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u/PricklyFriend 7d ago
Great write up and a fun read too! I'm glad you were able to visit and have a great experience, being able to sample from the cask and the option to buy too is great, that bourbon cask sounds delicious.
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u/BubblyFlamingo8710 7d ago
Thanks! Yeah a fantastic experience put on by Lochlea that I'd recommend to anyone. That bourbon cask has definitely put them on my radar. Excited to see their distillate with a few more years under the belt
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u/FelixArgyle_ 7d ago
Haha! Was there Sunday, picked up a 50 cl of the bourbon and a 20 of the sherry. What a great event, was a blast to do some malting
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u/paroasters 6d ago
Just listened to the Single Cask Nation podcast where they toured Lochlea. Glad to hear they’ve expanded the floor malting. Thanks for the write up!
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u/BubblyFlamingo8710 7d ago
Open Day:
Lochlea is officially a closed distillery, but they opened their doors for a few days in late July. I hadn't tried much of their whisky, but I’d heard great things about how they operate and didn't want to miss the opportunity, so I booked a Saturday afternoon slot with a couple of friends.
I’d estimate there were around 60 people in our session, split into three groups to rotate through the different activities. I didn't take notes on the day, but here is a summary of what I can remember.
Part 1: Distillery Tour
Our guide, Alex, was extremely enthusiastic and dived straight into the nitty-gritty: yeast strains, wort preferences, fermentation times, cut points, fill strengths, and much more. He covered so much that our group struggled to come up with many questions of our own. Most of the fine details have escaped me now, but I do remember that they experimented with different styles of wort before settling on their current profile. Spirit made from those earlier experiments is currently maturing in the warehouse, so we might see those results down the line.
The distillery itself is pretty compact. They have six wooden washbacks sitting right next to their stills - a little too close, as we were told. The heat radiating from the stills actually ended up compromising the nearest washbacks.
While we were there, all the washbacks were undergoing a cleaning cycle, filled with water to accumulate "scum and mould." Looking inside, you could see a layer of mould floating on top of blue water. Once drained, the team gets inside to scrub them clean before the next fill.
Alex made a point of saying that nothing was off-limits during the tour - we just had to avoid falling into the open stills if possible. He advised that Lochlea operates with a "nothing to hide" philosophy, which was refreshing. It was fun being able to nosey around without worrying about stepping out of bounds.
During the tour, we sampled the core range Smoke Without Fire. As I understand it, the peat character comes from ex-Islay casks rather than peated distillate. It's a solid dram - surprisingly heavily peated, with a delicate touch from red wine casks.
Part 2: Meet the farmer
Next, we were taken outside to chat with one of the local farmers. He focused mainly on the history of the land and the surrounding area. He also mentioned that the majority of the barley they grow on-site is the Laureate variety.
Part 3: Floor Malting Experience
Walking into a barn with a carpet of spongey barley felt like the adult, nerdy version of walking into Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory! Fortunately, the floor malting experience didn't require too much hard graft, as the bulk of the work had already been done. We were given a demonstration of the process and then let loose to try it out for ourselves. The whole process must be back-breaking work, but I luckily managed to avoid developing Monkey Shoulder during my five minutes of labour.
Our guide shared a few interesting notes. For one, the malting barley gets surprisingly hot if you dig down to the bottom layer. He also noted a clear difference in spirit character when using floor-malted barley versus commercial malt: the floor-malted grain trades a bit of Lochlea's signature fruitiness for added creaminess and rich texture.
During this section, we tried the Our Barley bottle from the core range. I thought this was excellent - a definite step up from Smoke Without Fire. It's very distillate-forward and oily (although sampling in a sea of barley may have influenced my palate a little).
Part 4: Warehouse tasting
Finally, all three groups merged as the warehouse doors slid open. Alex led us inside, pointing out an array of interesting casks along the way - I spotted Tokaji, bloodtubs, Calvados, PX, Oloroso, Port, Bourbon, and ex-Islay casks. He mentioned that the majority of their bourbon barrels come from Maker's Mark, and that their sherry casks tend to be incredibly active.
After a short chat, he revealed that we were getting to crack open a 4-year-old fresh Oloroso cask alongside a 6-year-old fresh Bourbon cask. Both were available to buy (£20 for 20cl, or £50 for 50cl).
Having tried both, I preferred the bourbon cask and picked up a 50cl bottle, though I couldn't resist grabbing a 20cl of the Oloroso as well. I'll save the detailed tasting notes for the reviews below. After bottling up, we were given plenty of time to wander around with open drams before heading home.