Loch Lomond 1996/2025 - 28 yo - Sauternes Cask Finish - Murray McDavid

Volume: 0.7 litres | Alcohol content: 51.2% | Chill filtration: No | Colouring: No

Special Features:

This 28-year-old Single Grain is unusual: Loch Lomond distilled it in 1996 from malted barley rather than the wheat or maize commonly used for grain whisky. This gives it a more complex grain whisky style. In spring 2025, Murray McDavid added the whisky to Mission Gold, its range of rare and exceptional older whiskies.

After maturation in bourbon barrels, the whisky spent its final five years finishing in first-fill Sauternes casks. The dessert wine's floral influence complements the grain whisky's sweetness and tropical fruit notes. Casks 42957, 1910978 and 1920979 yielded a total of 686 bottles at 51.2%. The whisky is non-chill filtered and contains no added colouring.

Tasting Notes:

• Nose: On the nose, honey with a floral character combines with glazed peach and citrus notes.
• Palate: On the palate, candied lemon and tropical fruits meet a creamy texture.
• Finish: Ginger, vanilla cream and sweet spices linger on the finish.

Distillery/Bottler:

Loch Lomond combines malt and grain production at its distillery. The grain facility was added in 1994, broadening its whisky-making possibilities. For this Single Grain, the distillery used malted barley, a raw material usually associated with single malt.

Murray McDavid was founded in 1994 by wine merchants Mark Reynier and Simon Coughlin, together with Gordon Wright of Springbank. Their wine expertise shaped the choice of casks, with further maturation in wine casks becoming a particular focus of the independent bottler. Today, Murray McDavid belongs to Aceo Ltd. and is based at Coleburn Distillery in Speyside, where whisky matures in selected oak casks from various countries.

For this release, Murray McDavid complemented Loch Lomond's grain spirit with five years of further maturation in Sauternes casks and bottled the whisky for Mission Gold. The finish thus reflects the independent bottler's approach; this is not an official distillery bottling.

Facts: