10th December 2018 |
Review of the
Loch Lomond 12 year old, Inchmurrin 12
year old and Inchmoan 12 year old and
three Christmas whisky cocktails ideas
which utilises these three single malt
whiskies from the Loch Lomond
distillery.
With Christmas now just over a couple of
weeks away this
site sees a huge increase in visitors
from whisky drinkers looking for
something different to treat themselves
to over the cold winter months and holiday season as well as whisky gift buyers
in search of ideas for what to buy
for their whisky loving friends or
family so I thought I would bring three
whiskies to your attention which you may
not have considered.
The three whiskies are all produced at
one of the most extraordinary whisky
distillery's in Scotland that you are
ever
likely to come across, Loch Lomond. What
makes Loch Lomond distillery so different
is its ability to produce more than one
style of single malt whisky and the
reason for this is that it uses some
rather unusual design pot stills. The
distillery has two traditional pot
stills and six
unique "Lomond Style" straight neck pot
stills which can produce whiskies
of different weights because of the
rectifying columns in the still head.
These rectifying columns effectively let
the distiller adjust the length of the
still neck which adjusts the weight and
eventually style of the final whisky
which will be bottled.
The use of these unusual stills at Loch
Lomond combined with the fact they
produce both peated and unpeated whisky
and of course their use of different
types of oak casks for maturation and
finally the creative skill of their
master blender when bringing the
maturing single malt whisky together for
bottling means that Loch Lomond produces
a number of different styles of single
malt whiskies and in recent years these
have been of very good quality.
The three single malt whiskies which
are all produced at the Loch Lomond
distillery which I wanted to highlight
are the Loch Lomond 12 Year Old,
Inchmurrin 12 Year Old and the peated
Inchmoan 12 Year Old.
Also in keeping
with the approaching festive season and
being aware of the ever increasing
popularity of whisky cocktails I thought
I would share with you three festive whisky
cocktail recipes which utilises these
three whiskies which are rather aptly
named "The Three Wise Men of Loch
Lomond"
You will find all three of the Loch
Lomond single malt whiskies as well as
the ingredients and tools needed to
create The Three Wise Men Of Loch Lomond
Christmas Cocktails listed below available from
specialist online whisky retailers such
as
The Whisky Exchange,
The Whisky Shop and
Master of Malt
|
Loch Lomond 12 Year Old Review &
Christmas Cocktail
|
The
Loch Lomond 12 year old contains whisky
produced in two types of still, Loch
Lomond's traditional copper pot stills
and their unique "Lomond" style copper
pot stills equipped with rectifying
heads which can be used to vary the
length of the still neck. It was matured in a
combination of three types of cask,
Bourbon, Refill and Recharged casks and
then brought together under the watchful
eye of master distiller Michael Henry.
The Loch Lomond 12 year old is
bottled at 46% ABV, it is currently
available from specialist whisky shops
such as
Master of Malt
William
Morrison's Tasting Notes:
Nose:
Sweet malt and candied pear, a little
lemon and some spice in the background.
Taste:
Deliciously sweet, fresh and rich mouth
coating fruit, candied pear and lemon, a
touch of vanilla and a mild touch of
ginger.
Finish: A lovely longish finish.
Crisp sugar and fruit fade to leave some
oaky digestive biscuit and that little
touch of ginger.
Comment:
A deliciously sweet fruity malt with
just a touch of gentle spice, loved it.
It is a around £38 for the 70cl bottle
and £45 for the 1 litre travel retail
bottle, well worth the price tag. Great
to see Loch Lomond turning out such
quality whisky and at a very drinkable
price. A thoroughly enjoyable malt
whisky, don't overlook it.
SMW Score
91/100
Loch Lomond Sparkling Gold Christmas Cocktail:
Ingredients:
25ml of Loch Lomond 12 Year Old
15ml of Golden Honey
15ml of Ginger syrup
Prosecco
Gold Flakes (optional)
Method:
Combine Loch Lomond 12 Year Old with the
golden honey and ginger syrup and chill
down over ice before straining into at
chilled flute glass and topping with
sparkling Prosecco. To add a little
sparkle, top with a pinch of edible gold
flakes.
|
Inchmurrin 12 Year Old Review &
Christmas Cocktail
|
The
Inchmurrin 12 year old from the Loch
Lomond distillery's Island Collection
was matured in a combination of three
types of cask, Bourbon, Refill and
Recharged casks just like the standard
Loch Lomond 12 year old was but it is
definitely a different whisky.
The Inchmurrin 12 year old is bottled at
46% ABV and is non chill-filtered, it is currently
available from specialist whisky shops
such as
Master of Malt
William
Morrison's Tasting Notes:
Nose:
A mix of grapefruit, pear, honey
and toffee.
Taste:
The toffee and grapefruit from the nose
is joined by a little butterscotch.
A lovely Demerara sugar sweetness
boosts the pleasure, some
vanilla and touch of orange joins the
procession but are beaten back by the
grapefruit.
Finish: A longish finish, the
grapefruit is still hanging in there, a
little peppery, some fudge and mildly
drying oak spice.
Comment:
After the superb Loch Lomond 12 year old
I had high hopes for this, although I
can't fault it, it isn't quite in the
same league as the Loch Lomond 12 for
quality and pleasure.
According to Loch Lomond it was matured
in the same combination of three types
of cask, Bourbon, Refill and Recharged
casks as the standard Loch Lomond 12
year old was but it is definitely a
different whisky and obviously the
proportion of of each cask in the mix
for the Inchmurrin was quite different
from that of the standard Loch Lomond
12. The Inchmurrin is still an enjoyable
dram but for the price it is difficult
to look past the Loch Lomond 12 but
still worth a try on your whisky
journey.
SMW Score
82/100
Inchmurrin Aromatic Frankincense Christmas Cocktail:
Ingredients:
25ml of Inchmurrin 12 Year Old
15ml Aperol
15ml Sweet Vermouth
A splash of soda
Orange peel to garnish
Method:
Simply add Inchmurrin 12 Year Old,
Aperol and Sweet Vermouth to a large
wine glass over cubed ice. Stir these
ingredients together for 10 seconds and
add more ice if needed. Top with
sparkling soda and gently stir together.
Garnish with orange peel.
|
Inchmoan 12 Year Old Review &
Christmas Cocktail
|
The peaty Inchmoan
single malt takes its name from one of
the many islands found in Loch Lomond
and rather appropriately ‘Inch-moan’ is
Scottish Gaelic for ‘the island of the
peat’
Inchmoan 12 Year Old
is a combination of malt whiskies from
the distillery’s traditional swan neck
and unique straight neck pot stills
which has created an unconventional peat
character with depth, marrying smoke and
spiciness.
It was matured for 12 years in a
combination of re-charred American oak
and refill bourbon American oak casks
William
Morrison's Tasting Notes:
Nose: A gentle vanilla'd ashy
smoke and a little candied sweetness.
Taste: The sweet ashy
peat smoke quickly develops a mild
liquorice edge, it is joined by some
lovely mouth coating peppery oak spice
and there is a delicious gentle candied
fruitiness lingering in the background.
Finish: Long, the fruitiness
fades first followed by the smoke
leaving roasted coffee and a lovely
drying gentle oak spiciness.
Comment: A lovely smooth gently
peated single malt with a nice touch
of pepper and a little fruitiness to add
to the pleasure.
SMW Score 85/100
Inchmoan Warming Myrrh Christmas Cocktail:
Ingredients:
25ml Inchmoan 12 Year Old
30ml of pressed apple
200 ml hot water
2 teaspoons of honey
3 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
A pinch of nutmeg
A squeeze of fresh lemon
Lemon peel to garnish
Method:
Add the honey to a glass mug then half
fill with the hot water and stir until
fully dissolved. Add all other
ingredients except for the lemon peel,
and stir together for 10 seconds.
Finally add the remaining hot water and
serve, garnished with the lemon peel.
|
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