Loch Lomond is one of Scotland’s largest and most versatile distilleries. It is both a grain and malt distillery. It produces single grain whiskies and single malt whiskies, blends too. The site has both pot stills and a single Coffey still. Column stills are used for the grain whisky distillation.  The distillery is technically in the Highlands but it straddles the Lowlands with its location in Alexandria, a town on the distillery’s namesake, Loch Lomond.

A fairly new distillery by Scotland’s terms, Loch Lomond commenced production in 1966. Interestingly, Loch Lomond was a venture between the owners of the nearby Littemill Distillery and the American owned Barton Brands. A true innovator, with its own grain and malt production, Loch Lomond was not reliant on trading stock with other distilleries for its blends. The distillery beats to its own drum for more than just its spirit versatility. It utilizes wine yeasts, highly unusual, for its fruity whiskies and has its own cooperage on site. It’s one of only four Scottish distilleries with its own cooperage, ensuring only the highest quality casks are used for Loch Lomond whiskies. Typical fermentation is between 40-45 hours but not Loch Lomond, here the fermentation period is 90 hours.

Loch Lomond defines their single malt style as ‘delivering fruit, sweet honey and soft smoke’. Producing both peated and unpeated malts, this 16 year old Inchfad, is Loch Lomond’s highly peated single malt. Officially released as single malt for a short time, it’s now used in the distillery’s blended whiskies. Luckily, independent bottlers are sometimes able to get their hands on this delicious liquid.