Whisky: Lochindaal 10 Year (2009), Dramfool

Country/Region: Scotland/Islay

ABV: 63%

Cask: First Fill Bourbon

Age: 10 Years (Distilled 2009, Bottled 2020)

Nose: Coastal with sweet char, salt, hints of musty animals; honey and cereals, tar and sand, aromatic wood with a touch of coffee and pastries

Palate: Medium-bodied, oily, citrus, caramel, coffee, smoked fish, and hints of cream; more herbs and brine with black pepper; occasionally musty barns and meatiness with malted milk candies and chocolate.

Finish: Medium-length with brine, charcoal, and salted caramels.

Score: 7 (83

Mental Image: Horses on a Coastal Constitutional

Narrative & Notes: Coastal with the charred remains of an old beach bonfire— it was an early morning horse ride along the shore with musty animal smells mixing with honey oat cakes, salt, and wet sand. Char and tar with a touch of hickory drifted toward creamy butter, zesty orange scones, and milky coffee.  More lox and capers with time. Medium-bodied and oily with bright charred citrus, creamy salted-caramel candies, milky coffee, and smoked fish on charred toast.  More herbs and brine lingered further in with tangy capers and cracked black pepper. Meatier over time with more musty barnyard grass and malted chocolate candies.  The finish was medium-length with brine, charcoal, and salted caramel.

Clean and coastal, this was a quintessential display of everything that makes Lochindaal an amazing, and sadly lost, distillate. Bruichladdich could of course bring it back, likely with a new name to avoid trademark issues with Beam-Suntory this time, but that seems unlikely.  Not without a massive expansion or the realization of another Islay distillery— plans that were left on the back burner long ago.

A few drops of water further developed some of the creamier aspects of the malt with more chocolate coming to the fore and lingering onto the finish.  The farmy-barnyard animal notes on the nose took quite a while to arrive on the palate, but provided a more complete experience when they did.

Overall, one of the bottles that really got me started on Lochindaal— good stuff.

Image Credit: Dramfool