Lochlea Ploughing Edition (First Crop)

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 04 February 2023). Nose: Pastry, orchard fruit, berries, very light damp peat smoke, mild baking spices (cinnamon and nutmeg) Palate: Bright and spirit forward, orchard fruit (pears and berries), cereal. There is an Islay character to the light smoke. Finish: Medium long finish. More fruit on the finish which develops into a far more peated note on the finish. Dry smoke and wood ash on the aftertaste. Finished in Laphroaig casks. This is obviously a young bright spirit with not a lot of cask influence, but what cask influence there is, really works here. The Islay cask influence layers in some wisps of peat smoke that builds and develops into a more complex dram on the palate as it matures, and comes into the fore on the finish and aftertaste. Nice. Came joint last out of the six drams, with 0% of the final vote for favourite of the night. 45% of those present said they enjoyed the whisky. There were two stand out drams that dominated the voting, so some of the whiskies may have unfairly suffered in the voting as a result.