Lochlea marks fifth anniversary with new release

Ayrshire distillery Lochlea has launched a limited edition whisky that is the brand’s first age-statement expression.

Lochlea 5 Year Old is a vatting of five different casks, hand-selected by production director John Campbell and the team, with each showing a different side of the house spirit. The distillery was founded five years ago on Lochlea Farm, where Scottish poet Robert Burns lived and worked. Two of the five casks in the new expression are from the distillery’s first filling in August 2018, making the release the oldest Lochlea whisky to date. The expression combines two first-fill ex-Bourbon casks, one first-fill oloroso Sherry cask, one double-matured oloroso Sherry cask and a double-matured Pedro Ximénez Sherry cask. On the nose, it has ‘baked pineapple, brown sugar, hazelnuts and sourdough bread’, with ‘lemon zest, candied pear crumble and orange peel’ on the palate. The finish offers notes of ‘caramel with hints of black pepper, rose petals and leather’. Lochlea 5 Year Old is available from 25 January, with an RRP of £89.99 (US$114). Campbell said: “To mark our fifth anniversary milestone, we wanted to create a whisky that shows off the best of Lochlea spirit that has been matured in different styles of casks over the past half a decade. “We have carefully chosen these five casks that have matured our single malt to perfection, then vatted them together to create a unique bottling of Lochlea that we won’t replicate ever again – it’s an incredibly special dram to mark our first special milestone birthday. “As always with our whiskies, it’s made entirely from barley grown on our farm here at Lochlea. “In celebration of this special milestone, we felt it was fitting to release it on Burns Night as a nod to Robert Burns, who once worked the land that we rely on for our own barley and, ultimately, our final spirit.” Lochlea grows all its own barley, distils spirit and matures its stock on site. The distillery releases annual limited edition whiskies to mark the seasons on the farm. Last year, the brand’s commercial director David Ferguson revealed that it was ahead of its ‘ambitious’ goals.