Loch Lomond Chardonnay Wine Yeast from a Swan Neck Pot Still

@LochLomondMalts is one of my favourite distilleries and some of my favourite drams have come from the use of Chardonnay Wine Yeast in their fermentation

This one is a little different - it's been distilled in a Swan Neck Pot Still

I've written lots about Loch Lomond in the past, it is one of my favourite distilleries! When I heard that this bottling was from a Chardonnay Wine Yeast fermentation and had been finished in Limousin Oak Casks I jumped at it!

But... to be honest this has lasted a lot longer than I thought it would, I've had the bottle since the beginning of October and it's not even 1/3 drunk...

Let's go right back to the beginning and explain everything, this might take some time, bare with me!

Loch Lomond distillery was build by the owners of Littlemill distillery in 1965 at Alexandria at the bottom end of Loch Lomond. It's a huge industrial complex built on the site of a converted dyeing factory.

Starting with a pair of straight necked pot stills with rectifying plates (not Lomond Stills!) they started distilling malt whisky, a second pair were added in 1990. A Grain distillery was added next door in 1994 to produce whisky for blends. A pair of swan neck pot stills were added in 1998. In 2007 a copper continuous column still, designed by the then production director John Peterson (a variation on the Coffey still), was installed to produce whisky using a 100% malted barley wash from the same washbacks that charge the pot stills. A third pair of straight necked pot stills were added in 2017.

Still with me?

Michael Henry loves experimenting - different stills, different cut points, different fermentation durations, different cask maturation and finishing and probably quite uniquely different yeast strains. On a visit to the distillery in 2018 we were introduced to a single cask bottling #5834 - this we were told had been distilled from unpeated barley in their straight necked pot stills taking a high strength narrow cut of the spirit (Inchmurrin) but using Chardonnay Wine Yeast (CWY) in the fermentation. It was magical! I've jumped at every CWY release ever since!

As part of Loch Lomond's bottle revamp a few years ago a number of bottlings were discontinued and a new core range 14yo arrived - finished in Limousin oak cask - it instantly became a firm favourite of mine. They've since played around a little with the recipe and there is some peated malt in the marriage - I prefer the unpeated version.

There have been at least 9 CWY releases, including an indie from SMWS, and 4 or 5 samples I've managed to try at tastings and festivals. They have all been magical - the CWY giving a characteristic effervescent fizz on the tongue when you taste the whisky. The key is that they have all come from Straight Necked Pot Still distillations and all but one been 'plain' ex-bourbon cask matured - the odd one out was a distillery tasting dram which had been finished for 2 years in a Sauternes cask.

This one is different - it's from a Swan Neck Pot Still and it's had a finish in a Limousin Oak Cask.

Loch Lomond Swan Neck Post Still

Bottler thoughts:

'Single' Cask #22/709-1

13 years in bourbon and 1 year in Limousin Oak

Distilled 2009

Unpeated - Swan Neck Still - Chardonnay Wine Yeast

Bottled 2023 at 55.6% ABV

232 bottles

Tasting Notes:

Opens with gold syrup and caramelised banana, Then there is sweet clementine and candied orange peel, ripe peaches drizzled with blossom honey, and fresh coconut flakes, all ending on a delicate oak spiciness.

My thoughts:

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

Nose: Tropical fruit notes to start: pineapple, kiwi and banana. There's some orange peel and a lovely malty note. With a little time and air lemon zest and a hint of salinity come through alongside some milk chocolate and hazelnut hints.

Palate: Sweet creamy arrival: honey, orange marmalade, fresh baked bread, red apple and some grilled pineapple. Then it get's all spicy: pepper, cinnamon and some chilli flake hints. The lemon notes from the nose are back again with a little salinity. The fruit notes really standout on this dram - similar to the Inchmurrin 12yo.

Finish: Long and sweet with tropical fruit, peppery spice and a little dry oak.

Overall: It's a nice dram, don't get me wrong, but it's not what I'd identify as a CWY dram - it doesn't have that effervescent fizz on the tongue. To be honest I'm struggling to like it, purely because it's CWY and it's not effervescent. Silly I know but I have high expectations.

Why is it different?

Is it the use of the Swan Neck Post still? The Limousin Oak finish? The age? 14yo is one of the oldest CWY bottles released so far, did Michael experiment with the yeast in the Swan Neck Stills before the Straight Neck ones?

I just don't know! I went back and tried a dram of Distillery Edition #1 straight after this tasting and all of the CWY magic came back - it's a brilliant dram! 

I'm sure if I hadn't been told this one was a CWY I would have really enjoyed it - it's my own fault I know but when I next visit the distillery I'll be looking out for a 'plain' refill bourbon Straight Neck Pot Still CWY cask.