A mish-mash of stuff from Loch Lomond

Inchmurrin 10 yo 2010 (60.2%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, #112.78 ‘Waxing Lyrical’, 2nd fill bourbon barrel, 240 bottles)
Inchmurrin is properly famend as a form of deliberate ‘clone’ distillate of the defunct Littlemill. It is true that many bottling of it show this significantly inexperienced, Irish-accented fruity funk which is harking back to dearly departed Littlemill. Color: straw. Nostril: it could seem that somebody has by chance bottled a barrel of Clynelish. That is certainly waxy and showcasing numerous virtually synthetic ‘bubblegum’ fruitiness. Fruit salad juices blended with olive oil, lower grasses and parsley, pink grapefruit, carbon paper – funky however extraordinarily enjoyable and superb. Some steel polish and barely unique esters as soon as once more make you consider previous Irish pure pot nonetheless whiskeys. With water: more energizing and extra open on cereals, coal mud, sandalwood, dried flowers and cigarette rolling papers. Characterful distillate certainly! Mouth: superb arrival, slightly highly effective and sizzling but in addition displaying juicy candy pineapple jelly, mouth-coating oiliness, extra of those pretty waxy vibes and wee touches of milk bottle sweets, limoncello and tarragon. With water: good now. Thick in texture, filled with shoe polish, waxy and mineral oil impressions. White pepper warmth, buttered toast and molten white marshmallow. End: lengthy, tangy with fizzy fruit sweets, new leather-based, mineral oils and a bit of extra olive oil and bubblegum. Feedback: I believe these batches are actually terrific whisky. They’re enjoyable, charismatic, playful, by no means boring and actually very scrumptious. Places many different up to date distillates within the shade.
SGP: 651 – 88 factors.

Inchmurrin  22 yo 1998/2021 (52.8%, Girl Of The Glen, hogshead with Oloroso sherry end, 225 bottles)
I needed to know who the Girl Of The Glen really is, so I simply checked their web site and apparently she is ‘the inexperienced woman ghost, presupposed to roam round Stirling Citadel’ – presumably she’s been doing digital tastings for them throughout lockdown? Color: amber. Nostril: a pleasant and slightly lean and earthy sherry profile up entrance. One that includes clear rubber, hessian, Bovril and wee hints of liquorice and aniseed. These extra metallic and polished notes from the Inchmurrin come via slowly however absolutely. Some ideas of polished leather-based and the orange oils and bergamot. Beautiful nostril to this point. With water: will get extra savoury, on cured meats, brown bread and cloves. Mouth: hmmm a bit bitter and barely soapy on arrival. Very natural and bitter, on Unicum and Jägermeister, black pepper, soot, carbolic cleaning soap. Unsure about this one now I am afraid. Let’s strive with water… With water: solely marginal enhancements I am afraid, minimal cleaning soap now however nonetheless fairly powerfully bitter, vegetal, natural and peppery. Aggressively so I would say. Powerful and a tad mono-dimensional. Was it the sherry end that did that? End: medium and a tad acrid at instances. Powerful! Feedback: issues began properly on the nostril however general I believe it is a powerful and presumably barely flawed cask. Unsure if the end improved or worsened issues general. Anyway, there’s many different far superior bottling by LOTG on the market for positive.
SGP: 471 – 70 factors.

Previous Rhosdhu 29 yo 1990/2020 (48.2%, Duckhammers Uncommon & WhiskyNerds joint bottling, cask #416, refill hogshead, 346 bottles)
For this joint bottling there are two totally different labels. Guys, do not accuse me of favouritism, however the one with the Otter on is certainly my favorite 😉 Color: gold. Nostril: ha! Concentrated funky previous Irish whiskey blended with some aged Guyanese rum and poured over a dollop of molten Gruyere cheese. However then there’s the fruits that start to get the higher hand, tinned tropical fruit juices, some slightly opulent New Zealand sauvignon and a wee trace of marzipan. Humorous however glorious. Mouth: actually doubling down on this previous Irish Whiskey profile now. Copper cash, suet, dried mango, monstera fruit, hessian, cod liver oil – did I point out they do ‘whacky’ from time to time at Loch Lomond? Some breads and extra grassy olive oil notes come via now as properly. End: good size, a bit of tropical however now additionally inexperienced acidity, cereals, breads and extra grassy and oily notes. Maybe a bit of cardboard within the aftertaste, which is not as luminous. Feedback: glorious at instances and showcasing a reasonably left-field model general, one which’s solely actually to be discovered intermittently in Loch Lomond makes.
SGP: 551 – 86 factors.

Croftengea 13 yo 2007/2021 (49.5%, North Star, refill hogshead, 255 bottles)
Let’s have a look at what the Home Of Croucher has unearthed for us… Color: pale straw. Nostril: when you took some bubblegum and smooshed it round in an previous sooty hearth fireplace… you’d one thing that most likely is not very similar to this whisky, however this whisky does make you assume instantly of coal scuttles and bubblegum although. Following? I believed not. A really humorous and whacky nostril that additionally incorporates steel polish, smashed cactus and bathtub salts. Enjoyable stuff! Mouth: a couple of notches extra classical with a stunning clear sweep of chalky peat smoke. Wooden ashes, bathtub salts (once more!) and a mash up of grapefruit and seawater. It teeters on a slightly chemical profile however by no means fairly commits, so it is really slightly playful in that sense. Extra chalk, smouldering ashes, pine cones and impressions of newspaper ink and lanolin. End: fairly lengthy, peated grapefruits anybody? Smoked mineral oils? New leather-based? Brined olives? Feedback: I actually like this, however at instances I really feel as if I perhaps should not? But extra envelope nudging from the shores of bonnie Loch Lomond.
SGP: 465 – 85 factors.

Croftengea 14 yo ‘Batch 3’ (49.5%, That Boutique-y Whisky Firm, bottled 2020, 503 bottles)
Comes with a wizard on the label, or presumably a roadie for the Grateful Lifeless? Color: pale white wine. Nostril: not as just like the North Star as I would anticipated, that is far more farmy, and truly makes you assume extra of Ardmore. A number of moist chalk, smoky grist, sooty chimneys, hessian sackcloth and issues like wooden ashes, soda bread and iodine. I additionally get a couple of drops of lemon juice and sheep wool. Mouth: greater and far more classically peaty. Thick, peppery peat smoke, smoked olive oil, seawater, iodine and camphor. Nonetheless properly farmy as properly although which retains this Ardmore cosplay alive. End: medium and all on ashes, chalk, farmyard smokiness, smoked olive oil and anthracite. Feedback: a bit extra classical, however nonetheless a peaty weirdo – in one of the best sense. Identical high quality because the North Star I believe.
SGP: 476 – 85 factors.

Croftengea 15 yo 2006/2021 (52.6%, The Whisky Alternate, cask #341, hogshead, 280 bottles)
Color: gold. Nostril: a extra elegant take this time. A extra concentrated profile of peat smoke that includes brine and ointments, together with bacon rind and syrupy cough medicines. Some touches of seawater, pink grapefruit and sandalwood too. Spectacular complexity I believe. With water: pretty salinity rising now, together with a pleasant sappy high quality. Dried sage, inexperienced olive bread and extra of those camphor notes. Mouth: pretty syrupy profile! Gloopy and medicinal with natural ointments, camphor, tiger balm and numerous medical embrocations. Impressions of sandalwood, bandages, ink and seawater all fading out and in. Glorious! With water: the feel may be very spectacular, it is received this persistent syrupy edge, extra of those sappy, natural and medicinal tones and constantly thick peaty flavour. End: lengthy, heat, peppery, natural and with a couple of wee fruit tea impressions that elevate the complexity. Feedback: It is actually fairly humorous how totally different all these Croftengeas are. This one is absolutely high notch, nice choice group TWE!
SGP: 566 – 89 factors.

Croftengea 15 yo 2006/2021 (53.2%, Elixir Distillers ‘The Whisky Path’, cask #342, hogshead, 269 bottles)
A sibling cask, needs to be identical ballpark… Color: pale gold. Nostril: yup, identical juice. Maybe only a wee bit narrower, extra in direction of coastal and saline points. Some dried seaweed, soy sauce and hessian. Possibly not as ‘in yer face’ as 341. With water: a bit of drier, sootier, on carbolic acidity, fermenting wash and sheep wool – sure a bit extra farmy I suppose. Mouth: as soon as once more, identical ballpark profile, however right here it is rather less distinctive, extra juicy, syrupy peat smoke, extra tar, iodine and camphor stylings. It misses a few of these fruitier elements that made its sibling extra complicated I’d say. With water: sits properly between salty and umami qualities. Makes you consider many Asian influences corresponding to nori, pickled ginger and fish sauce, which I am a sucker for in whisky. End: fairly lengthy with a deep smokiness now, heat kiln air, a wee meaty bacon observe and again to medicines and iodine. Feedback: one other nice one, however I simply most well-liked the additional dimensionality (what?) of its sibling.
SGP: 466 – 86 factors.

Inchfad 14 yo 2007/2021 (54.7%, Dram Mor, cask #1100, PX end, 274 bottles)
Color: deep gold. Nostril: unexpectedly fruity! As in ripe plums, prunes, sultanas, fruit loaf and a few extra savoury notes of dry oloroso sherry and black miso. I’d not have pegged it as a PX end at first nosing, however the proof could also be within the consuming… With water: I discover it turns into properly saline and meaty now, some pork scratchings with a glass of dry oloroso. Mouth: okay, peat comes via extra clearly right here, oily in texture, medicinal, flippantly natural with cough syrup impressions and extra of those darkish fruit notes however they’re very a lot within the again seat now, whereas the peat presses the accelerator. You might additionally add some Iberico ham and black olives – my God, what I would give for a couple of days in Jerez! With water: leathery, salty, some camphor and hessian, a bit of olive oil and extra impressions of black olive bread and cured meats. End: good size, clear, earthy, salty and nonetheless dominated by the sherry. Would not really feel like PX in any respect to me, extra Oloroso model, which is nice information. Feedback: that is stylish stuff and a really profitable ending I’d say – the peat and the sherry are on one of the best of phrases right here. It is simply that I now actually need to eat some Iberico ham now. And olives. With some pork scratchings. Oh, and drink some VORS Oloroso. In Jerez after all. Urgh!
SGP: 465 – 87 factors.

Inchfad 16 yo 2005/2021 (52.2%, Thompson Brothers, PX end, 300 bottles)
Completed for two years I consider. Color: deep gold. Nostril: not dissimilar to the Dram Mor bottling, in that there is an preliminary suggestion of mirabelle eau de vie and sultanas on the nostril, however general it is a bit of earthier and going in direction of issues like soots, bouillon, pollens and smoked meats. With water: pretty umami notes of miso, soy sauce, cod liver oil, camphor and putty now. A little bit smoky charcoal observe too. Mouth: extra apparent PX affect right here, a wee contact of pencil shavings and graphite oils, but in addition extra umami paste, black olive tapenade, aniseed, salted liquorice and hints of iodine and damp pipe tobacco. Superb, however maybe a notch an excessive amount of wooden affect for me. With water: turns into a bit of jammy and peppery now, pink peppercorn, hessian, a pencil shaving observe once more too. I believe I most well-liked the palate neat for this one. End: medium, on charcoal, olives, earth, tobaccos and a bit of bramble jam. Feedback: not as satisfied by the PX affect on this one, however it goes down very simply when neat.
SGP: 564 – 84 factors.