Side by side: a trio from Lochlea

Lochlea have been going from strength to strength with their latest release, here I try 2 and an Indie bottling from The Heart Cut

It was planned as an online tasting but I got stuck on the motorway - so here's my thoughts!

Lochlea is an independent family owned farm (Robert Burns called Lochlea his home throughout his formative years, from 1777 until his father’s death in 1784) based in the heart of Ayrshire. It had always been a dairy farm, up until 2006, when Neil and Jen moved here. They farmed pedigree beef cattle until 2014, when they decided that for a farm of this size to be viable, they needed to do something very different.

Barley had historically been grown on the farm, mainly as livestock feed, and so in 2015 they embarked on an experiment: growing 50 acres of malting barley. Construction began in 2017, converting the former piggery, byre, and midden in the heart of the farm steading into the distillery, and repurposing the cattle sheds into bonded warehouses, with the distillery being commissioned in August 2018. 

The Heart Cut is an independent bottler, started by wife and husband duo  Georgie and Fabrizio, collaborating with whisky distilleries from across the world to release one-off single cask and small batch bottlings. 

They organised the tasting offering samples of two Lochlea bottlings alongside one of their own.

Let's see what they are like:

Dram	Our Barley	Cask Strength Batch 3	2019 6yo The Heart Cut #17
Characteristics	FF Bourbon, Oloroso Sherry Butts & STR Barrels 46% ABV	Oloroso Sherry, ex Islay Peated Cask 59.8% ABV	ex-Islay Barrel 54% ABV
Distillery / bottler notes	Our award winning core single malt expression, Our Barley sits alongside our seasonal limited-edition whiskies. It is made from and inspired by our barley, grown on Lochlea Farm. Nose: Pear syrup, fruit bon bons, warm cut grass, marmalade. Palate: Golden syrup, pepper, rye bread, macadamia nuts, cream soda. Finish: Long finish with a lasting orange beeswax note.	Batch 3 of our annual Cask Strength release offers yet another bold and distinctive take on Lochlea. Our Master Blender has carefully selected a combination of Oloroso Sherry Butts and Ex-Islay Peated Casks, creating a whisky that balances richness and depth with a surprising twist of smoke. The nose opens with juicy, ripe red fruits, and savoury BBQ smoke. On the palate, cherries, ripe berries, and dark molasses are lifted by warming ginger cake, toasted rye, and charred wood smoke. The finish is long and complex, with baking spice, salty smoke, and oaky tannins intertwining with delicate floral notes of red roses.	Matured in an ex-Islay cask, this is a lusciously sweet, delicate smoky dram. A summer night’s bonfire, wrapped in shortbread sweetness. On the nose, you’ll find freshly cut grass, barbecued pineapple and delicate coastal smoke - all underpinned by buttery apples and soft green pepper. The palate glows with barbecued citrus, runny honey and creamy hazelnuts, before the smoke thickens into birchwood and burnt embers. The finish is long, bright and creamy, with sherbet candy (flying saucers!), bitter orange peel and a wisp of sea salt.
My thoughts:
Appearance
	Light gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, bead up slowly and fall as slow thin legs.	Bronze in the glass, swirls cling as a hairline crack in the glass, take an age to form large beads which fall as slow thick legs.	Pale gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, bead up slowly and fall as slow thin legs.
Nose	Orchard fruit and honey to start: apples, pears and a little peach. There's some digestive biscuit notes and a little fresh cut grass. Some lemon notes and a hint of dried fruit and red berries round things off.	Thick dunnage funk, sherry soaked dried fruit, dates, figs and prunes with a lovely gentle smoke hint. There's red berries, lemon sherbet and a hint of liquorice. The longer it's in the glass the more pronounced the smoke becomes.	I immediately thought Caol Ila! Seaside smoke, seaweed, lemons and a little orchard fruit. There's a lovely sweet barley note and some pineapple cubes.
Palate	Thick sweet arrival, mouthcoating honey, orchard fruit and marzipan. There's vanilla, caramel, hints of berries and a lovely peppery lemon zest note as the liquid disappears. A little drying begging to try some more - the orchard fruit and peppery spice building with each sip.	Thick syrupy arrival. All the sherry notes from the nose are here alongside Grasmere Gingerbread, liquorice, brown sugar, black treacle and marzipan. A few more sips offer soft fruit: apricots, plums and peaches. The smoke is gentle but noticeable - not overly done.	Another thick mouthcoating arrival, the orchard fruit from the nose has turned all tropical: pineapple, mango, kiwi. There's a huge salted lemon note and a gentle smoke note. Sherbet Dip Dabs fizz on the tongue, there's that Lochlea marzipan note, some peppery spice and the gentle smoke.
Finish	Lingering peppery spice, orchard fruit and lemon.	Lingering sherry, dried fruit and smoke with a hint of ginger spice.	Lingering peppery spice, lemon zest and gentle smoke.
Overall	I'd not tried any of these before, all my Lochlea bottles have been the Seasonal Releases and a lovely sample of the Cask Strength Batch 2 from Alex at last year's Glasgow Whisky festival. I really liked the Our Barley, dangerously drinkable at 46% ABV - a perfect summer dram. CS Batch 3 is the first created by new Master Blender Jill Boyd who took over from John Campbell at the end of 2024, it's thick, chewy and a little smoky, not a summer dram but would great mid-winter. The Heart Cut #17 reminded me so much of a Caol Ila, maybe that's where the cask was from? Lochlea's trademark (for me) marzipan and lemon zest shone through though, the peat smoke was gentle and not overpowering.

A huge thanks to the team at The Heart Cut and sorry again for missing the online session.

Geeky Bit

Lochlea Cask Strength Batches:

Batch	Released	Maturation	ABV
03	'25	Oloroso Sherry, ex Islay Peated Cask	59.8%
02	'24	PX, Oloroso, STR Wine	60%
01	May '23	1st Fill Bourbon / Oloroso Sherry	60.1%