Fixed stand from Lochlea
Lochlea is a distillery that has managed to take almost the entire whiskey world by surprise. It is a new distillery, launched in 2018, another whisky maker in the Lowlands region. However, its activities have managed to hide from the radar of perhaps all media devoted to Scotch whisky. There were no articles about the start of construction, production plans, visions of the future distillery. The first article to appear online was about the announcement of the inaugural edition of the full-fledged whisky from Lochlea. Well, that only three-year-old? Immediately afterwards, we learned that John Campbell, who had not long before left his previously held position as manager of Laphroaig, was joining the Lochlea team.
The first whisky from Lochlea saw the light of day with some slippage, due to bottle supply problems, on Robert Burns' birthday, January 24, 2022. However, this was a limited, special edition, calculated to draw the attention of whisky lovers to the existence of Lochlea.
Lochlea Our Barley, whose market debut is announced for Monday, July 18, 2022, is a completely different pair of calicoes. It is a whisky entirely prepared personally by John Campbell, and is to become a permanent part of the distillery's offerings, as its primary official edition. It is a whisky with a strength of 46%, unfiltered cold and not colored with caramel. The whisky is a blend of the contents of three types of casks. These are first-fill bourbon, sherry oloroso and STR (shaved, toasted, recharred) barrique barrels. In its aroma you will find pear syrup, fruit landraces, freshly cut grass and orange marmalade. Taste - sugar syrup, pepper, rye bread, macadamia nuts and vanilla soda water. The retail price of a single bottle is expected to be £45.
As the manufacturer announces, a larger batch of the new whisky has been prepared to meet demand to such an extent that no one will have trouble stocking up on Lochlea Our Barley.
In addition to Our Barley, a NAS whisky (with no age declaration) debuting any day now, John Campbell promises to launch age-declared editions over time, also part of the distillery's core offering. Among other things, there is even talk of a 25-year-old whiskey, but you'll have to wait at least two more decades for it.
Lochlea is located in Ayrshire, south of Glasgow, near Kilmarnock, on the farm of the same name. The distillery operates on a site that was home to one of Scotland's greatest poets, Robert Burns, from 1777 to 1784. It seems to be an excellent place for tourists to visit, but there is no Visitor Center in Lochlea and there are no plans to launch one in the near future.
[15.07.2022 / photo: Lochlea]