Loch Lomond Original & Inchmurrin TBWC Batch 1 Reviews

Hi everyone,

Today I've got some Loch Lomond reviews, which is perhaps the ugly duckling of the scotch whisky industry. It's a complicated, perhaps misunderstood distillery that doesn't play by the rules but doesn't have the bad boy persona of Compass Box.

Loch Lomond has a few different types of stills. They have 6 Lomond stills with rectifying necks (Imagine a pot still with plates in), 2 continuous Coffey stills making 20 million litres a year, another Coffey still only using malted barely in it (which the SWA say is still grain whisky) and a pair of traditional pots stills.

Along with several different peating levels and yeast types, Loch Lomond is maybe the most adaptable distillery with a huge range of brands.

Is it any good? Well, it didn't have the best reputation in the world but people have been talking about some new heavily peated stuff, which is meant to be good. So it may be a distillery to keep an eye on.

Anyway, here's the two I've tried...

Loch Lomond Original 40%

Colour: E150a

Body: Medium

Nose: Vanilla, cream soda, butter, malty, little burnt note- Burnt toffee, burnt malt, caramel.

Taste: Creamy/watery arrival, vanilla, toffee, caramel, burnt bitterness building with sour wood.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Burnt malt bitterness, a little watery.

New bottling 2015. Lightly peated apparently. Not really a nice one IMO, a bit weird and burnt.

62/100

Inchmurrin TBWC Batch 1 54.7%

Colour: Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Big ol' Sherry bomb. Lots of honey and orange, Christmas cake and spice, orange liqueur, brown sugar.

Taste: Full on sherry monster. Surprisingly easy at full strength, thick cream with loads of sherried sweetness, tonnes of orange and rich spice, orange chocolate and liqueur.

Finish: Long length. More orange with spices and oak lingering nicely.

My first TBWC. Not just a Boutique marketing whisky! According to internet, Inchmurrin is only made with whisky from the Lomond stills. This was lovely, like drinking some kind of orange dessert, but did fall apart with any water.

76/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #446-#447

Whisky Network Reviews #508-#509

Network Average: 74.2

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 22

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Tormore 16 Review

Hi everyone,

Tormore is one of the most beautiful distilleries you'll ever drive past, but you'll only ever drive past it because they don't do tours or have a shop.

It's been one of those distilleries that been all too happy to fly under the radar and even when official bottlings started creeping out, they weren't very available.

Tormore uses Non-water cooled Purifiers on both their wash and spirit stills to give the spirit a lighter touch to the style. As far as I know, it's the only distillery to use that type of purifier on both stills and Glen Grant are the only other distillery to use purifiers on both wash and spirit stills. So it should be quite unique character-wise.

Of course, I had to hunt down a sample to find out what the stuff tasted like.

Tormore 16 48%

Colour: Dark Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Full of pastry and fresh fruit. Cinnamon, apple pie, aromatic juicy pear, spiced orange, honey, some herbs, pine needles, aniseed, a bit of dry oak.

Water: More deep and mellow with honey, sweet floral and blood orange. More vanilla and pastry after a bit.

Taste: Sweet, honey, juicy orange, spiced orange, cinnamon building with ginger and oak. Lots of coffee beans into the finish.

Water: Much more gentle but a little watery, a green sappy note then lots of dark chocolate and oak. Very oaky into the finish. Becomes unbalanced.

Finish: Medium length. Spiced, coffee beans and prickling oak.

Looking at it, I would have said Sherry from the colour but apparently this is exclusively from Bourbon barrels, must be 1st fill unless there is colour added. Doesn't quite have the balance I would expect from 16 years, or the mouthfeel I'd want from 48% though.

73/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #445

Whisky Network Review #507

Network Average: 74.2

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 22

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Fettercairn Fior Review

Hi everyone,

Today I’ve got a distillery I haven’t reviewed before; Fettercairn. Now I hadn’t heard good things about Fettercairn, so wasn’t expecting huge things from this NAS bottling.

It’s owned by Whyte & Mackay, who also own Jura and Dalmore. This is perhaps the runt of that litter, not having a huge marketing effort like the others.

From 1995-2009 they also used steel condensers, and the style seems to lean towards a heavier character to the whisky. Although there isn’t a huge amount of info available, it seems that the spirit stills are also externally cooled by running cool water down the sides of the copper (You can see it here)… Interesting stuff and something I left out of my condenser article.

Anyway, let’s see how this one tastes.

Fettercairn Fior 42%

Colour: E150a

Body: Medium

Nose: Sweet and malty. Roasted nut, hazelnut, cashew nut, Sherry, raisin, pastry, vanilla, some spice and oak. Roasted coffee beans and dark chocolate coming out.

Taste: Sweet and gentle arrival, becoming very sweet with Sherry, raisin, pastry, vanilla, then much more bitter with burnt oak, green oak, building spice and tannins.

Finish: Medium length. Very bitter with dark chocolate and coffee.

Mature for NAS, despite that, it's a little disjointed and unbalanced on the taste.

68/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #444

Whisky Network Review #506

Network Average: 74.2

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 22

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Marks & Spencer 12yo Single Malts x3 Reviews

Hi everyone,

Today I’ve got 3 reviews that I did ages ago and totally forgot to put up.

I got a pack of 4 miniatures for Christmas, all Marks & Spencer’s (Supermarket in the UK) whiskies, with one blended whisky I’ve reviewed before and 3 single malts from different regions. All 12 years old, all 40% and all mystery malts. There is a clue given by M&S in that the Kenmore 5, the blended one, says that it comes from Burn Stewart, so the singles could be from their distilleries too.

Just to remind you, Burn Stewart own Bunnahabhain, Tobermory and Deanston distilleries. No Island whisky, so no Tobermory here.

M&S Speyside 12 40%

Colour: E150a

Body: Medium

Nose: Much more heather honey Highland-Glenrothes style than Speyside. A little light Sherry in the background with a little sour cherry, oak and leather but there's some alcohol hiding anything else.

Taste: Soft arrival, sour cherry then Sherry cask raisins and some leather, good balance and the oak and spices build. There's some nice black pepper.

Finish: Medium length. A burst of that black pepper then some more Sherry.

Call me crazy but this tastes like Macallan/Glenrothes blend. Reminds me of the 1998 Macallan Speymalt. Label implies it's from a distillery on the river Spey. Also, great value for money.

69/100

M&S Highland 12 40%

Colour: E150a

Body: Medium

Nose: Sour and floral Highlander. Green apple sour sweets with sugar, lots of pastry and bakery, slightly overcooked apple turnover, poached pear.

Taste: Soft then quite thin with some green apple and pastry coming through, some spice develops with sour oak. Ginger, peppery, some green sappy oak.

Finish: Medium length. Peppery oak and a little sour.

Deanston or Tullibardine IMO, more likely Deanston knowing Burn Stewart could be involved. Nicer nose than taste.

63/100

M&S Islay 12 40%

Colour: E150a

Body: Medium

Nose: Funky with sour being the theme again. Dirty coal rag, diesel, over ripe yellow apples and Physalis dessert berries, salty and coastal notes are there but quite vague and in the background.

Taste: Those over ripe yellow apples first, some funky and dirty notes with coal and some soot, then a burst of yellow citrus, again those Physalis dessert berries, before some spice and oak.

Finish: Medium length. Still those Physalis dessert berries and some oak.

Quite unique notes here, and would be a really good one at 46% I think. If this isn't Bunna I WILL eat my hat.

67/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #441-#443

Whisky Network Reviews #503-#505

Network Average: 74.2

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 22

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Ledaig 2004 Single Malts of Scotland Review

Hi everyone,

Another Ledaig today from the Ledaig fanboy who loves to love lady Ledaig.

Seriously though, it’s great stuff but there’s dud casks out there too. Is this one of them? Not quite but it was close to being a soapy mess I think. Luckily it has opened up a bit now and has improved.

Ledaig 2004 Single Malts of Scotland 58.1%

Colour: Straw

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Very clean, alcohol at first. Candy floss, hard candy, some vanilla, maritime notes, clean salt and slightly soapy lemon. After a while, creamy peach, like peach yoghurt and apricot.

Water: More youthful with more candy floss and that soapy lemon. Hold on, it's getting better; interesting, some dirty smoke, singed marshmallow, yeah that’s it, burnt marshmallow from an open bonfire. After a bit, some rubber, elastic bands.

Taste: Intense, lemon and acidic, then acrid smoke and mineral with maritime notes to back it up and then coming forward, some green olive, some smoked green grapes. Oily mouthfeel. Now the bottle has opened up a bit, I’m getting more of that peach yoghurt thing again.

Water: Softer arrival, oily, maritime, salty and acidic with nice lemon juice, dirty smoke, earthy. Some marshmallow.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Lemon and sea salt.

Bottled 2016 at 12 years old. Shame that the finish is so short. I do like this one but I foolishly assumed it would be a very similar whisky to the Whisky Exchange Time series Ledaig and it isn’t.

76/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #440

Whisky Network Review #502

Network Average: 74.2

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 22

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Ardbeg Uigeadail Re-review

Hi everyone,

Another re-review coming at you from the Ardbeg stable this time. The Oog is classic and almost unbeatable in terms of value, if you like peat.

Ardbeg have been making a lot of noise recently with the brand new Oa, a ridiculously priced 21 and various Ardbeg Day editions but when I find myself trying other things from Ardbeg, I always catch myself thinking how they compare to the core stuff like the Oog. And always find them lacking, like Dark Cove.

So, at the risk of repeating myself. This is a vatting of 90%ish ex-Bourbon matured Ardbeg and 10%ish older ex-Sherry cask stuff, without an age statement. It's heavily peated, its higher strength and its very, very good.

The two other batches I've tried I've given 84 (Bottle I bought at the distillery) and 86 (taster at a tasting, see below).

Ardbeg Uigeadail 54.2%

Colour: Gold

Body: Full

Nose: Missed that smell. Classic Ardbeg of course, with the big peat smoke underlined by the elegant lifting lime juice. There's a little unami meatiness, like an outdoors grill, wood smoke, but this batch seems more mineral than others I've had before- crushed rocks, chalky, hot slate, sea salt, cracked black pepper. Dark chocolate, leather and tobacco now, wah! So good!

Taste: Soft arrival but builds quickly with lime then big BIG smoke and huge minerality, slate and chalk, that salt and lime, tequila and uni nights out, cigerette smoke, the whole combo is very sexy, tobacco, outdoors wood smoke, camping, after 10 secs in the mouth it softens with more soft minerality and smoke. Really complex and balanced.

Finish: Long length. Mouth watering now with a oily smoke and lime citrus fighting to be the last thing left over. Some chilli too! Amazing.

10/2016 Batch. Some of the best whisky you can buy with your money, despite rising prices. Quality and consistency is bang on! Well done Ardbeg.

Unfortunately it means that you'll be disappointed with other 'special' Ardbeg's, but that's a sacrifice you gotta make.

85/100

As a bonus, here's my notes for the 2015 batch I've had:

Feb/Mar 2015 batch

Nose: More malt driven nose with lots of oil, kiln and peat. Cough sweet and orange, still some meaty sulphur-y-ness. Water brings out more sulphur, vanilla fudge and toffee, more sherry, brown sugar, tobacco, coffee.

Taste: Peatier taste with a huge driven seemless building citrus smoke, tonnes of orange, tonnes of lime, cough sweets, citrus tang with a medicinal edge, building ginger spice. Bigger than the 2014. Water calms the arrival, but still a huge long development with lemon, cough sweets and lime smoke. Orange soot, which is my favourite Ardbeggian note. Long finish.

86/100

Thanks for reading!

Network Average: 74.2

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 22

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Talisker Distiller's Edition 2015 Review

Hi everyone,

Today I've got a re-review of an old favourite of mine; the distiller's edition of Talisker.

I managed to pick up a discounted, battered bottle in Tesco (for £26!) a couple of years back, bottled 2011, and it was amazing. A mate recently got the same half price deal on a newer batch and gave me a sample, let's see how it stacks up.

Talisker Distiller's Edition 2015 45.8%

Colour: E150a

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Ah, haven't had a Talisker in ages! Perfumed smoke, black pepper and red apple. Classic combo as always. Less complex than I remember the 2011, and instead of Turkish delight it's a little soapy, some rubber too.

Taste: Soft arrival, then sweet red apple, slight citrus tang, oily then smoky with a great acidity, some lemon, black pepper, more perfumed now with a floral thing going on- geranium.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Here's the Turkish delight I was missing, along with lovely Talisker salty smoke. A little rubbery though.

Distilled 2005. Oh what a difference a few years makes. Lovely, but so many off notes that let it down.

76/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #439

Whisky Network Review #501

Network Average: 74.2

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 22

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?