Lochside 1964 (The Whisky Exchange)

Lochside produced both grain and malt whisky from its opening in 1957 until the early 1970s and this is a ‘single blend’ using both types of whisky from the same distillery. Unusually, the whisky was blended before ageing, with the mix of grain and malt maturing in the same cask for 46 years.

Lochside 46 yo 1964 (42,1%,
The Whisky Exchange 2011, cask #8970,
single blend, 139 btl.)

Nose: tropical fruit galore: pineapple, mango, passion fruit, tangerine… also a buttery note (white chocolate and butterscotch) which brings up memories of the lovely BbyB white chocolate / passion fruit / basil bars. Quite a lot of coconut as well. It’s clear that we’re listing a lot of aromas commonly associated with old grain whisky. Exquisite nonetheless.

Mouth: still quite a “grainy” profile. Green banana, coconut, papaya. Also pink grapefruit and tangerine (similar to some 1970’s BenRiach). Oak as well, with a faint bitterness. Overall a little soft but full of flavours and pretty complex.

Finish: still very fruity, grainy and slightly floral.

A lovely exotic nose and a smooth, fruity palate. Amazing how it managed to keep out woody notes. On the other hand, as the influence of the malt is not very high, old single grain whiskies offer a very similar profile at half the price. Around € 310. Still available from TWE.

Score: 91/100