Loch Lomond debuts 50YO single malt for £25,000

The whisky is drawn from the oldest reserves at Loch Lomond and is limited to 100 hand-numbered bottles worldwide.

Loch Lomond 50-Year-Old was distilled in 1973 using 100% unpeated malted barley. It was aged in refilled American oak casks, moved to first-fill Bourbon casks in 2011 and moved again to oloroso Sherry hogsheads in 2017.

“The decision to re-cask a whisky of this quality and age is not something I take lightly,” said master blender Michael Henry, who joined the distillery in 2007. “However, the complexity and depth of flavour brought by the first-fill Bourbon and the oloroso Sherry casks have made this a truly special single malt, which provides a window into our past and captures the original style of whisky-making at Loch Lomond Distillery.”

Bottled at 42.6% ABV, only 100 bottles are available worldwide, priced at £25,000 (US$32,107).

“The expectations are high when you are working with liquid as special and as scarce as this, but it is a true honour to be the final custodian of such a special piece of history,” Henry said.

The whisky is described as light and fruity, with orange, mint, and mango on the nose, while the palate offers melted brown sugar, marmalade, cherry, and warming cinnamon spice. “Loch Lomond 50-Year-Old is a rare example of our timeless distillation innovation,” Henry said.

Loch Lomond previously released a 50-year-old single malt in 2017, describing it as the independent distillery’s oldest and rarest bottling to date. That whisky was bottled at 46.2% ABV and priced at £12,000 (about US$15,500). It was aged in an American oak hogshead and then an English oak hogshead, with only 60 decanters released worldwide.