The Lost Distillery Company is a… company with the ambition to revive whisky from several long gone distilleries. During the 20th century, many Scotch distilleries shut down, because of wars, prohibition, or because they went bankrupt. They released blends trying to reproduce the production of seven lost distilleries, five out of those being still available. Each of those seven blends was then available in three different editions. The Classic edition is bottled at 43% and is the ‘youngest’ of the editions. The Archivist ones seem to be made from older component as their profile is said as being ‘extra mature’ (the classic is just ‘mature’) and is bottled at 46%. Finally, the Vintage Selection ones are the oldest and are also bottled at 46% ABV. No Vintage on our menu today, but we’ll review today either a Classic or an Archivist batch of all the Lost Distillery Company blends.
The Lost Distillery Company
Two former Diageo employees, Scott Watson and Brian Woods, founded the Lost Distillery Company back in 2013. Their goal was to recreate the whisky styles thought to have been produced at some lost distilleries. They worked with a team of blenders and archivists, under the direction of Professor Michal Moss of Glasgow University, to guess each distillery’s style. The first two distilleries they attempted to ‘recreate’ were Auchnagie and Stratheden, then added five more distilleries. Each time, they looked at the distillery’s set-up, as well as local traditions and conditions to make an educated guess at the whisky style.
Auchnagie Archivist Blended Malt Review
We kick things off with an Archivist edition of the Auchnagie Blended Malt. Auchnagie Distillery, also later known as Tullymet, was a distillery founded in 1827 by James Duff & Co. It was acquired on a long lease by John Dewar and Sons in 1890, but as they built Aberfeldy in 1895 and 1896, with far better access to transport, they finally shut down Auchnagie in 1912. You can find more information about Auchnagie on the Lost Distillery Company’s website here. This Archivist version is bottled at 46% ABV, non-chill filtered nor coloured, and is one of the two expressions discontinued amongst their range. You can still find some, however, in Germany from €50, or for £60 at Lost Distillery’s online shop (currently on sale with £3 off at the time of writing).
Colour:
Pale straw. The crown is made of medium-sized beads turning into quick descending large legs.
Nose:
Sour white wine notes from the start, raw malt, a bit of yeast, it is a bit prickly. The sourness also comes from fruits, with grapefruit, green apple. Pear eau-de-vie. After some time, French toast notes as well.
Palate:
Citrus fruits from the start, with a light woody bitterness. A little bit of honey, and most of the notes from the nose translate to the palate as well, as I can find the pear eau-de-vie, the green apples and the French toast here too. The grapefruit is even sourer than it let show through on the nose.
Finish:
Unsurprisingly citrusy and malty, and quite long.
Comments:
For me, the nose is too sour and spicy for my taste… and the palate follows on the nose steps. Not my favourite from the range.
Rating: 80/100
Dalaruan Archivist Blended Malt Review
Dalaruan distillery was located in the classic part of Campbeltown and was founded in 1824 par Charles Colvill. They used to dry the malt using peat and triple distill their whisky. The distillery closed down in 1925 during Campbeltown demise (because of overproduction and prohibition in the US), and its aged stock sold off. The distillery was demolished a few years later. You can read more about the distillery on Lost Company’s website. Like all Archivist editions, this is bottled at 46% without chill filtration nor colouring. Still available on their online shop for £60 (on sale at £55 at this moment).
Colour:
Chestnut. A swirl gives out a crown with heads taking time to form before changing to slow descending medium legs.
Nose:
Light peaty notes, honey, cinnamon, dried fruits, then some leather. There is a nice warm spiciness. Some herbal notes, and fruity notes quite hard to pinpoint, maybe apricot and orange? They’re quite blurry. Oily smoke, paraffin. After some time, I may have a better idea of the fruits, maybe mango, lemon and pineapple.
Palate:
The peatiness is more obvious on the palate but stays soft. This is also a bit maritime, which is not surprising as it tried to recreate a Campbeltown distillery, with some salt and brine notes. Nice oily mouthfeel. Honey, bright citrusy fruits providing a welcome freshness, grape juice, hints of vanilla, but also nuts, pepper, nutmeg and a bit of wood. Maybe cough syrup.
Finish:
Good length, smoked grapes, mentholy lemon juice.
Comments:
This is nice. It needs some time in the glass to become more defined, but I love the maritime and smoky notes, whilst it stays fresh, both on the nose and palate.
Rating: 84/100
Gerston Classic Blended Malt Review
Gerston was situated a mile and a half from the village of Halkirk. It was built by Francis Swanson in 1795 but closed down in 1875 and demolished in 1882. A second distillery was built in Halkirk not long afterwards, named Gerston II then renamed Ben Morven and was a commercial failure, closing definitely during the First World War. We try here the Classic edition of the Gerston recreation blend, bottled at 43%, but still non-chill filtered nor coloured. Still available at Master of Malt or Lost Distillery Co’s online shop for £43 for this classic edition. More info about the distillery here as for the others. The Gerston expression is the second one of the discontinued expressions from the range.
Colour:
White wine. Large beads form on the crown and wait for a few seconds to become medium speed descending legs.
Nose:
I got at first some off-note I usually find in Ledaig or Kilchoman but it quickly disappeared. Quite fruity, with citrus (lemon, orange) and orchard fruits (pear, apple). There is a light smoke, some salt, and a bit of flint.
Palate:
Spicy and sweet arrival, with a thin-ish mouthfeel but less thin than I expected. The taste does feel watery as well, though, like fruits-flavoured water, malt sugar, and a slight bitterness. A bit of chocolate.
Finish:
Citrus, chocolate and ginger, medium length.
Comments:
There seems to be quite a difference when it’s a classic edition of their blend, bottled at 43%. This one was not really convincing unfortunately, the nose was okay except for that odd off-note at the start, but the palate was both too thin and too light. I’d be curious to compare it with the Archivist version at 46%.
Rating: 78/100
Jericho Classic Blended Malt Review
Jericho distillery, later known as Benachie, was founded in 1824 by William Smith in Aberdeenshire. It was later renamed to Benachie after being bought out. The distillery’s capacity evolved drastically as it went from a total washback capacity of 5,280 to more than 12,000 gallons, and the original stills that were supposed to have produced an extremely heavy and oily spirit were changed to way larger stills in 1884 (the wash still’s capacity was increased five fold and the spirit still ten fold) that might have made a lighter spirit due to the spirit still’s taller neck. The distillery closed in 1915. There was an attempt to relaunch it in 1920 but it unfortunately failed. This classic edition is bottled at 43%, without chill filtration and might be coloured if the information on WhiskyBase is correct. More info about the distillery history here.
Colour:
Tawny. The crown is blurred with very few discernable heads, then a few large legs form before the whole crown disintegrates and all the alcohol falls down the glass’s side.
Nose:
Good intensity. Alcohol quite noticeable on the nose despite the low ABV. Dark and red berries, little bit of rancio, orange peel and Christmas cake. Grape juice, juicy ripe cherries, hints of varnish, and maybe traces of smoke?
Palate:
Sherried arrival, no doubt, with a mouthfeel a bit thin due to the low ABV. Grape juice on the palate as well, this is sweet and slightly sour. Bowl of fruit salad made of grapefruit, strawberry, grape, cherry, and maybe a bit of blackcurrant and blueberry. Clove and cinnamon.
Finish:
These sherry notes linger on with a slight spiciness for a surprisingly long time, with some milk chocolate at the very end.
Comments:
This Jericho starts with a quite nice nose, sherried but not overly, this is really quite nice. The palate is a little thin but still tasty and quite fruity. I’m sure the Archivist version would be very good. Long good finish, very nice.
Rating: 83/100
Lossit Classic Blended Malt Review
Lossit was a distillery founded in 1817 on Islay, the biggest distillery there at the time and part of a farm. It started as an illicit one but took a licence in 1820. Unfortunately, like more than 60 distilleries, it closed down between 1835 and 1844, the distillery being already in debt and probably shut down before 1842. In 1851, two young brothers, the Stewarts, bought the distillery and stopped the farm part, but production definitely stopped in 1867. More about Lossit’s story can be found here. This classic edition is as for the others bottled at 43%, non-chill filtered nor coloured. From £43 in the UK, and €50 in Germany for instance, for the classic edition.
Colour:
White wine. Thin beads on the crown quickly change to several medium width legs, quickly descending.
Nose:
Medium intensity. Light varnish notes and green and yellow apples. Some maritime smoke and notes make me think of a young Caol Ila. Graphite, a bit of citrus, hints of banana.
Palate:
Light and sweet arrival. After a few seconds, peppery notes as well as citrus and peat arrive, once again it feels like a young Caol Ila. Pear, orange peel and grapefruit, with a spoon of olive oil. Maybe just a drop of tabasco sauce. The mouthfeel is a bit thin unfortunately. Slightly salty.
Finish:
Peat, chocolate and citrus notes, wood smoke, medium length. Light warmth at the end of the palate/start of the throat.
Comments:
Nice summery dram, probably with a good amount of Caol Ila in the mix. Feels young, uncomplicated, but it has a fresh summery side that is nice, and the glass is emptied quite quickly. You won’t spend too much time in analysis on this, but I guess you might reach for the bottle quicker than you think as it’s honestly quite quaffable!
Rating: 82/100
Stratheden Classic Blended Malt Review
Stratheden distillery was at first named Auchtermuchty, after the name of the village it was siting at, when in was founded in 1829 by Alexander Bonthrone. Bonthrone managed the distillery for decades and was still the distiller when Alfred Barnard visited it around 1885, though helped by his two sons. All his production was bought by five merchants at the time. The distillery was renamed to Stratheden in 1890 after Alexander Bonthrone’s death. The distillery ceased production in 1924, when Arthur Bell and sons bought all the casks in bond, and it was definitely closed in 1926. More info about the distillery can be found on Lost Distilleries Company’s website here.
Colour:
Pale straw. Not very defined heads on the crown, morphing to quick and numerous fat legs.
Nose:
Salt, light peat and pear are the first things I get from the light intensity nose. It’s a bit flowery, and strangely a bit grainy as well. Some solvent.
Palate:
Light mouthfeel again, with quite some peat, and a nice pepperiness. Some vegetal notes, as well as honey and a touch of vanilla. Wood spices and slight citrusy sourness.
Finish:
Short to medium. Slightly woody and peaty, with hints of honey. The citrusy sourness lingers on a bit.
Comments:
I wasn’t convinced by this one, as in my mind it lacks a bit of fruitiness and
Rating: 78/100
Towiemore Archivist Blended Malt
Last one from the range tries to recreate whisky made at Towiemore. Towiemore was a really short-lived distillery, founded in Keith, Banffshire, somewhere between 1896 and 1899 depending on sources. Bad luck was around as a fire nearly destroyed the distillery in 1904, and a decade later it had to close due to World War I. After the war, the quality was not good enough for blenders and thus, because of the lack of demand, the distillery definitely shut down in 1930. More about Towiemore here. The Archivist edition was bottled like all others Archivist ones at 46% without chill filtration nor colouring. Still available on their online shop for £57.
Colour:
Ripe corn. The crown does not really form beads but instead dissolve in a number of quickly descending legs.
Nose:
Huge plum eau-de-vie note, mon chéri chocolate, fern. Quite a ginger biscuit presence as well, with a pinch of pepper a light notes of oak.
Palate:
Surprisingly citrusy and punchy arrival, some oak bitterness, green apple, honey, salted butter caramel, lime, ginger biscuit here too. Some mentholated notes, it’s fresh and slightly spicy.
Finish:
Medium-ish, some citrus notes stay a moment then fades to a light oak bitterness and green apple.
Comments:
I quite like this one. Another fresh summery one, nice nose, a bit more alcoholic than you’d expect, but I loved that plum eau-de-vie and ginger biscuit notes. The palate was surprisingly citrusy as I said, fresh again, with many flavours to pick, and the freshness stayed on the finish for a good enough length. Really nice.
Rating: 84/100
Thank you Benoît! Pictures courtesy of Whiskybase and Ullrich. Lead image courtesy of Lost Distillery Company.
