The whisky year that was, part 2: my distillery of the year

Ok, now that the OSWA’s are done and dusted for another year, and seeing how it is that time of year to start making ‘top 5’ or ‘top 10’ lists, I feel I can throw in my 2 cents on a few things. For the most part I can’t but agree with the outcome of most of the OSWA voting or with the list of nominees in the ‘best distillery’ category, and while a few others would have deserved a nomination in my book (Bunnahabhain or Lochranza, possibly even Tomatin, and, and, and…) overall I feel those nominated represent in no small way what we, as a community, love to see from distilleries. And let’s be honest about Springbank winning the best distillery category for the 3d year running: everything Springbank does, is done right, and what they do, they do with a very specific purpose, philosophy and business model. As Ingvar Ronde rightly pointed out during a recent vPub: they (i.e. Springbank) may become more and more unobtainable, but that’s through no fault of their own - essentially they are the anti-Macallan. Hear, hear!

Seeing how Springbank is indeed in a league of its own, what if we were to solely focus on other, worthy ‘contestors’ (very poor choice of words, as if whisky is a competition)? Ardnamurchan are very likely the heir apparent to the Springbank throne, and – prediction incoming – with Springbank sitting one out in 2024 after 3 consecutive wins, I can see Ardnamurchan coming out on top for next year’s OSWA’s already, as they embrace much of the Springbank approach to making whisky, while adding in their own unique take and quality benchmarks as well.

And yet, although they definitely merit every praise coming to them, Ardnamurchan isn't my pick as ‘distillery of the year’. (Again, this comes across as if it’s some sort of competition, and it very much isn’t. I know it may seem as if I’m contradicting myself here, but I did explain already in the aftermath of the first OSWA’s why I think they are relevant. If you got another 5 – 10 minutes to kill, you can find that here.)

Building a distillery from scratch and doing it with the right approach, mentality and philosophy – making a whisky for enthusiasts by enthusiasts - is absolutely commendable, and the fact that we can’t seem to stop shouting about Ardnamurchan basically tells you all you need to know. But what if you are a well-established distillery, and not a small one at that, that’s been regarded as big, ugly and industrial, and furthermore has been producing middle of the road, not to say mediocre, quality, for decades and decades. And what if, because of a change in ownership, the people not owning the place but working and managing it, find in these new owners a listening and understanding ear that there is another way to run the place. A way where you, thanks to the unique way the place is set-up and equipped, you could easily keep doing what you’ve always been doing by catering to the needs of others, while also being able to polish your proverbial plate and start using the distillery to its full potential and capacity. What if, in doing so, you could literally turn that ginormous enterprise 180° into a whole other direction, and things like flavour, experimenting and exploring just what whisky can be and what it has to offer, are suddenly at the heart and centre of what you’re about? You are basically making an ocean liner alter course here, and as you know, that’s not something you do with one abrupt spin of the helm, but rather it’s a gradual process. So it starts with rethinking your core range – upping the ABV from 40 to 46% as a start, followed by putting a stop to adding unnatural colour and completing things by also dropping the process of chill filtration. You also start to use your distillery equipment to its full potential, by combining your different stills in a way where you are creating something very few others can. While you’re at it, you’ll add in a renewed openness and willingness to see what else can be achieved in that big chase of flavours – so you step away further from your usual routines by experimenting with peat, different yeast strains, fermentation and distillation processes and so on, and so on… And, as said, you don’t push through on all of these things overnight, but rather alter things gradually and perhaps on a smaller scale at first, so as your core business, the bread and butter of what you’ve been doing since forever, may continue as well.

In case it wasn’t abundantly clear, I am talking about Loch Lomond. Part of the ‘Loch Lomond Group’, it’s now a sister distillery of Glen Scotia, and it’s fair to say that the tale of both distilleries reads a bit like a Cinderella story. Under the guidance and leadership of master blender Michael Henry the team has done (and keep on doing) an absolutely amazing job turning Loch Lomond around from what was, frankly, a bit of an ugly duckling into nothing short of a trailblazer of whisky. Making full use of their different stills (traditional pot stills, straight neck stills – essentially a combination of a column still mounted on top of a pot still- and their column stills) has led to some absolutely fascinating and wonderful whiskies in recent times. Michael Henry was, to my knowledge, also one of the first to point out that, while many were focussing and obsessing over the wood and the casks, amazing results when it comes to flavour can be achieved prior to the maturation process – by combining the different stills (granted a perk very few other distilleries have), by prolonging fermentation, by using different yeast…

And probably one of the best things about it all is that he is very approachable and willing to share these insights and information with just about anyone who’s willing to listen, disclosing as much facts and figures as he (legally) can. When he appeared on the vPub for the first time back in 2020 during full lockdown, it was an eye opener to me, and while I was already quite content with what Loch Lomond were doing, particularly with their Inchmurrin 12 year old (which *might make a future appearance here soon), that night I switched from simply enjoying their whisky to taking a keen interest in what was going on over there. In the hands of a skilled group of people, that place is a bit like the Willy Wonka factory of whisky: a distillery where imagination and creativity can be put to good use in order to explore every angle and every corner of what whisky may have to offer us.

I feel as if Loch Lomond have developed into a distillery that should be on everyone’s radar. Everyone who calls themselves a genuine enthusiast, at least. They have altered things ‘from the inside’ - which is always hard to do - and have done it in a clever and deliberate way, with vision and determination, while abstaining from taking a cynical approach when it comes to pricing. And the fact that they made the nomination list on this year’s OSWA’s is an acknowledgement from the community that we love what they are doing. And for all of these things, they are my ‘distillery of the year’.

My one grief is that apart from their core range, most of those more experimental or limited releases can be a bit harder to find in my area, but thanks to the mule network, I was able to secure the 2nd in their series of ‘Distillery Editions, released earlier this year.

Loch Lomond Distillery Edition Two. 5 yo single distillery peated blend, 57.7% ABV, ex -bourbon barrel, natural colour, UCF, 300 bottles, RRP £40

Officially a 5 year old ‘single peated blend’ – although only 40% of the spirit was 5 years old and the bulk of the product was in fact 8 years old and over – it was created from 100% malted (and peated) barley using their straight neck stills and their column stills, hence the word ‘blend’ on the label. For full disclosure (and how’s that for transparency) this release was comprised of:

20% single malt straight neck still, wide spirit cut 50ppm phenol malted barley distilled March 2015 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel

20% single grain Coffey still distilled from 50ppm phenol malted barley distilled May 2009 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel

20% single grain Coffey still distilled from 50ppm phenol malted barley distilled April 2013 2nd fill ex-bourbon barrel

40% single grain Coffey distilled from 50ppm phenol malted barley distilled March 2017 2nd fill ex-bourbon barrel

With an outcome of just 300 bottles, you’ll need to be lucky to find it today, but seeing how the RRP was a very reasonable £40, I am extremely pleased to have this one in my cabinet, because it’s indeed a beauty! And while it may be difficult to get your hands on one, the interesting bit about these ‘distillery editions’, is that every release comes with another take on what their whisky can be. The first one (back from 2020 already) was made using wine yeast, the latest (edition 3 from just a few months ago), was a 10 yo made on the back of a 3 week-long fermentation no less. So fair to say these releases are something to be on the lookout for, as they deliberately seek to give you a different take on what whisky (and not just their whisky, I’d like to add) can offer.

This is turning into yet another rather long read, so I’ll just cut to the chase.

Nose

Lovely mixture of sweet, somewhat earthy peat and citrus notes, with a grassy – floral touch in there as well. Digging a bit deeper and I find classic vanilla an honey notes from a fresh bourbon barrel, which are softening out that barnlike, slightly dirty undertone. A drop of water cranks up those vanilla and flora/greenhouse notes. This is nuanced, yet morish, subtle, but inviting with depth and complexity.

Palate

The peat is (far) more upfront and obvious now. A slight prickly – peppery yet also warming note coming from the higher ABV. A medium-full, dry mouthfeel strikes mid-palate before revealing again those subtle grassy – floral elements and that gentle combination of citrus, vanilla and honey. With added water the floral notes turn quite barnlike, accentuating the ‘dirty’ character hidden inside this whisky.

Finish

Medium long, floral and drying with subtle peat. After adding water the finish became noticeably longer even, bringing out the peat.

Final thoughts

Absolutely lovely stuff. This is a subtle and layered whisk, combining a lot of classic ‘as-was-to-be-expected’ notes of vanilla, citrus and honey, but combined with the peated barley and the fact that the distillate comes from a mixture of their straight neck stills and column stills, it all comes with a very pleasant twist to things. Overall, there’s an excellent balance and while it tastes youthful and dominated by the spirit rather that super active casks, the wood does an excellent job balancing things out and harmonizing it all. If anything, these sort of releases make us sit back and think about some of our preconceptions on what we think we know and understand about whisky.Taking (peated) barley and running it through multiple,less conventional stills like the straight neck stills and column stills: it’s an absolute homerun in my honest opinion. 88/100