PC Lochside 1981 49.2%

Private Collection 1981 Lochside Distillery

Nose

Rich Sherry aromas complement fragrant mandarin peel. Salted almonds come to the fore with raspberry compote and faint malted biscuit.

Taste

Roasted coffee beans lead to walnuts and stewed raisins. Blackcurrant jam accompanies Seville orange peel and red apple.

Finish

A long finish with lingering hazelnuts and cocoa powder.

Lochside

Lochside was a brewery from 1786 until its closure in 1957. It incorporated a white tower – a classic German brauhaus design – that was reinterpreted by Charles Doig in 1899. The site was then bought by Joseph Hobbs (who owned Ben Nevis distillery) and he set about installing a Coffey still, swiftly followed by four pot stills in 1961.

His son, Joe Junior, retained ownership until 1973 when Spanish distiller Destilerias y Crianzas [DyC] bought it as a source for the some of the malt it used in its top-selling DYC blend. The Coffey still was decommissioned and the distillery ran until the early 1990s when DYC [by then part of Sherry and wine firm Pedro Domecq] was itself taken over by Allied Distillers.

Lochside was considered surplus to requirements by its new parent, it was closed and sold to developers before being demolished in 2005.