The tour de force in the current series by Malts of Scotland is a Lochside 1967. It’s not a ‘single blend’ (malt and grain both distilled at Lochside) like we’ve seen from Adelphi or The Whisky Exchange last year, it’s a single malt version this time.

Lochside 44 yo 1967 (41,7%, Malts of Scotland 2012, bourbon hogshead, MoS 12016, 115 btl.)

Nose: needs some time. There’s a lot of (good) dust at first, the kind of musty smell of a bodega or a whisky warehouse. Moss and mushrooms too. Quite some oily notes as well (cod liver oil, paraffin). A little metal polish. Then it settles down but it keeps developing. Chamomile. A little vanilla. Not a fruit bomb, but it does show papaya, apricots and relatively shy citrus notes. Soft tobacco notes as well. You only see this kind of profile in really old malts, it’s quite unique but not entirely satisfying maybe because of its softness. Mouth: obviously not very punchy but quite flavoursome. Starts on a fair amount of oak and tobacco, with a sudden wave of rather tropical fruity notes (guava, coconut). Again some chamomile, maybe other teas as well. Oak, definitely, which is not too dry and mostly adds some bitter notes: grapefruit, ginger, a few tannins. In the background there’s always this unique dustiness. Finish: medium long, now almost entirely on oak juices. Bitter oranges as well. A little mint.

A different Lochside than the more fruity single blends distilled in the 1960’s. Don’t rush this one, it’s old and delicate and it needs some time. But once it has opened up you get to enjoy a unique profile and fine complexity. Many other malts would have been dead after so many years in the cask, this one is still alive. Expensive of course: around € 345.

Score: 89/100