Inchmoan is a 12 years old whisky within the core range from Highlands distillery Loch Lomond. This richly smoke and spicy whisky forms part of a trilogy of 12 years old whiskies that includes the 12 Years Old Inchmurrin – which is created to express the intense orchard fruit character of the Loch Lomond spirit – and the Loch Lomond 12 Years Old which showcases the perfectly balanced signature style of fruit, honey and soft smoke.
The whisky is named Inchmoan after one of the smaller islands located in Loch Lomond and means ‘peat island’ in Gaelic. It is aged in three types of American Oak casks – ex-bourbon, re-fill and re-charred. Loch Lomond Inchmoan is crafted to reflect a sweet and mellow style of peated whisky but yet still a smokier representation of Loch Lomond’s signature style.
Loch Lomond distillery is unlike any other as it utilises both traditional swan neck and unique straight neck stills, combined with a variety of yeast strains and extended fermentation. Added to this they have their own cooperage giving full control over cask selection and maturation. This innovative and complex variety of process allows Loch Lomond’s Master Blender Michael Henry to create a more complex range of whiskies, and depth of character within each whisky released.
Loch Lomond is located in the small Scottish town of Alexandria, which lies just south of Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park, northwest of Glasgow. The Loch Lomond distillery was founded in 1965 by the Littlemill Distillery Company Ltd. After almost 20 years of production, it closed between 1984 and 1987 following a takeover by the Glen Catrine Bonded Warehouse Ltd. The current owners are the Loch Lomond Group, who also own Glen Scotia in Campbeltown.
Loch Lomond Whiskies is on an unstoppable journey gaining world-wide recognition for their range of whiskies and production process. This whisky alone has won three gold medals during 2024 from international spirits competitions. Loch Lomond was also recently recognised by being named Scotch Distiller of the Year at IWSC (International Wine and Spirits Competition) for the period of 2024/25.
The Loch Lomond 12 Years Old Inchmoan is bottled at 46% ABV and is non0chill filtered. It is widely available from spirits retailers globally or direct from Loch Lomond’s website lochlomondwhiskies.com for £47.
Our Tasting Notes
The colour is bright gold and the nose is floral, sweet and smoky. Rich, dark caramel aromas lead the way and are quickly joined by dried apple, heather honey and soft pear. The peat smoke has a charred meaty barbecue feel. This is soft and elegant, and wraps around everything. It becomes slightly more ashy with time in the glass. A hint of candied lime and toasted almond also comes through.
On the palate this whisky is sweet and expressive with a gentle smokiness. This again is a soft, meaty barbeque style of smoke, like meat in a smoker. Then comes a vegetal hint, which sits in the background, and gives off green capsicum and grilled asparagus vibes.
Sweet vanilla sugar, toffee and heather honey notes evolve nicely, as does some fruit. Peachy with dried apple and a hint of soft baked pear. Hints of white chocolate, cocoa powder and candied lime are also detected. Finally, soft and warming spice show themselves – imagine white pepper and green cardomom. A hint of floral dried jasmine also develops.
The finish is of decent length and the gentle peat smoke drags this out. It becomes more drying, woody and ashy with time. This gives a mouthwatering quality, especially when the fruity and sweet elements have faded, That said, the toffee-like sweetness and candied lime notes linger a touch longer.
What’s The Verdict?
The 12 Years Old Inchmoan takes the Loch Lomond spirit in an interesting direction compared to the other 12 Year Olds in the core range. But it maintains that gentle, fruity and sweet style that the others have. The balance between the smoke and these signature characteristics is great.
The whisky offers a much softer and gentler style of smoke than from Islay distilleries. It would be a great introduction to the genre to someone without throwing someone straight into the more pwerful and medicinal world of Islay smoke. It is easy to see why this whisky, and Loch Lomond, continue to win so many awards.
