Monday, September 23, 2024
Review | Lochlea Harvest Edition (Third Crop)
This whisky is the latest small batch single malt from the Lowland distillery of Lochlea. The Lochlea Harvest Edition (Third Crop) is released as the award-winning field-to-bottle distillery celebrates its sixth birthday and has been created by John Campbell, the outgoing Director of Production at Lochlea. Harvest Edition forms part of a wider series inspired by the farming year and features Sowing, Fallow and Ploughing Editions also. The Third Crop will be the final bottling for each.
Thursday, June 13, 2024
Review | Lochlea Cask Strength Batch 2
Cask Strength Batch 2 is the latest limited-edition single malt whisky from the Ayrshire field-to-cask farm distillery of Lochlea (pronounced lock-lee). This second batch is both older and features different casks to the inaugural 2023 release. The batch features a cask make up not seen before in previous bottlings from the distillery - ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry (60% of the marriage) and ex-Oloroso sherry (28%) butts, plus STR ex- red wine barriques (12%). All the whiskies were distilled in 2018 or 2019.
Thursday, May 2, 2024
Review | Lochlea Sowing Season (Third Crop)
The Sowing Edition (Third Crop) is the first release in the final set of seasonal single malts from the Ayrshire distillery of Lochlea. The seasonal range highlights key points in the farming year - Sowing Edition, Harvest Edition, Fallow Edition and Ploughing Edition - with each whisky pushing the Lochlea spirit in different directions. The four First Crop releases were bottled in 2022 and the Second Crops appeared in 2023. This new whisky kicks off the third and final round of the range.
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
Review | Lochlea Ploughing Edition (Second Crop)
This whisky is the second release of limited edition Ploughing Edition single malt range from the Lowland distillery of Lochlea. The Lochlea Ploughing Edition (Second Crop) is the fourth and final bottling in its Second Crop series, which celebrates the annual farm cycle. Other releases include the Sowing, Harvest and Fallow Editions. Lochlea is one of the only distilleries in Scotland to grow all of the barley used for whisky production.
Wednesday, February 14, 2024
Distillery Visit | Lochlea
The rolling hills of rural Ayrshire are home to one of Scotland’s most up-and-coming new single malt distilleries – Lochlea. The distillery is one of very few in Scotland to operate a true ‘field to bottle’ policy and they are beginning to make waves in the Scotch whisky world and beyond with a series of impressive early releases. Last Autumn, Matt was invited to pay a visit.
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The journey to Lochlea was met with very poor weather, often described in Scotland as ‘driech’. A bumpy flight from London and the following drive to the distillery through torrential rain were fairly brutal. Hats off to Sarah from Lochlea’s marketing team who came to pick us up from Glasgow and got us to the distillery safely. She really pulled the short straw that day.
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Review | Lochlea 5 years old
This whisky is a special limited edition from the award-winning Lowland farm-to-bottle distillery of Lochlea. It has been released to mark their fifth birthday. The whisky is a vatting of just five casks, each showing a different side to the house spirit. Two of them included are from the very first distillation and cask filling in August 2018. It is the oldest whisky released by Lochlea to date and the first to carry an age statement.
Tuesday, November 28, 2023
Review | Lochlea Fallow Season (Second Crop)
The Ayrshire farm distillery of Lochlea has revealed its latest seasonal bottling - Lochlea Fallow Edition (Second Crop). The new whisky has been matured exclusively in ex-Oloroso and ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry casks. This is in the ratio of 45% and 55% respectively. The Fallow Edition pays homage to the period of the year where farmland naturally rejuvenates itself after crops have been harvested. The whisky has been created by John Campbell, the Director of Production at Lochlea.
Thursday, July 13, 2023
Review / Lochlea Cask Strength Batch 1
This whisky is the inaugural cask strength single malt from the Lowland distillery of Lochlea (pronounced lock-lee). The Lochlea Cask Strength Batch 1 has been aged in first-fill ex-bourbon and ex-Oloroso sherry casks in a ratio of 70:30 respectively. These were selected by John Campbell, the Master Blender at Lochlea. All barley used to make Lochlea spirit is grown on the Ayrshire farm where the distillery is located making it a true grain-to-glass operation. The Lochlea Cask Strength Batch 1 is bottled at 60.1% ABV and is both non chill-filtered and of natural colour. It is available through selected specialist retailers in selected global markets. A bottle will cost £65.
Friday, March 18, 2022
Inbox / The Week's Whisky News (March 18, 2022)
Wednesday, March 16, 2022
Review / Lochlea First Release
This whisky is the inaugural single malt bottling from the Lowland farm distillery of Lochlea. The Lochlea Single Malt First Release was recently launched on Burns Night (January 25). This was in homage to the famous Scottish poet, Robert Burns, who lived and worked at the Ayrshire farm where the distillery is located. Lochlea only uses barley grown on the farm for production of their single malt and distillation began in August 2018.








