Tasting 4 Royal Lochnagars

Royal Lochnagars are about as rare as can get if you look apart the standard 12yo and an extremely overpriced Manager's Dram (or something like that). I have managed to gather 4 bottlings to see what this distillery has to offer.



Royal Lochnagar 14yo 1969-1983 40% G&M CC

A very old bottling, bottled 15 years prior to the distillation of the youngest spirit in this tasting. Should be interesting. Dark bronze color, makes me think if some young oloroso sherried whiskies. It smells rich, honeyed, rubber (not bad one), sulphur, matches, gun powder, fresh, thyme and mint leaves. Incredible rich for such a low strength young whisky. The taste is rich, all on sherry notes, sulphury again, honey, cinnamon, ginger, almonds, lime rind, dark grape juice, extremely good. I think, if this one was tasted blind, people would start to ramble about older Glenfarclas or even Macallans. I am so happy I got to try this as I can't believe there are many left of them.

Shows that old CC-bottlings can be fantastic, and I paid 1 quid for a miniature of this one: 9


Royal Lochnagar 13yo 1998-2001 43% Jean Boyer

This one is also from a sherry cask, stated on the label. I have not tried many whiskies from this series from Jean Boyer called "Best Casks of Scotland". If it really is the best casks of scotland I'd think, looking at the period of maturation, it should taste about the same as the CC. Light golden hue, smells sweet and honeyed, a bit spirity, some ginger, some raw onions. The taste is very sweet, bubble gum, rich cream, toffee, sugary, plums, extremely concentrated sweetness, I hope some water will help it open up. When a small drop of water is added it turns even sweeter, this is almost like some sweet 30%-something fruity liqueur. I'm not too disappointed, but it leaves a more complex spirit to be desired.

I like this in some aspects, but I believe it'd be a thunderbolt at CS: 4.5


Balmoral 15yo 46% Royal Lochnagar for Balmoral Estates

I believe this one was bottled somewhere in the late 90's, due to the sort of tacky use of Times New Roman on the low part of the label. The color is dark orange. It smells very rich, honeyed again, cigars, apple nectarine, appletini, much more powerful than the Jean Boyer version. Dry cider comes to mind. The taste is rich and peppery, tangerines, apples, concentrated apple juice, and I believe it needs some water. With water on board it becomes sweet and fresh, more on apple vinegar and even more peppery. The fresh sour-ness that gives me a hint of melon juice and thyme makes for a much more interesting spirit. One to be had with some water added.

I think Blamoral Estates have invested in some good whisky to represent them here: 5.5


Royal Lochnagar 23yo 1973-1997 59.7% OB Rare Malts

So, an OB is really and IB by Diageo, a bit like the Edradour Casks bottled by Signatory Vintage. Actually the first ever CS Royal Lochnagar I've ever tried. Golden color. It smells sweet and honeyed, this honeyed sweetness seems to be a common nominator for all these Royal Lochnagars. This is extremely strong, I can tell already, but for tasting purposes I'll try it bare first. The taste is sweet and strong, all on apple cider before turning spirity. I believe it needs some water to open up. When about a teaspoon is added it becomes much softer, some onions and beef broth. A meatiness that I have found in some Ardbeg Uigeadails, but it lacks both the peat and the sherried notes to make it a success in my book. Very tame now, and in retrospect, I probably should never have watered it down anyway.

If you compare this to the ´69 CC it doesn't stand a chance, then compare the prices: 4



Next tasting: Scapa Distillery