Lochlea Harvest Edition (First Crop)
Mellow, Sweet Fruity2022-09-10
A trio of casks, namely port, first-fill Oloroso sherry and first-fill bourbon lend the whisky its golden colour. We find the package design in the style of the distillery's other releases, as well as the bottle design, outstanding.
Smell
The Harvest Edition opens with apple juice. Damn apple juice. Aromas of fresh pear, maple syrup, malty sweetness and some grain and hay in the background unfold. Maybe a little nutty and kind of like a horse stable. Candy strawberries and red wine notes are also in the mix.
Taste
Also: apple juice. This is followed by fresh, sugared strawberries on milk chocolate. Underneath, a few dry grasses, nutty notes and a pile of a mixture of butter biscuits and oat biscuits.
Finish
The finish is very strong vinous and distinctly oaky spicy.
Thoughts
That is a perfect match. John Campbell and his team have created a promising profile that clearly meets (our) expectations of a late summer whisky. However, as with the Lochlea Our Barley, the bottling is not completely rounded, but that is not necessarily to be expected from a recently founded distillery and a maturation of three years. Even if not every aroma strand is precisely worked out, the overall composition is nevertheless coherent.