Tag Archives: Lochside

Dream Dram – Lochside 46 year from 1964

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A highlight of London’s Whisky Show is access to 1000+ whiskies – including rare and old! For our first Dream Dram of 2025, we decided to splurge and go for something both! Lochside shut many years ago, making its liquid increasingly rare. And at 46 years of age, this dram indeed qualified as something mature.

I’m often asked… “Which is your favourite distillery?” Of course, that’s patently unfair as it depends on the mood, maturation, and so much more. However, whilst I’ve only had a few experiences with Lochside, it shot way up to the top and has remained there ever since.

This bottle was incredibly unique – a single blend – where both grain and malt were produced at Lochside. Even more unusual, the grain and malt were not put together later in life. Instead, from 1964 they co-mingled in the same cask, maturing for 46 years, leading to an outrun of only 139 bottles.

We found this bottle at The Whisky Exchange’s Old & Rare booth for three Dream Dram tokens, which puts it in the GBP 2,000 – 2,999 range per bottle.

Lochside Single Blend 46 year (1964) Cask 8790 42.1% (The Whisky Exchange) 

  • Nose – Sweet, green leaves, fresh, aloe, soft and nuanced, faintly floral, candy floss, growing fruitier as it opened, joined by caramel, and then behind came a creamy nutty nougat. As it further evolved, the aromas shifted into strawberries and cream, topping a fluffy angel food cake
  • Palate – Prickly initially, then the strawberries came out… the next sip was warm, gentle, and utterly lovely
  • Finish – Incredibly long, simply stunning

I fully admit to being biased; however, this will be another treasured Lochside moment!

This yet again reinforces my pre-disposition towards anything from this closed distillery – including when the malt is combined with the grain!

If you are curious about my other brushes with Lochside check out the following posts:

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Singapore’s The Swan Song

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Imagine a place that has only one of a kind drams… those rare bottles where there are merely a few hundred or so ever produced. And once gone, they are no more!

That is exactly what you can expect at The Swan Song in Singapore.

It is tucked away behind the main Prinsep Street, up a flight of stairs and open only Thursday to Sunday or holidays. Why? Put simply this is a passion project run by individuals who were brought together by a philosophy that sharing is caring.

Here you can try a rare open bottle from a closed distilleries such as Lochside, Port Ellen and Brora or explore mature marvel from the 1960s.

Kelvin Hoon and Arun Prashant are the men behind this remarkable place. Arun I had met years before when he managed The Auld Alliance where he was responsible for one of my most memorable tasting evenings in Singapore. Amazingly after many years, when we walked in, he remembered that night too.

So under his able guidance, what did we try November 1, 2018?

We began with a Cadenhead’s Linkwood-Glenlivet 28 year (1989/2017) 43.7% with only 289 bottles from a barrel purchased by The Swan Song, The Writing Club, Quaich Bar and Ubin Seafood.

It was rich, complex, one that makes you slow down and unravel its many layers. In short, it was the perfect way to get into the mood for something truly special.

Curious to know more? Just check out Justin Choo’s post on Spirited Singapore with some insider insight.

Then my companion and I each selected one dram:

Lochside 22 year (May 1979/Jan 2001) 50% (Douglas Laing’s Old Malt Cask) 1 of 276

I had such fabulous memories of the Lochside 1981, that this was an easy pick. And it absolutely did not disappoint!

Port Charlotte 12 year (2004/2016) 57.3% (Highland Laird) Bottle 81 of 225

Spot on for my friend – peat, complexity and just a damn good dram!

And an incredible experience in honour of my birthday…

Longmorn 1969 61.5% (G&MP), bottled in the 1980s

Can I just say… words failed me. This was by far the highlight of my entire trip to Singapore.

Huge thank you to Arun and team for your generosity of spirit with your spirits – a unique collection that is there to be enjoyed by the discerning or those who simply want to discover! Bravo to the team and look forward to more opportunities to enjoy a dram there on my next trip to Singapore… before it sings its swan song.

You too can enjoy your Swan Song experience in Singapore at:

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Worthy Whiskies – Mortlach, Arran Amarone, Lochside, Aultmore

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We’ve had several attempts to hold a Whisky Ladies evening in Versova so when I suddenly found out I would be traveling to North America and it happened to be the same night, I simply had to ensure it was a flight after our session rather than reschedule yet again!

And it was completely worth it. Having a chance to overlook the Arabian sea as the sun set is indeed a lovely backdrop to sampling whiskies in wonderful company.

Particularly when this was a “Worthy Whiskies” session which brought together:

Tasting this time had a bit of a twist – the Lochside and Aultmore were previously sampled with another set of fellow whisky aficionados. The Whisky Ladies reaction to the Lochside was very much in synch, so I combined the tasting notes. Whereas the response to the Aultmore was curiously divided… prompting a completely different post…

Just click on the links and read on… reactions and opinions welcome!

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