ContemplativeFox
Loch Lomond 18 Year
Single Malt — Highlands , Scotland
Reviewed
June 28, 2020 (edited May 1, 2022)
Wow, this smells so much richer and better than Loch Lomond Original. The nose has a bit of that socks richness with a hint of smoke and some apples. It smells kind of interesting, but a tad unbalanced. There's a fair amount of grass on the nose and also some malt. The flavor has a lot more peat (and some smoke) than expected. There's also a tartness and some real waxiness like Clynelish. The discordant nature doesn't really suggest an 18 year old spirit, but it's still interesting and tasty. The mouthfeel is unfortunately a bit watery though and that watery presence pervades. It's hotter than it should be too. For a 12, it's quite good, but I expect more from an 18. The richness is good though and I do get some hints of complexity out of it in the malt and grass. The richness really works here even though the flavor isn't tremendously full. Distiller is right about this being a dusty scotch, though they are wrong about it being fruity. Well, they say that raisins are key Tonite fruitiness, but they also say it isn't very fruity and I guess I do agree with both. Actually, a little bit of orange peel comes out too - just a tad. The finish is nicer than I expected, with some waxy Clynelish flavor. I think this is about on par with Clynelish 14, but apparently I currently have Clynelish 14 rated at 19 and I don't think that that is correct - it's more like a 16 or so. This is pretty similar in quality. It's interesting and decently complex, but there's no great flavor and a couple are questionable. Definitely drinkable, but not amazing. The heat is also a bit much for this age, though the proof does validate it a bit. At the finish, there is some nice floral and vanilla character. It works out alright.
70.0
USD
per
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Clarification: REFILL bourbon tends to be particularly light and uncomplex. If it were first fill, I'd expect something much richer with more personality.
I haven't had Claxton before and I've only had one G&M so far, but they seem to have about equally solid reputations. Croftengea is probably peatier and it's interesting because there are currently no new casks of it being produced. My experience has been that Loch Lomond is not very strongly peated, if you’re hoping for that. You’re right that I definitely thought that the Loch Lomond 18 would be better at higher proof, so CS sounds very promising! I am skeptical, however, about single cask refill bourbon releases. I had one great, rich refill-bourbon-aged Auchentoshan from Signatory, but in my experience bourbon usually imparts a lighter, spicy, kind of flat flavor. Considering that I didn’t find either of the Loch Lomonds I’ve tried to be very complex, if the barrel isn't first or maybe second fill, I wouldn't expect much flavor after 13 years. My bet is that Loch Lomond 18 has a sherry finish, which is what gives it that bit of fruity complexity. I personally wouldn't want to remove that and would worry that pure bourbon aging instead might produce a bland result. That's my two cents, anyway, @Jan-Case
@Jan-Case I'm pretty jealous that you can just walk into a shop and have IBs to choose from :) All we get in this area is store brands, some Alexander Murray, A.D. Rattray, and one nice looking Cadenhead recently that was asking an arm and two legs. The CS bourbon + PX glenrothes you got sounds really good!
I was at my local whisky shop today with the goal of getting a independent bottle of sorts. I ended up with two IBs to chose from (Claxtons and Gordon & Macphail). The Claxtons shelf had a Loch Lomond 13y and a Croftengea 10y, Croftengea being the lightly peated Version of the Loch Lomond Distillery. Both of them cask strength and that supposedly makes the Croftengea still quite peaty. Both of them were single cask Bourbon refill Hogsheads. So yeah that basically means you simply don’t know what you get. From your review @ContemplativeFox I get the assumption that that whisky at cask strength actually could be something. Do you think cask strength and bourbon refill could be enough to make this a great whisky? I might be able to get a sample bottle of those or something close to that but I’m still undecided. (In the end I btw ended up buying a totally different bottle of a Claxtons Glenrothes 11y CS single cask Bourbon Hogshead & PX Sherry Octave matured. I had that one in a tasting in that store a year ago and always wanted to get it anyway. But I am still actively looking a peated cask strength single cask whisky.)