Historic Distilleries: Lochside

Lochside is one of the more recent distilleries to both being established and closed. It was an old brewery that was rebuilt in 1957 that became Lochside Distillery. It was closed down in 1992, so its lifespan reached about 35 years only. Most distilleries in this region have seen their fair share of problems through the years and many have closed, Glenury Royal, Nort Port, Glenesk, Glencadam (fortunately revived). Unfortunately there is no chance of a re-opening of Lochside as its since closeure been demolished. Most of the output from Lochside went into MacNab's blends, and sold on the spanish market. There is little information on how the distillery operated, but I believe they relied on the techniques available in the 1950's. Lochside also produced grain whisky, but I've only tried one of those, and to be fair, it is not worth the prices they go for those days unless you're chasing nostalgia. Lochside Distillery have been linked up with both Glenfarclas and Springbank in similarities of taste. But please, don't try your Lochside with those kind of blinds on. It was a distillery of its own and should be tasted as such.



Lochside 17yo 1991-2008 43% Gordon & Macphail Connoisseurs Choice

From a refill bourbon cask. Lets see what reason G&M might have for putting such a recent bottling of a closed distillery into the CC-series. The color is golden. It smells oaky, bitter, oak chips, leather, acrylic paint, glue. The taste is sweet, honey, floral, peppery, butter, oily, rubbery, ginger, vegetal, decent stuff. The finish is peppery, rich, butter, marzipan.

A good whisky, but a bit too ordinary to thrill me: 6


Lochside 30yo 1981-2011 46% Berry Bros & Rudd cask#808

This should be something else, one might wonder how there can be so many old bottlings left from such a short-lived distillery. The color is amber golden. It smells of vanilla, peppery, rich, bacon crisps, rubber, gouda, chili, orange zest. The taste is peppery, butter, rotting eggs, milk chocolate, rubber, hops, ginger, oaky, bitter. This is a great Lochside, but I think it could've just edged perfection if bottled at cask strength. The finish is peaty, peppery, oranges, cinnamon, honey. A complex finish.

I'm a fool for doing this, but it reminds me of a very good Springbank: 8


Lochside 18yo 1991-2010 50% Old Malt Cask Douglas Laing cask#6303

From a bourbon cask, I remember back in the days when the OMC range were all 25+yo sherried whiskies. More recently, youngsters from bourbon hogsheads makes up more of the portfolio, I guess they're the future casks for scotch whisky. The color is white wine. It smells wheat, crackers, spicy, vanilla, lemon, leather, marzipan, grape fruit. The finish is sweet, vanilla, peppery, spearmint, honey, minty, fresh, really nice. This is another good great whisky, but from a very active cask, I's say it could've enjoyed a couple more years on oak. With added water it turns sweet 'n' sour, mango, ketchup, honey.

Despite an active cask, this is a bit spirity: 6.5


Lochside 29yo 1981-2010 54% The Whisky Agency

This one is called "Insects", The Whisky Agency have some reptiles, animals and other creature series. But also they have a some great whiskies. The color is amber golden. It smells rich, honey, buttery, creamy, rich, peaty, cinnamon, orange zest. The taste is thick and rich, butter, sweet sherry, mushrooms, caramel, milk chocolate, rich and creamy. The finish is raw garlic, salty butter, apple cores, licorice, rich. With added water it tastes burnt and grassy. This should really be enjoyed neat.

Great sherried Lochside, not many of those around: 8


Lochside 29yo 1981-2010 55.5% Market House for Whisky Box cask#962

This one comes from a sherry butt, I hope this will shine a new light on this distillery, which is growing on me as we speak. Thankfully I've stacked up on some really badass sample to try later on in these sittings. The color is honey brown. It smells buttery, honey, caramel, stewed onions, rich, butterscotch, cinnamon. This seems like a dessert malt to be had after a good meal. The taste is rich, sweet sherry, buttery, peppery, stewed onions, milk chocolate, butterscotch, caramel. The finish is caramel, buttery, orange zest, cinnamon. Great sherried whisky, but you gotta have a bit of a sweet-tooth to fully enjoy this.

Here you are tasting more the cask than the distillery character, but what a cask!: 7.5


Lochside 29yo 1981-2010 58.8% Whisky-Doris cask#960

Third one in a row with the same age and vintage. This one comes from a Fino Sherry Butt. I've had somewhere between 10-15 Whisky Doris bottlings up till now, and nearly all of them comes from fino sherry casks. Perhaps they've found a small niche within the world of cask types? Personally I think fino casks are very underrated as to the output they bring. The color is golden. It smells butter, mint, cloves, honey, malty, barley, ashes, orange zest, limoncello, sweet lemon, oat meal, yeasty, pistachio, wasabi. The taste is rich, cream barley, sugar, stewed onions, syrup, sweet ale(?), red apples and honey. This much sweeter and less bitter than what I usually find in whisky from fino sherry casks, but besides that, its certainly a great whisky! Water added. Now it turns more yeasty, vinegar, rather more raw now. The finish is sweet, peppery, grainy, honey, leather, sweet and complex!

Great stuff, another superb old Lochside: 9



#2
Lochside 29yo 1981-2010 48.6% The Nectar of the Daily Dram & The Whisky Agency joint bottling

A joint bottling, I haven't tried many of these before, but one Strathisla from same bottlers were great. And as seen so far in this Lochside tasting, there were quite a few casks from 1981. The color is golden. It smells grainy, leather, sulphur, rubbery, burnt, ashes. The taste is peppery and spirity, not much to my liking. Rather one of the shortest and least fun Lochsides I've had. The finish is bitter and peppery, rather short. This can't compare to the prior 1981s in this session, not nearly.

Rather give me two single cask whiskies instead!: 3.5


Lochside 29yo 1981-2010 52.7% The Whisky Agency

The last in this series of 1981-2010 Lochsides. This whisky comes from an ex fino hogshead, just as the one from Whisky-Doris, and if that is something to go by, this ought to be a bit of a treat. Seems TWA have bottles quite some Lochsides. The color is amber. It smells of leather, fino sherry, cinnamon, oranges, vanilla, honey, sprite, sweet citric notes, grapefruit, oregano. The taste is bitter, peppery, grapefruit, club soda, tonic water, lime, pineapple juice. The finish is bitter, grape seeds, lime rind, red onions.

It seems to me these rather leaking casks haven't paired to well with Lochside: 4.5


Lochside 19yo 1981-2000 46% Murray McDavid cask#9636

About a decade younger than the prior 5 ones. This one comes from a refill sherry butt. I did buy a full bottle of this one back in 2010 in denmark, where it's still available in many shops alongside a Highland Park by MM at same age, strength and price. The color is amber. It smells peppery, creamy, rich, heather, honey, nutty, oranges, varnish. The taste is bitter, peppery, vanilla, oranges, lime, bread crumbs, onions. Time to add some water. Now it turns richer, tannic, dry red wine, plumbs, grape skin, leather, salmi. The finish is peppery, iodine, burnt, radishes, grassy.

Maybe shows a bit more of why this distillery shut down: 3.5


Lochside 28yo 1981-2009 56.1% Gordon & Macphail for LMDW

A hogshead which made for 205 bottles altogether, probably a bourbon one. One cask that initially was purchased by G&M and then sold on to/bottled for LMDW. Makes me wonder why G&M sold this in the first place, but then again, money talks in this industry, so if the price is right I guess the quality of the whisky doesn't really matter. The color is amber. It smells dry, caramel, burnt sugar, syrup, honey, peaty, orange zest, lavender, oily, diesel, grassy. The taste is peppery, chili, cinnamon, ripe oranges, grapefruit, mandarin, kiwi, strawberry sorbet, pistachio, watermelon kernels, a fruitbomb! The finish is dry, buttery, peppery, gingerbread, malt syrup, ashes, dry licorice.

Again, this reminds me a bit of Springbank...damn: 8


Lochside 47yo 1965-2012 54.6% OB cask#6779 (Single Blend?!...?)

I have to ask myself, even before tasting this, how can a whisky that have not become either grain or malt whisky be a single cask blend? Well, perhaps they've joined cask as new-makes but if they did that back in 1965 I guess they were well ahead of their time. The color is orange amber. An Lochside from 1965 huh? My guess is that there's a very small share of single malt in this, but such an old whisky from one single distillery is still a chance not to miss. It smells of white wine, leather, cigar smoke, gruyere cheese, buttery crackers, creamy, swiss cheese, even some brie here. The taste is buttery, rich and fat, much more so than what any Lochside single malt would be. The finish is rich, dark roast coffee, tannins, dry red wine, buttery, licorice, a really rich and powerful whisky, but the age wares it down a bit.

I wish there were more single blends around: 8.5



#3
Lochside 22yo 50% Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask

These old miniatures from Douglas Laing wears no cask reference number or vintages, but I believe more accurate info on this could be found by sources like www.whiskybase.com. The color is golden amber. It smells of leather, wax, honey, butterscotch, dark chocolate, caramel, oaky, pear cider, clover, nutmeg, orange peel. The taste is herbal, grassy, flinty, metallic, not classic Lochside, it actually reminds me a bit of some Littlemills or even Glen Scotia. Water added. Now it turns more rubbery and peppery, dry sherry, sour herbs. The finish is unripe strawberries, grassy, musty, ashes, glue.

There are many off-notes in this one, not pleasant at all: 2


Lochside 46yo 1963-2010 46.6% First Cask 5th Anniversary bottling

Only 71 bottles, perhaps this cask(s) was shared. 46yo and only second oldest in this session, but oldest vintage. The color is amber orange. It smells cinnamon, buttery, orange zest, honey, nutmeg, cardamum, earthy, caramel, peat. The taste is honey, vanilla, caramel, peanut butter, orange liqueur, stewed onions, peach tea, bourbon, a rich and sweet whisky. Time to add some water. Now it turns sweeter now, more vanilla, buttery, red paprika, honey, syrup, caramel, bold and sweet, clearly from some very decent bourbon oak. The finish is vanilla, peppery, ashes, cinnamon, rich, maize.

Flawless, rich, sweet, honeyed whisky: 8.5


Lochside 23yo 1981-2004 55.4% Blackadder Raw Cask cask#616

This one comes from a bourbon hogshead. I remember it as a kindly priced Lochside when I first bought a full bottle back in 2007, I believe at around 60GBP. I remember it as a very good whisky, but I never took notes, so thankfully it was released in miniatures as well. The color is golden amber. It smells rich, creamy, peaty, peppery, oregano, cinnamon, spicy honeyed notes, very concentrated, buttery, pistachio, vanilla. The taste is rich, heather, creamy, vanilla, stewed onions, caramel, cinnamon, one of the fullest and richest whiskies I've ever had. I will not add water to this as I can hardly see it get any better, its a dangerously good whisky. The finish is spicy, chili, malt syrup, honey, oranges.

Wow! Please enjoy this neat, and use long time, its well deserved: 9.5


Lochside 19yo 1981-2000 60.9% Cadenhead's

How many 1981 Lochsides are out there? Well, its perhaps like 1989 Fettercairn or 1998 Laphroaig, I don't believe its random what vintages the distillers chooses to sell to IB's. A good vintage can make for quite a résumé for a distillery. And it seems the 1981's from Lochside usually holds steady and good quality. The color is orange amber. It smells sharp, oranges, cinnamon, caramel, raw onions, red onions, garlic, sauteed broth, vanilla, peppery. Pretty strong and raw. The taste is peaty, grassy, honey, caramel, butterscotch, dark chocolate, chili. This needs some water to improve I guess, its just a bit too raw right now. Now it becomes more oaky, bitter, peppery, raw, seems much younger that 19yo. Well, it seems, after all, that any Lochside can be a bit "hit or miss".

Raw and peppery, young-ish whisky: 4


Lochside 25yo 1966-1991 62.7% Signatory Vintage cask#3909 btl.153/1200

The 60's distillates in this session have been great. Lets hope for a new success from '66. Very high strength for a 25yo, and I believe this cask have all gone to miniatures, hence the high number of bottles. The color is amber golden. It smells licorice, thyme, minty, vanilla, creamy, pistachio, leather, hay, grassy, much more raw and powerful than the other 60's, but indeed a malty and fresh one. The taste is sweet, marzipan, honey, pecan nuts, sugar, licorice, cloves, nutmeg, sweet tea, very light and drinkable despite the pungent nose. I would not add water to this as it already seems a bit like a light and fragile malt. The finish is peppery, ginger, herbal, onions, thyme, nutmeg, gorgonzola.

An awkwardly light 25yo at 62.7%abv: 6





Lochside then



Lochside in 2004, one year before the last buildings burnt down




Next tasting: Pittyvaich Distillery