tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505596403623446960.post2656562290114347066..comments2022-02-02T04:41:06.389-08:00Comments on SquidgyAsh The Whisky Fiend: SquidgyAshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08797124873397098159noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505596403623446960.post-69956162719758222442014-05-07T22:01:01.477-07:002014-05-07T22:01:01.477-07:00Nathan - it might interest you to know I've ac...Nathan - it might interest you to know I've actually visited and been all over Loch Lomond Distillery! It's a very interesting set up. The grain distillery and the malt distillery are two separate areas, although linked via the one building enclosure. Yes, there are eight stills in the malt distillery, but they are actually four pairs of two. (i.e. four pairs of wash stills and spirit stills). Four of the stills (i.e. two of the pairs) are "pots with rectifying heads", but please note they're actually NOT Lomond stills. One pair is a is a conventional set of pots, and the last pair are actually column stills. These column stills make the same amount of spirit as all the other six put together. (It's these same two column stills that have caused all the fuss with the SWA. You'll find all the goss on this if you do a bit of googling).<br /><br />As you rightly pointed out, Inchmurrin is made using the stills with the rectifying heads. Amazingly, it comes off the stills at 80%, which is incredibly high. (Bear in mind, many distilleries don't start taking their cut until the low 70's). In contrast, one of Loch Lomond's other malts, Glen Douglas, comes off at 55%.<br /><br />Now, here's the really juicy bit: Loch Lomond doesn't produce its differently peated whiskies by using malt that has been peated to different levels. (i.e. they don't distil a batch of malt peated to 25ppm and call it Inchmoan, and then distil batch of malt at 40ppm and call it Inchmurrin, etc). Rather, all of their peated is malt is peated to 50ppm. They achieve all of their different styles by using different fermentation times; distilling them in different stills (using different distillation charges, times, and temperatures); and - of course - distilling them in the different stills!<br /><br />Their regular production used 0ppm malt for 46 weeks of the year. They only do peated campaigns for 6 weeks of the year. The heaviest peated whisky they make is Croftengea. This is rare and hard to find, HOWEVER, The Scotch Malt Whisky Society has featured two different bottlings of it in recent years. One of them, a 16yo, was an exceptionally tasty whisky!<br /><br />Hope this extra stuff was informative. I have a tonne of photographs from my visit, too, if you'd like to see some pics. (Actually, if you browse through my Twitter history on my @SMWS_Australia account, you'll see a few Loch Lomond pics).<br /><br />Cheers,<br />ADAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09940060911148776875noreply@blogger.com