How long has it been since we’ve seen new Lochside on the market? The distillery was closed in 1992, demolished in 2005, and it seems most of the available casks have been bottled. A couple of premium releases in the last couple of years but that’s all.
Let’s keep the memory alive with this Lochside 1987 in the Perfect Dram series from The Whisky Agency.
Lochside 21 yo 1987 (62,4%, The Perfect Dram 2008, ex-bourbon hogshead, 199 btl.)
Lochside 21 yo 1987 (62,4%, The Perfect Dram 2008, ex-bourbon hogshead, 199 btl.)Nose: starts rather austere, closed, with lots of grassy notes, then mint and oak. After a while the fruity notes come out. Limes, pink grapefruits, orange peel. Grain cookies. Hints of sweet chamomile. Not the fruitiest Lochside ever, but still really nice.
Mouth: citrus galore, it’s full of grapefruit (sweet pink but also the lightly bitter white version) and lemons. It’s also developing a tropical side with maracuya and tangerines. Growing herbs, pepper, cardamom, ginger. A little alcohol tingle of course, water helps.
Finish: long, with bittersweet notes and oak spices.
Great stuff, with this very typical fruitiness that now reminds us of the recent Irish malts. Originally around € 120, long gone and hardly ever seen in auctions.
Score: 91/100