Lochlea Vertical Tasting with John Campbell
Local specialty spirits shop Storied Company played host to John Campbell as he discussed Lochlea’s whiskies.
At our favorite local spirits tasting bar and shop, Storied Company, we had the chance to listen to John Campbell speak about the spirits he is creating at relatively new distillery Lochlea, in the Lowlands of Scotland.
Many experienced whisky enthusiasts will be familiar with John Campbell - he spent almost thirty years at Laphroaig, one of the most famous peat-heavy single malt brands, with its distillery located on the south coast of Islay. For a large proportion of that time, he was distillery manager, so he was responsible for both the continuation and consistency of Laphroaig’s famous core bottlings, as well as the innovation found in special releases such as the annual Cairdeas.
He now serves as production director and master blender at Lochlea, a role which also includes board responsibilities and other tasks, meaning he has a great understanding of all parts of Lochlea’s business, from the whisky-making process itself, to the brand growth and distribution. With his experience from Laphroaig, and his current role allowing for experimentation at all levels of the whisky production process, he was the perfect host to help us survey the single malts that the brand has to offer.
Lochlea is a young distillery - they only began production about five years ago (at time of writing, November 2023), but they’re already gaining recognition for their commitment to quality and transparency, two popular pillars in the modern whisky world. One of the focuses of Lochlea is their farm to bottle process chain, as well as their sustainability. All barley used in making the spirit is grown on the distillery’s farm, and currently, everything in the whisky-making process is done at the same location except for three tasks: barley malting, bottling, and waste processing for pot ale.
Their goal is to bring all of those additional tasks to the same facility, to ensure that the distillery is as sustainable and environmentally friendly as possible; plans include a possible malting solution as soon as 2024. When asked about the possible expansion in size of the distillery and its product, and whether or not they might outpace their own barley crop growth, John explained that their goal is to keep growth in check - they won’t expand too quickly, and their own barley crops should provide for their needs for the foreseeable future.
Whiskies available from the brand include a core release (‘Our Barley’), four seasonal releases (‘Sowing,’ ‘Harvest,’ ‘Fallow,’ and ‘Ploughing’), and a new Cask Strength release, the first batch of which we had a chance to taste.
The six whiskies we tasted - the core range ‘Our Barley,’ the four seasonal releases, and the first batch of the Cask Strength.
First up, the flagship single malt from the distillery: Our Barley. This is the core expression that’s meant to represent the distillery at its heart, and it’s the building block for all of the other expressions that are released. Like all of the expressions, this whisky is made using barley that is grown on the distillery’s farm.
Our Barley notes and tasting notes:
Bottled at 46% ABV. Cask makeup includes first fill bourbon barrels (Maker’s Mark barrels), European oak sherry butts, and STR (shaved, toasted, recharred) casks.
Nose: malty, bright, spirity, pears, soft citrus, sweet vanilla
Palate: malty, dry oak, dry vanilla, pear, spice
Finish: orange, dry wood, peppercorns, cinnamon spice
Next up: the four seasonal releases. These are smaller outturn editions, each of which corresponds with a certain time of year, or a season, and their names mirror the life cycle of the barley fields.
In the spring time, we get the Sowing Edition. Bottled at 46%, the cask makeup includes first fill bourbon barrels. This whisky represents the time of year that the barley is sown into the fields to begin growth.
In the summer, we get the Harvest Edition. Bottled at 46%, the cask makeup includes tawny port casks, first fill bourbon barrels, and STR casks. This whisky represents the time of year that the fully grown barley is harvest from the fields after its short growing season.
In the autumn, we get the Fallow Edition. Bottled at 46%, the cask makeup includes full-maturation Oloroso sherry butts. In the autumn, cover crops are planted, and the fields contain no barley as the soil recovered for the next year’s planting.
In the winter, we get the Ploughing Edition. Bottled at 46%, the cask makeup includes first fill bourbon barrels, as well as peated barrels and quarter casks from Laphroaig. The cold, hard winter is the time of year when the soil in the fields is prepared for the next year of crops.
Harvest Edition (Crop 2)
Nose: slightly sharp alcohol, pomegranate, soft rich oak, grape, nutty spice
Palate: sweet and dark, pomegranate, acai, rubber, chalky chocolate, fig
Finish: orange seeds, nutmeg, orange toothpaste, white pepper, raisin
Sowing Edition (Crop 2)
Nose: white pepper, soft, barley grain, barley sugar, vanilla, green apple
Palate: sweeter, malty, lots of vanilla, lightly floral, nice weighty spirit, honey
Finish: wood spice, vanilla pods, hints of rosemary and lemongrass
Ploughing Edition (Crop 1)
Nose: vanilla, soft and light, mild peat, black pepper, hint of ashy, salinity, balsamic
Palate: hot peppers, young and fresh, light to medium peat smoke, white pepper, vanilla
Finish: creamy, light malt, vanilla, soft smoke, ashy, white pepper
Fallow Edition (Crop 1)
Nose: orange, nuts, rich dried fruits, fig and prune, creamy, strawberry, white pepper
Palate: syrupy, sugary, orange and raspberry, sherbet, nutmeg
Finish: oily with wood spice, soft tart red fruit, nutty, becomes more subtle
One interesting note about these seasonal releases - each year, a new ‘crop’ is releases. The first set hit the market in 2022, and in 2023, we’re currently receiving the second crop. Currently, the plan is to release 4 crops of each seasonal whisky, so 4 years of these limited releases - then the distillery will move on to age stated single malts, probably starting around the 8 year old mark. These age stated releases, along with the ‘Our Barley’ single malt, will represent the more mature core range from Lochlea.
The cask recipe for these seasonal releases will be adjusted slightly each year, based on which casks are ready to be using in blending. The second crop Harvest Edition, for instance, uses 50% tawny port casks, 20% first fill bourbon barrels, and 30% STR casks; in future years, that will likely be adjusted. We got a hint that the next Fallow Edition may include a lot more PX sherry cask influence!
The final whisky we tasted was the first batch of Lochlea’s Cask Strength single malt. Like all of the others, this is not chill filtered and contains no added coloring; it’s bottled at a hefty 60.1% ABV. The casks used in this mixture consisted of 69% first fill ex-bourbon barrels and 31% first fill ex-Oloroso sherry hogsheads.
Cask Strength Batch 1 tasting notes:
Nose: brown sugar and peaches, star anise, malt, cooking spices, and oak
Palate: orange, brown sugar, spicy oak, cinnamon, fig, nuts
Finish: oily, brown sugar, fig, perfumed oak, lots of spice
Overall, a fascinating experience - we were lucky to try essentially all of the releases from the distillery side by side, other than a few, more limited region-specific bottlings. There’s a nice character and weight to the spirit coming out of Lochlea; while this whisky is still quite young, it’s already tasty, and it’s showing a lot of promise for the coming years, when more well-aged whisky makes its way into the bottle.
