Loch Lomond Single Cask Store Pick Aged for 15 Years

Loch Lomond Single Cask 15 Year Old Single Malt Whisky

I previously did a review on the Loch Lomond 12 as a “value” whisky, which should cost you around $30.  This new review will be on an elevated Loch Lomond release and a bit pricier at $150 (I also did a SMWS review on a Loch Lomond bottle, but this was a single grain whisky).  The Loch Lomond Single Cask Aged for 15 Years is another store pick from @thewhiskyguys.  Distilled in ‘04, this is 1 of 252 bottles from cask no. 15/624-4.  According to the store’s website, this was aged in first-fill Oloroso sherry casks.

ABV: 53.7%

How it smells… raisins, candied figs, fruity, smells like a port wine…with water, much of the same.

How it tastes…fig right at the front that continues to whisper throughout the sip followed by more dark berries.  Towards the end, you get a malty richness that balances out the sweety fruity flavors with a long sweet lingering finish of dark chocolate….with water, a little maltier up front followed by some peppery spice.  The end transitions to more of those fig and fruity flavors, like a Fig Newton, while the finish is spicier, but you still have that sweet malty chocolate flavor, but with a spicy edge to it now.

Price…$150

Rating...🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃

Final thoughts…This was absolutely delicious.  Honestly, from the first sniff to the long linger, you never have a bad experience.  It was a bit difficult to parse out the flavors though, I felt like each sip gave me a different order, but what is constant is that nice sweet fig flavor that stays throughout, never becoming overwhelming, while rich chocolate malt notes envelop your mouth for the grand finale. Truly a remarkable sip.  If you want to spice it up a bit, add a drop of water and you’ll get an entirely new experience.  The Oloroso Cask aging really shines through on this without overpowering and making it a one-trick pony.  A 5x 🥃 is warranted as I could drink this every day if my wallet allowed.  The only reason I wouldn’t rush out to buy another bottle today is that I need to continue to try new bottles to review for all of you!

As I have had more of these single cask releases of Loch Lomond, whether single grain or single malt, I continue to be surprised by the range the distillery produces.  Clearly the difference between this single cask 15 year old and the core 12 year old release that I previously reviewed is more than just 3 extra years of aging.  I previously wrote a little bit about how Loch Lomond produces a range of flavor profiles, but to synopsize, they have a variety of stills from a continuous malt still and a continuous grain still to pot stills with rectifying heads that can change the reflux levels to zero-in on particular flavor profiles.  While there are some similarities to the 12 year old core release, I have to assume that this bottle began from a different end distillate as the quality gap between this versus the 12 is much too wide to be 3 extra years of aging and barrel selection…