Loch Lomond | 61.8% ABV

What’s in a number?

For the Scotch Malt Whisky society, the numbering system is very much an alias of sorts. Allowing them to bottle a range of distilleries and distillates without upsetting any owners or corporations, with the odd exception near Aberlour. After all, upsetting these individuals means no more casks. For any bottler it is a huge risk that you cannot overcome. Aliases it seems are catching on in whisky, as is our need to know what lies behind the numbers, or even a name. 

Granting a specific number to a new distillate isn’t something new for the SMWS; in fact, they have a track record on it. That budding era of distilleries within distilleries – with their own unique stills – led to the creation of some of the rarest SMWS numbers. Unicorn stuff that’s rarely seen in a wildlife park dedicated to rarities, but if you look hard enough, you’ll spot a 104 (Glencraig, distilled at the Glenburgie site) and 109 which is Mosstowie (distilled at Miltonduff). More modern equivalents would be 114 (Longrow) or 126 (Hazelburn) which come from Springbank and the same stills, but feature a different process and level of peat.

It can become more confusing when you throw in something like Ledaig, which is bottled under the same number as Tobermory, despite ticking many of the boxes as the aforementioned Springbank posse in terms of differences. Consistency and clarity are the key, especially going forward as mistakes from the past cannot be erased or renovated. You have to own them and learn from them.

So, what is distillery 122 or more specifically, what type of distillate is it?

Heralding from the Loch Lomond distillery, the site is unique in Scotland for the sheer variety it offers. Keeping up with the rich assortment of distillates isn’t as straightforward as you think at times. Some have been lost to history, others are new arrivals and those that remain have often developed over the years through experience. When a bottler becomes confused, applies the wrong number or fails to recognise a new entity, you know things are complicated. 

I was struggling to categorise what Croftengea represented today as I did some research for this article. Sure, it has been around for a while and the only real information was a brief quote from the Whisky Magazine from several years ago. That information, as it turns out, is no longer valid to the more modern equivalent that carries its name. To put things right and in context once and for all, I reached out to the ever-helpful Michael Henry, Master Blender of the Loch Lomond Group. Who else is better placed to remove some of the mystery and give us the definitive detail?

Previously, Loch Lomond was represented by numbers 112 and 122, the thought process behind this is documented in a 2019 article within the SMWS Unfiltered magazine. On a side note, can I say I miss the printed version of this publication? PDF’s and such-like are useful, but in an age where we’re returning to physical formats such as vinyl, there’s a beauty, tactile appreciation and joy that comes from the printed format. 

Prior to revisiting the numbers, the SMWS deployed these on the basis of the spirit style, meaning that 112 was Inchmurrin and 122 Croftengea. The discussion was prompted by the creation of a new number in the SMWS range (135, Inchmoan) and admission that a foo-pah had taken place previously:

Michael explained that the new approach ‘changed from using distillery codes to represent a specific spirit style e.g., Croftengea, to using the distillery code to represent a distillation style’, while also highlighting:

So, a flexibility within the numbers now exists and it pays to read the tasting notes and cask details before clicking on buy it now for any of these numbers. As within each number there could still exist tremendous variation, as outlined below:

112        

Straight neck pot still, spirit cut from 90-80% giving a high spirit collection strength, still head cooling on. Can be distilled from unpeated malt (Inchmurrin spirit style) or 50ppm heavy peated malt (Inchmoan spirit style).

122        

Straight neck pot still, spirit cut from 90-55% giving a low spirit collection strength, still head cooling off. Can be distilled from unpeated malt (Glen Douglas spirit style), 25 ppm medium peated malt (Craiglodge spirit style) or 50ppm heavy peated malt (Croftengea spirit style).

135        

Swan neck pot still, 73-68% spirit cut. Can be distilled from unpeated malt (Inchfad spirit style), 25ppm medium peated malt (Inchfad MP spirit style) or 50ppm heavy peated malt (Inchfad HP spirit style).

My thanks to Michael for providing this handy outline that will be a purchasing guide and entry point into the world of Loch Lomond and SMWS releases in our current era. Additional thanks to my neighbour for loaning me the bottle that prompted all of this. For the record, I handed over a lovely Thompson Brothers sherried Islay malt blended whisky as a trade. All of which brings us back to the whisky at hand and what is 122.48? Hopefully, we’ve managed to provide more clarity.

Clearly this is a heavily peated malt, now at 50ppm for those who like their peat categorised. Produced in the Croftengea spirit style, which is in a straight neck still with the cooling ring switched off to encourage the heavier oily compounds to be delivered. In total, 223 bottles were produced at a very reasonable price of £49 – as I write this, 3 bottles are available online and may have gone by the time of publication. If you’re a member, then you might stumble across a bottle at a venue near you.

Review

8yo, 2nd fill ex-bourbon barrel, 61.8% ABV
£49 via the SMWS

Nose

Charred wood and wine-like in places. Coal dust, caramel and chocolate. Spent incense, liquorice and melted plastic. Smoked haddock, dried reeds and honey. Adding water reveals seaweed, hemp and calamine lotion. Limes, fresh popcorn, blackcurrant, pine nuts and almonds – quite the assortment.

Palate

Pungent with smoke and char initially. In some senses it is very flat initially, as that’s all it has to say without requiring more effort. I’d certainly recommend letting it sit for a while. Bacon, ashy, more coal and barbeque notes with some raspberry freshness. Adding water (it can take a barrel load) brings out some very faint fruit notes and sweet smoke, mace and cloves. 

The Dregs

This in some respects, is filler in a monthly outturn. Ticking the heavily peated box for a segment of the membership. A sacrificial malt to make up the numbers and in some respects it deserves better. You can get a sense that there’s potential here, but it’s been extracted too soon from the cask. More time would have lessened the peaty grip and allowed other characteristics to step into the mix. You can unearth these with patience and a forensic approach. And at 61.8%, there’s plenty of opportunity to try the benefits of water and, in general, appreciate the different styles that Loch Lomond produces.

Score: 5/10

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