Loch Lomond 14 Year Old

Nose: Toasted coconut mushrooms (you remember them from when you were a kid surely?) stewed orchard fruit and a hint of peppery spice. A little air offers some citrus peel notes along with that hint of toast or smoke.

Palate: Very smooth sweet creamy arrival, loads of typical Inchmurrin (I've got to stop using that word) notes: toffee apples, peaches, sweetened stewed pears, digestive biscuits and oaky vanilla. As the liquid disappears the spices really come into their own - cinnamon and nutmeg biting at the tongue leaving a citrus fizz. Nice! A little time and air offer liquorice and bitter dark chocolate notes.

Finish: Lingering spiced apples, a hint of smoke and some tropical fruit.

Thoughts: Coming from unpeated barley distilled in straight necked pot stills with a high collection strength this would have been called an Inchmurrin in a past life - the Fruity and Sweet in the new range. But with the spicy kick from the French Limousin Oak finish this whisky is similar to an SMWS release: the 2004 15yo 112.53 "Sophisticated seductive Sazerac cocktail" which also balances fruit notes with spice and bitter citrus.
For all this is distilled from unpeated barley there is a definite smoke note - probably from the toasted casks it's been maturing in. A lovely dram, slightly older than the core range and definitely worth hunting out.

27th October 2021

The first nosing is overpowering with citrus. Lemon and orange zest with a little woodiness is all I am getting, it's very one dimensional. First sip there's a sour apple, a lot of spice develops, black pepper and ginger with a little chilli catch. On the finish it is quite bitter and woody, there's a real licorice twang to the finish as well. The finish lingers, but is still extremely bitter and somewhat unpleasant.
Sorry Loch Lomond, not for me this one.

12th February 2021