After Benromach and Ben Nevis, the third stop in this exploration of funky whisky brings me to the shores of Scotland’s largest lake to review the Loch Lomond 12 year old. Considering I tend to have a spot for outliers, and how different Loch Lomond is from the stereotype distillery, this one should be right up my street.
TL:DR: A funky and fun and, better still, affordable, everyday dram
Vote*: 6.5 Good stuff, and if you consider the price, it deserves an extra half point.
Loch Lomond’s Wonka-esqe production
In the grand scheme of whisky, Loch Lomond is quite a new distillery. Founded in 1965/66, it is part of a group of distilleries founded in the 60s which managed to survive (mothballing period excluded) the dreaded whisky loch of the 1980s. What makes Loch Lomond intriguing to me is not its history, it is what happens inside the distillery.
Let’s talk about the distillery first. Forget the picturesque images of pagoda roofs you may have from the typical whisky marketing shtick. The site is a pretty ugly industrial facility. And yet, it is arguably one of the most unique whisky production facilities in Scotland. First of all, it produces grain and malt whisky under one roof. Not unique in itself, but uncommon. And then there are the 11 stills.
Three of the stills are used for their grain whisky (occasionally made from malted barley too). Two of these are classical column stills, one is a Coffey still. There are another 8 still for the production of single malts. Of these one pair is a classical swan-necked still, and the other three are straight neck pot stills. Malt Review has a great article explaining Loch Lomond’s production techniques here. This mix allows the distillery to produce a varied range of spirits. In addition to this Master Blender Micheal Henry and his team have been experimenting with different yeats, fermentation times and cask finishes.
If there ever were a Willy Wonka producer in the world of Scottish single malt, that would have to be Loch Lomond. And that is reflected in the brands used for the spirit made here. If you see the names Loch Lomond, Inchmurrin, Croftengea, Inchmoan, Inchfad, Old Rhosdhu, Craiglodge or Glen Douglas on a bottle, you are buying spirit made at Loch Lomond distillery. To make things more complicated, as Charles Maclean notes in Whiskypedia, the brands do not follow a specific style, which can create confusion
Time to move on and review the Loch Lomond 12 year old “Perfectly Balanced” and find out what style this one falls under.
Loch Lomond 12 year old “Perfectly Balanced”
Specs
Price paid: €36.90
Bottled date: 5/1/2023
ABV: 46%
Natural colour: No
Non-chill filtered: Yes
Casks Used: first fill Bourbon, refill Bourbon and re-charred casks
Tasting Notes
Colour: Amber, but there is probably a touch of caramel, How much? Considering all the whisky geek friendly practices Loch Lomond employs in its production, why not drop the caramel colouring?
Nose: Very intense, immediately sweet and funky. The first note I smell is artificial vanilla sugar, which I am not crazy about and seems to be something I pick in whiskies aged in re-charred barrels. Then a big dollop of butterscotch and a dirty oily workshop rag. Then there is a wave of rich ester-heavy fresh fruit: pear, peach, melon, pineapple and more. Some ginger and aniseed spice. As it opens more in the glass I get a little woody peat smoke, malt, some furniture polish, and quite a lot of oaky notes.
Taste: No shrinking violet here. The taste is bold, if a bit hot. The flavour is very oaky and malty, with extra dark caramel, and a bit dirty. The woody peat plays a bigger role than on the nose. Overall the taste is enjoyable if a bit on the simpler side. I am also not crazy about the woodiness from the casks, which is a bit too exuberant for my taste.
Finish: The finish goes back to a more sweet butterscotch dominant note. There is peat, some spiciness from ginger and aniseed and again that fake vanilla note. The aftertaste is more malty and woody.
Vote: 6.5 The Loch Lomond 12 will not win any complexity award but it is a fun take on funky whisky which is very enjoyable, affordable and has its own personality. Enough to stand out in the sub 40€ whisky space.
* Votes are based on the scoring scale used by Dramface, slightly modified to allow half-points
Would I buy it again?
In a world of rising prices, this is a great affordable everyday sipper, so I should enthusiastically say yes. I am sure going to grab another bottle of Loch Lomond soon. And yet… It’s just that it might not be the 12. With the Steam and Fire, Open, Inchmurrin and Inchmoan available out there, I might take a punt on a different bottle first. …By the way, if anyone from Loch Lomond reads this (you never know): will we ever get some of those special distiller editions outside of the UK?
Would I offer this to a new whisky drinker?
Absolute beginners might shy away from funk. That is not the same for occasional drinkers, in my experience. They tend to be intrigued. So the Loch Lomond 12 is a strong contender as a dram to introduce new-ish drinkers to the world of funk. Would it be my first choice? I’ll let you know at the end of this series of reviews.
Closing thoughts
After reviewing the Loch Lomond 12 I am left thinking that even as we whisky fans complain about increasing prices and silly releases, there is plenty of enjoyment out there. Enough to convince me that moving forward one of the distilleries I will keep an eye open for is definitely Loch Lomond. The 12 “Perfectly Balanced” may not be the most complex entry-level whisky I have had nor my favourite. But it is fun. It delivers a lot of flavour and it does so in a consumer-friendly way. If other brand want to look at how to engage consumers without creating a pretended premiumisation, they could do worse than looking at what happens on the banks of bonnie Loch Lomond.
In the next review, I’ll look at a crowd favourite that inexplicably hasn’t cracked the OSWA affordable whisky shortlist yet. Stay tuned!
After writing my tasting notes, I always find it interesting to look at other opinions. Here are a few reviews of the Loch Lomond 12 I enjoyed:
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