Loch Lomond Distillery Edition Seven

@LochLomondMalts have just released the seventh in their Distillery Edition series but confused the sequence by releasing another CWY fermentation...

I'm sure this one should have been a Long Fermentation, but let's try it anyway!

Loch Lomond is a distillery that's a little under the radar, it's really two distilleries - a malt one and a grain one sitting side by side in Alexandria on the southern shore of Loch Lomond.

This release is a vatting of three casks using Chardonnay Wine Yeast fermentation to produce Glen Douglas spirit - Straight Necked Pot Stills taking a Low Collection Strength, Wide Cut 90% - 60% with the Cooling Ring Off.

Wash Still (red) on the left, Spirit Still (blue) on the right.

Loch Lomond say:

"The Distillery Edition series allows our dedicated whisky-making team, led by our Master Blender Michael Henry, to experiment with processes and ingredients to unlock new and captivating flavours. Just like our previous six sold-out editions, this seventh release showcases our distillery's innovation and whisky-making expertise."

Distillery thoughts:

This single malt whisky is distilled in our unique Straight Neck stills using 100% unpeated malted barley and is taken at a wide cut point, resulting in a low collection strength of 65%. In addition to the unusual lower collection strength, Michael has opted for a combination of Chardonnay wine yeast and distillers' yeast during fermentation, which accentuates the tropical fruit notes created during distillation.

Matured for 12 years in second-fill Bourbon barrels, three casks were selected and vatted together, then returned to their original casks for four weeks of marrying before bottling. The result is a vibrant, fruit-forward single malt, rich with tropical notes of pineapple and mango, caramel sweetness, coconut, and a hint of lime.

Bottled at 55.7% ABV, non-chill filtered, and with natural colour to keep things as nature intended.

Nose: Aromas of tropical fruits of pineapple and mango with fresh vanilla and ginger spice

Taste: Caramel sweetness is met with fresh green apple, peach, pear and coconut

Finish: Long finish with icing sugar sweetness with freshly squeezed lime juice

My thoughts:

Appearance: Pale gold in the glass, swirls leave thin lines which take an age to bead up and eventually fall as slow thin oily legs.

        

Nose: Tropical fruit: pineapple, kiwi, banana, mango, apricot, peach - they're all here - this one is living up to it's name! There's a hint of honey, some dry icing sugar and a little vanilla.

Palate: Lovely sweet arrival, golden syrup and icing sugar. all of the tropical fruit from the nose are here with a lovely ginger spice bite as the liquid disappears. after a few sips the effervescent fizz characteristic of the Chardonnay Wine Yeast fermentation reveals itself - like a refresher sweet fizzing on the tongue. I didn't get this when I tried a pre-production sample at Glasgow Whisky Festival, maybe too small a measure? A load of complexity here: some marzipan, coconut, lemon zest , salinity and a hint of dunnage funk.

 

Finish: Lingering ginger spice, tropical fruit and a little salted lemon.

Summary: Following the previous sequence I would have thought that this one would have been an Extra Long Fermentation, an example of which I tried at Glasgow and it was fantastic, but no Michael and the team have decided to mix things up and go back to the old favourite CWY. I've tried quite a few of these in the past and always found that older spirit tends to loose the effervescent fizz but this one hasn't - it takes a few sips to get through but it's yummy!

 

Loch Lomond Distillery Editions:

Edn	Released	Year	Age	Name	Information	ABV	Price
7	Nov '24	2012	12	Tropical Refill	Glen Douglas spirit, Chardonnay Wine Yeast fermentation - 3 cask vatting	55.7%	£70
6	Sep '24	2016	8	Single Distillery Unpeated Blend	80% Rhosdu & 20% Glen Douglas spirit - vatting	56.9%	£50
5	Apr '24	2015	8	Orchard & Vineyard	Inchmurrin spirit, Chardonnay Wine Yeast fermentation - 3 cask vatting	59.1%	£57
4	Nov '23	2016	7	Supercharged Floral & Tropical Fruits	Rhosdu spirit - 3 cask vatting married for a month in wood	58.9%	£45
3	Jul '23	2012	10	Extra Long fermentation	Glen Douglas spirit - 3 cask vatting	57.2%	£70
2	Apr '23	2017	5	Single Distillery Peated Blend	80% Rhosdu & 20% Croftengea spirit, vatting	57.7%	£40
1	Nov '22	2010	9	Chardonnay Yeast	Glen Douglas spirit, Chardonnay Wine Yeast fermentation - Single Cask #119	57.1%	£65