In 2019 the Isle of Arran distillery at Lochranza opened a sister distillery on the southern end of the isle. The LAGG distillery only produces heavily peated spirit (around 50 ppm if I’m not mistaken).
Lagg Kilmory Edition is the flagship single malt and the first core range expression. It is named after the village near the distillery. They used Concerto barley and water from their own borehole. The peat is sourced in North East Scotland. In terms of flavour, the combination of peat and and ageing in ex-bourbon barrels forms the backbone of this whisky.
Lagg Kilmory Edition (46%, first-fill bourbon barrels)
Nose: very young, almost mezcal really. Lots of vegetal peat, alongside heather smoke. Clean lemony notes on top (juice and peels). Then some white flowers and vanilla. Fresh, rather simple but pretty flawless too.
Mouth: still a bit of a raw sooty profile with echoes of mezcal, but already showing a nice oily texture and some rounder notes too. Citrus and vanilla, with a certain creaminess. White pepper, charred wood and earthy notes. Subtle hints of dark chocolate in the background. Then a herbal and lightly medicinal edge as well.
Finish: medium long, with warm smoky notes and herbal touches.
This is probably as good as it gets after 3 years of ageing. You know, peated spirit is nicer to drink at a young age than unpeated spirit, so no need to use STR casks and fancy finishes to make this seem more mature. Overall a successful introduction to Lagg distillery, and obviously this is only the beginning. Available from the distillery shop, The Whisky Exchange or Whiskysite.nl for instance.