This might sound like quite a strange way to start off a scotch review but when you mix Bison Grass vodka with apple juice it tastes very much like diving into an apple pie. This experience reminds us of the entrance the Loch Lomond 18 Year Old makes. The nose is not overpowering but you do get a baked apple aroma and part of you wishes that there could be a big dollop of vanilla ice cream on hand to go with it.
After a subtle start, this Highland whisky shows its cards when you taste it. The 18 years spent in the American Oak casks has led a to refined, smooth and rich flavour consisting of sweet fruits. There’s the apple characteristics from the nose in the taste too but there’s a grape-like sweetness to this as well which might make you think sherry casks played a role somewhere in the maturation but this is not stated anywhere. Along with this sweetness, you get a little element of vanilla which you would associate American Oak casks with and you get some of the oakiness itself but it’s not too prominent, as some claim.
The finish is where some peat comes in which is not particularly present while tasting. It’s quite a tobacco-like taste that catches you at the end. You can be caught off guard by this as you might think you’d just been in a smoke filled room. Certainly a memorable finish. Don’t worry, the tabacco finish shouldn’t put off any non-smokers out there (including us).
The Loch Lomond 18 is definitely a cracking whisky to have if you’re looking for a bit of an all-rounder. There’s oak, sweet and peat notes all packed carefully together. This is a scotch where age has played its role and the price tag is pretty good given it has had 18 years in the barrel. Overall, a great addition to the whisky cabinet.