As whisky geek, I tend to send and receive whisky samples all the time and this is the major source I have to enrich my whisky knowledge (and gives me materials to write here on the blog). Despite all that, there are so many distilleries (and whiskies) out there I never had to chance to familiarize myself with and taste, so whenever I get the chance to try a new distillery, I give it a top priority. So when In a recent samples swap, I got the chance to get my first Royal Lochnagar whisky, I couldn’t say no 🙂

Royal Lochnagar, one of Diageo distilleries, is located in the eastern highlands and doesn’t produce many official bottlings – there’s a standard 12yo bottling which I never tasted before (shame on me, I know…) and a couple of old/rare bottles but for the majority of the whisky drinkers, it’s only the official 12yo. As it’s a small distillery and Diageo owned, not many casks are sold to independent bottlers so It’s quite a treat to taste one.

Royal Lochnagar 12 yo Cask 519 (Harris Whisky Co.) (46%, 850 bottles, £49.9)

Nose: Flowers, meadow, lemon, heather honey, sweet nose but dry, mellow and smooth. definitely not overpowering. A delicate summertime nose.

Palate: Nothing on the nose prepared me to the oily feeling of this one, full of heather, wood spices followed by herbal notes.

Finish: Too short. Some wood notes, mild and some new make feeling (in a good way). some elderflowers (very strong note when sniffing the empty glass).

Conclusion: I really liked it. It’s a very delicate whisky, fragrant and perfumed. I can see it being drank at posh parties, summer evenings or by people who prefer the light, sweet and delicate profile. at £50, it’s £15 above the OB 12yo price and just now Diageo released a bottle of Royal Lochnagar for their fan club (priced at £80, no age statement!), since I didn’t didn’t taste those, I cannot tell you if this one is worth the price difference. But remember – It’s a good whisky, this one.

(Thanks Adrian for the sample! visit his own whisky blog here)