Back when I quit my job and went freelance fulltime, one of my first press trips was for the launch of the Loch Lomond 50 Years. (Many fond memories.) Now there’s a successor, and I dare say it might be even better.
A new Loch Lomond 50 Years was launched just a few months ago. Earlier this week master blender Michael Henry introduced it during virtual tasting. Our paths have crossed a few times over the years, and I’m always fascinated listening to his thoughtful explanations. His knowledge is beyond impressive, and he seems to make the absolute most of Loch Lomond’s versatility.
The 2024 edition of the Loch Lomond 50 Years was distilled in the distillery’s trademark straight-neck pot stills. These stills have a pot still base and a straight neck. The perforated copper plates in the neck and a cooling ring increase reflux, allowing for much lighter flavours to be captured.
Loch Lomond produces several new make styles with these unique stills, but the Loch Lomond 50 Years is made from unpeated malted barley collected a high strength. The middle cut would’ve been taken between 90% and 80% abv. That’s the same type of new make as current Inchmurrin.
During the tasting, Michael talked about some of the challenges of older whisky. “The hard thing about working with spirit at this age is the pressure of not doing too much with the liquid. It’s that balance between doing enough to get the spirit as best as it can be without doing too much. The goal is finding that balance to get the perfect flavour.”
The Loch Lomond 50 Years was distilled in the 29th of May 1973. It was then filled into refill American oak hogsheads and left alone until 2011. “I first started tasting this batch around 2010. I’ve been tracking it for the last 13 or 14 years. The flavour at that time was very much spirit led, very low wood influence and I felt that we needed to really develop the layers of flavour with it.”
And so Michael did. He described the whisky at the time as having an “excellent spirit character with really concentrated tropical fruit.” He wanted to enhance that by adding some fresh honey and vanilla notes, so the cask was re-racked in a first-fill bourbon cask for six years. Then it was re-racked again, but this time into a first-fill ex-Oloroso hogshead. The goals was to infuse a “slight touch more sweetness and some baking spices and citrus peel.”
“Although this has been re-casked since 2011, what I want front and centre is that spirit character. That fruit, that vibrancy, that freshness. And it’s been re-casked under very tight control. We monitor the wood impact very closely, making sure the spirit character stays as the dominant flavour of the spirit. The wood is just very much there in the background. It’s done with a very light, soft touch.”
An interesting fact that you won’t find in the press release: the ex-Oloroso sherry cask was originally an ex-solera sherry butt. “It was cut down and made into hogsheads. When casks are sold on by bodegas, that tends to be because they’re old and damaged in some way. The cask would have been sold as staves. The damaged ends would have been cut off and the staves shortened to make a hogshead out of.”
And that brings us to the actual whisky. There are 100 bottles available at a stupid price (which I won’t repeat here). Let’s say it’s not necessarily made for drinking. But it’s so good though. I hope a fair few end up being opened anyway.
Loch Lomond 50 Years (42.6%, OB, 2024)
Nose: Wonderful notes of Acacia honey. Really, it’s like sticking your nose into a beehive. (Probably not a good idea.) Also jammy apricots, plums, tinned peaches and grilled pineapple. Then a tinge of furniture polish, followed by Demerara sugar and a whisper of aniseed. There’s a slight tartness too, which works really well.
Taste: Mouthfeel is spot on. Hints of stroopsoldaatjes (a Dutch molasses-based candy), zesty orange and just a tinge of cough syrup. It sometimes seems to veer into old Cognac territory. Soft notes of herbal liqueur, grapefruit and stewed rhubarb. Also a whiff of warming baking spices.
Finish: Medium length. Old oak, herbal tinctures and cherries. Lingering on citrus notes.
Sample provided by Loch Lomond
