Noble Rebel's Smoke Symphony. This is a much gentler smoke, you don't get any on the nose, very little on the palate, most of it coming through on the finish. Loch Lomond don't say how long the finish was but the Rioja casks have had a huge influence on colour, berry notes and dryness. There are similarities with last year's Bordeaux finished OSE - similar orchard and berry fruit and dry spice but a little less smoke on this one.

Beautiful wrapping and packaging from Wilma & Mo
at LL and a pair of unusually shaped tumblers!

Geek Stuff:

Here's a list of all of the OSE & OCC releases:

Year	Open Special Edition	Open Course Collection
2023 Black Box	NAS 46% Ex-bourbon Rioja wine finish	Royal Liverpool 2000 22yo 48.2% Organic Barley / Organic American Oak
2022 Blue box	NAS 46% American Oak, Claret Finish	St Andrews 22yo 48.2% Haut-Medoc Claret Barriques finish
2021 Red box	NAS 46% Ex-bourbon 3 types American oak casks, Virgin Oak finish	Royal St Georges (Darren Clarke) 20yo 50.2% English Virgin Oak finish
2020 Grey tube	12yo 46% American refill oak. Chardonnay Wine Yeast fermentation	None
2019 Green box	NAS 46% 3 types of American Oak	Royal Portrush (Darren Clarke) 19yo 50.3% Claret finish
2018 Blue box	NAS 46% Ex-bourbon. 30% Chardonnay Wine Yeast	Carnoustie 1999 19yo 47.2% refill American Oak