Loch Lomond 21 Year Old - Review

Loch Lomond 21, 46% abv, Non-Chill Filtered. 650 Shekels

Kashrus Status: The case states that this was “matured in a mixture of American Oak Casks” which might mean that some of the casks were American Oak Sherry casks. However, a WhatsApp to Micheal Henry, Distillery Manager and Master Blender confirms that all the casks are Ex-Bourbon hogsheads and barrels. So, why the vague language on the label? Apparently, the text which appears on the package has nothing to do with him. It’s the marketing guys.

...and don't look at the Israeli's Hebrew Import label for any clarity. On the bottom line, after the 30 Agarot Bottle Deposit statement, we have the word "Kosher" in Hebrew!

Kosher according to whom? The Israeli importer? I could not see any Kashrus Certification anywhere on the label, not even an Ishur from the Rabbanut Rashi LeYisrael! This is most peculiar. You just can't state Kosher without certification. If I am not mistaken, it is illegal in Israel to state the word "כשר" in Hebrew without an actual hechsher!

Colour Matters!

As soon as you open up the box, it is very evident that this premium deluxe 21-Year-Old, (which is supposed to show case the very best of the distillery), has had loads of Caramel spirit colour added to it. For those who still don’t know, brown is the colour of Caramel sweets. Brown is the colour of polished wood. Brown is the colour of American Bourbon. It is not however, the natural colour of Single Malt Whisky matured in Bourbon Barrels! Even really old whisky matured in Ex-Bourbon Casks will not go darker than a heavily oaked Chardonnay.

On the left, plain water with a few drops of E150 Caramel colouring,
On the right, Loch Lomond 21.
Can you tell the difference?

E150 Caramel Colouring

Typical natural Ex-Bourbon matured Single Malt Colour

21 long years being matured in Oak barrels and we don’t get to see the natural colour of the whisky coming from the cask interaction. The distillery cannot use the standard excuse of wanting “batch consistency”, as this is a limited edition. I really don’t understand it. Perhaps the marketing department is aiming this at those casual whisky drinkers who might want something special either for a friend/boss/father-in-law they want to impress, or just as a special treat for themselves. Picking up a box at this price and seeing a whisky with a pale straw yellow colour, might well put this target audience off who don’t know any better. In this case, I’d suggest a green bottle.

For the more discerning, (higher spending) serious whisky geeks, adding this amount of E150a colouring is a real turn off. In fact, I hesitated to buy it. In the end, in honour of the distillery manager, Micheal Henry, who is such a nice guy and has used up so much of his time corresponding with me and answering all my questions about the use of Sherry Casks in the Scottish Whisky Industry as well as the fascinating subject of Rejuvenation and Sherry Seasoning, I felt obliged to purchase this and review it.

Packaging

Really nice! I like the box with the magnetic lock. The box is sturdy and of excellent quality. The bottle sits in the foam padded whole very snuggly. I particularly love that really classy cork stopper. Big and chunky with a rim of brass around it. A nice touch.

I’ve spoken about the slightly kitschy Loch Lomond artwork before so I won’t bring that up again. I just wish they would get rid of that awful “Deer Antlers” emblem.

One Week After Opening

Appearance

Artificial Suntan Brown. Quite impressive thick tears, indicating non-chill filtering and nice barley oil texture.

Nosing

Has Anyone Seen Peat?

The bottle label states that this is partially peated. Well, after drinking a lot of independent Signatory bottlings of Mortlach and Benrinnes lately, which are really heavy full-bodied malts that give the impression they are peated, but in fact they are not, I would have thought I would have immediately picked out the peat in this whisky. However, had I not looked on the label, I would not have realised that this Loch Lomond was even the slightest bit peated.

Despite adding water, it’s still really spirit-y with a huge amount of nose pinch.

Polished Furniture, Furniture store aromas.

Sweet honey and Caramel.

Bitter Orange Chocolate.

Crème Brouile creaminess.

Sweet Vanilla

Slight Curry spice smell. Turmeric.

Soap! Shampoo perfume. Soapy Liquid soap smell. Slight Coal Tar soap smell.

Spearmint chewing gum.

Spearmint mouthwash.

Tasting Notes

Burns as it goes down. Rather Blended Whisky like.

Not much wood complexity which I was expecting.

Does not leave much of a taste in the mouth on the finish.

 

So, I put this whisky away in the cabinet for a few weeks in order to let it mellow.

 

One Month Later

Nosing

Polished Wood and Elite Caramel “Must” Sweets with Isomalt and Sucralose artificial sweetener with a touch of spearmint flavour chewing gum. That Artificial sweetener is very noticeable. Even with water added, still very spirit-y and hot, although greatly reduced from a few weeks ago. Lots of caramel and vanilla but smells artificial and chemically. I am aware of all the studies that conclude that you cannot taste Caramel E150a colouring in whisky but despite this, I can only tell you what I’m smelling.

You know what? Perhaps there is a bit of earthy “wet hay” peat smells present but without any smokiness which would usually accompany peat phenol flavours.

I’m trying to look for some fruity aromas but all I’m getting is hot caramel chilli peppers.

Tasting Notes

Still hot! Liquid green Chilli peppers with wood spices. The curry powder has almost entirely gone. Strange, but I’m getting flavours of cold roast beef in caramel and chilli sauce.

Finish

Hot. It leaves you with a mouth full of caramel Chilli pepper with dry dusty polished wood.

OK, so it has definitely improved but not anywhere near enough for me to recommend it.

Conclusion

Having already bought and reviewed quite a few Single Malts from Loch Lomond distillery, products of Distillery Manager Micheal Henry, and really loved all of them, (especially the excellent and deliciously spicy 18-Year-Old), I wasn’t concerned in the least that I would be disappointed with their flagship 21-Year-Old. Well, I have to tell you now, I was. Really bitterly disappointed and embarrassed. I initially did not wish to publish a negative review of this, out of my deep respect for Micheal, but I had quite a few enquiries from whisky folk, asking my opinion of this 21-Year-Old and whether it was worth shelving out 650 Shekels. I had to tell them – No! My advice is to go buy two bottles of Loch Lomond “Inchmurrin 18” instead.

In fact, I am so sorry to say that it goes on my really short list of whisky expressions I actually don’t like! Again, their 12 and 18-Year-Olds, both peated and non-peated are highly recommended, but in all honesty, I just cannot recommend this one, at any price.