The grain-to-cask Lowland distillery of Lochlea has released the third bottling in their annual cask strength series. The Lochlea Cask Strength Batch 3 is the first in the series to combine peat-influence with ex-sherry casks. It also represents the first bottling curated by Jill Boyd, the Master Blender at Lochlea, who joined the team in late-2024.
Lochlea Cask Strength Batch 3 has been matured in a combination of ex-Oloroso sherry butts and ex-Islay peated casks. The defining element to Lochlea’s Cask Strength whiskies is blending and bottling without dilution. This latest release follows Cask Strength Batch 2 released last summer that had been matured in a combination of PX, Oloroso and STR casks. The inaugural Cask Strength expression in 2023 was a combination of spirit matured in first-fill Bourbon barrels and Oloroso Sherry casks.
I am especially proud of Cask Strength Batch 3 as it has been my first opportunity to curate one of our whiskies from concept to bottle, putting my own mark on our range. I wanted to push the boundaries of our house style with something bold and different. As many whisky lovers will know, sherry and peat are both hugely popular flavour profiles, and we saw an opportunity to bring them together in a way that feels fresh and bold, yet rooted in our distillery’s DNA.
Jill Boyd | Master Blender at Lochlea
Lochlea was founded in 2015 by Neil and Jen McGeoch. It is located in the rural Scottish Ayrshire region to the south of Kilmarnock. They converted Lochlea Farm from beef production to growing barley for whisky making. All Lochlea whisky is produced using barley grown on the farm. The distillery is in the old piggery and a converted cattle shed is the maturation warehouse. The independent family-owned distillery has an annual production capacity of 200,000 litres. Their inaugural whisky, Lochlea First Release, was launched in early 2022 and followed by their core product, Our Barley, later that year.
The whisky features a combination of spirit matured in ex-Oloroso sherry butts and ex-Islay peated casks. It is bottled at the natural cask strength of 59.8% ABV with no dilution and is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour. It will be available in limited quantities via Lochlea stockists in selected markets globally. A bottle will cost £67.
Our Tasting Notes
Cask Strength Batch 3 is a deep burnt ochre colour. On the nose it is very appealing with rich dark chocolate dipped glacé cherries and sherry soaked raisins. The sweetness continues with manuka dark honey plus caramelised pecans and bags of dried fruit. To round things out there is a nutty creaminess, candied pomelo, and a hint of heather flowers. This whisky has a dusty smokiness that is subtle and not overly obvious nor prominent. What you experience instead is rather more rounded like tobacco, damp moss and wet earth. There is just a hint of astringent alpine herbs.
On the palate this whisky is chewy with big waves of sweet dark caramel and rich fruit followed by a subtle undercurrent of smokiness. Initially on the palate there are flavours of dark, almost burnt, caramel with nutty praline. It is full of rich fruitiness like sherry-soaked raisins or cognac-soaked prunes (whichever you fancy more), and ripe bramble fruit. A hint of apricot jam is also evident.
Despite all this initial sweet fruit character you can sense the smoke due to hints of savoury flavours, such as the damp earth and moss, peaking through. Then the smoke pops with bold ash and a hint of meatiness, resulting in a barbeque sauce-like flavour. As the sweetness dissipates the smoke becomes more acrid and bonfire-like. This leads to a drying and peppery finish with underlying hints of the fruity sweetness, bittersweet tobacco and rye bread.
What’s The Verdict?
As a way for Lochlea to welcome smoke into their range, this is remarkably restrained and well balanced introduction. The initial impact is incredibly appealing; the sherry is bold and the smoke gentle and softly tucked behind the richness. Then the smoke makes itself known. The level of smoke coming from the Islay cask maturation marries well with the bold sherry cask maturation. It is subtle but impactful.
The one surprise for this whisky is the higher ABV strength as this whisky wears it lightly. You honestly do not experience much of the prickliness that can come with some cask strength whiskies. The pepperiness on the finish is the only real clue. As the first release curated by Jill Boyd this is a welcome experience and one that makes us excited to watch what she does next.
