Appearance – It’s mid- Gold in colour, it’s quite viscous on the glass too, the legs are slow and thin.
Nose – It’s quite light and elegant, there are foam banana sweets, white grapes, candied lemon slices, some light pineapple cube notes, apricots, peach slices in syrup, and a little white pepper.
Palate – The palate is very fruity, I’m getting lemon oil now, it’s more pronounced, it’s got quite a syrupy mouthfeel with fruit cocktail syrup, and stoned fruits, I’m getting vanilla, honey, and a cereal flavour. Around the outside is a pepper spicyness and a little smoke, thought the smoke is very light, it’s loverly and warming.There’s a little oak, though the fruits are more prominent overall. The ABV comes across as higher than 46%.
Finish – It’s medium in length, warming and spicy, the oak starts to play it’s hand here now, it’s nicely balanced with the spiciness of the pepper. There is also a white wine note too, it’s quite light, and slightly drying. Late on as your mouth is almost dry of the whisky an icing sugar sweetness presents itself on the lips, nice, and unexpected.
My thoughts – As an entry level bottling it offers enough, it’s a great bottle for someone new to Loch Lomond whisky, and is a respectable price too.
Notes – I have found several sources that state that it’s non chill filtered, and only 1 reference to it being natural coloured. It’s matured in Bourbon, re-fill and re-charged casks, though it doesn’t expand on the re-filled and re-charged casks.
Would I buy a bottle? – For the price? Yes, it’s definitely enjoyable, though it will leave the buyer wanting to try more from Loch Lomond.
Thanks to – The Blind Tasting Consortium (Twitter.)
Picture credit – The Whisky Exchange.