Lochside Blackadder Raw Cask 1981/2004

So, I'm very excited about this one, my first dram from a lost distillery. Browsing a local liquor store looking for some cheap bottles I came across this older gem from Blackadder. Lochside was a distillery in Montrose Angus. It was open for only 35 years from 1957 to 1992, production was set up in an old brewery for the Sandy Macnab blend. After its closure the distillery was destined to be torn down and its grounds used for redevelopment. The old 19th century tower building was supposed to be preserved but a fire in 2005 destroyed all the remaining buildings, so I've you go looking today, you'll search in vain to find a trace of the old distillery, lost forever only some old pictures remain and a few bottles that pop-up from time to time.

The bottle, well its a raw cask, which means the bottlers left the pulp from the cask in, or as some experts would say: they added some pulp to the bottle. It's non-chill filtered and no E150 was added.

Nose: wow, there is a lot in here: honey, rosemary, vanilla, ginger,orange pepper and notes of cinnamon it's definitely a full and creamy nose but with hints of peat. Impressive!

Taste: Ok, this blew me right of my feet, so rich and full. When you sip it for a second all flavour disappears but suddenly comes back with an explosion of citrus, it raps itself right around your tongue and caresses all your taste buds. Warm and creamy orange oil, creamy, vanilla, cinnamon, butter. It burns right on the top of the tongue Very different from any contemporary malts that I've tried.

Finish: rather short but powerful, more oranges but spicy, peppery and strips of leather with a whiff of peat and salt.

Conclusion: From what I get from other reviews of this distillery's products, their quality diminished over time and the whisky they produced for their blends did not live up to the expectations. But bottles like this do prove that in the end they deserved better and maybe someday people will recognize its greatness. The score that I assign to this malt speaks for itself.

Find where to buy Lochside whisky