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Loch Lomond whisky now
available in travel retail.
Last month Loch Lomond single malt entered the world
of travel retail for the first time with the launch
of four of their expressions at the Highland
distillery's local airport, Glasgow airport. The
four travel retail whiskies are not new expressions,
they are whiskies which we are already familiar with
but they are presented in 1 litre bottles as all
travel retail bottles should be but sadly fewer and
fewer are
these days.
The new Loch Lomond travel retail collection
comprises of Loch Lomond Signature blended whisky,
Loch Lomond single grain, Loch Lomond 12 Year Old
single malt and Loch Lomond Inchmurrin Madeira Cask
single malt.
The large industrial factory like Loch Lomond
distillery is located in Alexandria, near the
southernmost shore of Loch Lomond from where it
takes its name, it is a rather unique distillery as
its set up is quite different from every other
distillery in Scotland, with four different types of
stills.
Loch Lomond has two
traditional copper pot stills and six rather unique
"Lomond" style copper pot stills equipped with
rectifying heads which can be used to vary the
length of the still neck which enables them to
produce different styles of spirit. There is also
one modified Coffey still to make malt whisky which is used for continuous
distillation, some of you may recall the now gone
Loch Lomond produced whisky brand Old Rhosdhu malt
which caused a bit of a category confusion at the
Scotch Whisky Association a few years back. In total
Loch Lomond produces 5 million litres of malt spirit
per year. There is also a grain distillery with
column stills within the distillery which produces
18 million litres of grain spirit per year. The
range of stills at the Loch Lomond distillery allow
them to produce many different styles of malt and
grain whisky and of course a single distillery blend of both.
The new travel retail collection features two single
malt Scotch Whiskies, the
Lomond 12 year old
single malt, which contains spirit from two types of
stills; and Loch Lomond Inchmurrin Madeira Cask
single malt, which is produced exclusively from the
distiller’s unique pot stills with rectifying heads.
There are future plans for these two single malts to
be joined in travel retail by the no age statement
Loch Lomond Original single malt.
The new travel retail collection also features the
Loch Lomond Single Grain, which is exclusively
distilled with 100% malted barley through a Coffey
(continuous) still, and the Loch Lomond Signature, a
premium blend which is matured via the distiller’s
100 cask solera process. .
The new one litre bottles features Loch Lomond's
newly designed packaging which has been inspired by
the unique Loch Lomond distillery. Designers worked
to reflect the Group’s commitment to whisky
craftsmanship; from the distinctive stills, to the
working cooperage, aiming to tell the story of the
unique parts that come together to create the
innovative liquid inside.
World Duty Free’s Glasgow Airport store is only the
first stop in an ambitious worldwide roll-out of the
Loch Lomond travel retail range, which will soon launch
in Nordic travel retail markets followed by Canada
and the US.
I have reviewed a couple of the the travel retail
expressions, see the links below, the Loch Lomond 12
year old is by far the outstanding whisky and my
must try recommendation from the Loch Lomond whisky
range. Last week
when passing through Glasgow airport I had a quick
sample of the Loch Lomond Signature Blend which from
the small sample appeared to be an OK blend at £25
for a 1 litre bottle. I also had a small sample of
Inchmurrin Madeira Cask single malt, a small sample
from a small plastic sample cup at the airport
is not always the ideal place to fully assess a whisky,
but I can certainly say that it should
appeal to the sherried whisky fans amongst
you and at £60 for a 1 litre bottle compared to £50
for the standard 70cl bottle it is not a bad deal, I would have to taste more of this in a better
environment before giving it a big thumbs up but
worth looking out for and sampling yourself if you
enjoy a sherried dram and if you find your self
passing through the airport where most whiskies in
this price range are available to sample.
If you have no plans to travel in the
near future you will find the current Loch
Lomond whisky range including Inchmurrin available from specialist online whisky shops such as
Master of Malt
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