Loch Lomond is Captain Haddock’s whisky, although taking advice from a comic figure is probably not the best idea. The distillery has several types of stills and produces both grain whisky and malt.
It has little fame but there were quite a few expressions: a no-age-statement Loch Lomond, a 12 Years Organic, a peated Green Label and this Loch Lomond 18 Years Old. Recently they were replaced with a single malt Loch Lomond Original and two blends, Loch Lomond Reserve and Signature.
Update: read my review of the 2024 edition of Loch Lomond 18 Years
Loch Lomond 18 yo (43%, OB +/- 2014)
Loch Lomond 18 yo (43%, OB +/- 2014)Nose: not good. Quite vegetal, with cooked cabbage. A lot of toast with butter. Soaked porridge. Musty wood, gradually becoming sharper. Behind this there are overripe melon and some rotting oranges. It isn’t exactly making me smile.
Mouth: decent attack, quite sugary with (fresher) oranges now and hints of toffee. However the bitterness of the wood returns. Some pepper. Harsher than a lot of blends actually. Something of burnt toast again.
Finish: medum long, lemony and cardboardy, leaving an aftertaste of industrial alcohol.
In today’s world of standardized, computerized whisky production with few real failures, this feels like a dinosaur from a different era. It’s not so good. Around € 70.
Score: 63/100