Loch Lomond is one of those wonderfully odd distilleries whose output resists neat boxes and tidy categories, and this line‑up leans straight into that eccentricity. On the table we have an old Glenshiel ‘pure malt’ from the days when blended malt labelling was still happily opaque, alongside four Inchmurrin bottlings: two official expressions and two from Decadent Drinks, with the latter, in fact, being a deliberate vatting of Loch Lomond and Inchmurrin rather than a single‑stream malt.
This tasting is less about ticking off labels and more about mapping the distillery’s multiple personalities – how the lighter, fruit‑forward Inchmurrin style plays against the denser, more heterodox Loch Lomond profile, and how an older, nameless‑by‑design Glenshiel fits into that picture. By placing official bottlings next to independent vattings, we can get a clearer sense of what is ‘house character’ and what is the blender’s choice, and perhaps also understand why Loch Lomond remains both underappreciated and quietly fascinating for those willing to chase down its more obscure releases.
GlenShiel Pure Highland Malt (1980s) Review
The Glenshiel Pure Highland Malt is a now discontinued blended (pure) malt – meaning a blend of single malt whiskies from multiple distilleries rather than a single distillery expression – produced and bottled by the Loch Lomond Group under the Glenshiel brand name. ‘Pure malt’ or ‘vatted malt’ was an official and permitted Scotch whisky category until 2009, when EU regulations renamed it ‘blended malt’; products of this type typically combined malt whiskies from several Highland distilleries without disclosing their constituent parts. The Glenshiel brand itself covered several expressions, including a blended Scotch whisky (grain and malt), the NAS Pure Highland Malt, and the 12-Year-Old Pure Highland Malt (1980s, 43%) – all now discontinued. The name refers to Glen Shiel in the northwest Highlands, chosen for its romantic associations with the Jacobite era rather than geographic proximity to the Loch Lomond facility in Alexandria, West Dunbartonshire.
Bottled at 40% ABV, NAS, ‘pure highland malt’ (vatted malt), matured in oak casks (cask type unspecified), in a 70 cl bottle. Chill filtration and colouring are almost certainly applied given the era, ABV, and budget positioning. No outturn or vintage information published.
Colour:
Burnished (fake).
Nose:
Neat: Light, floral, and clean. Honey, lavender, lemon peel, green banana, and fresh unmalted barley are the primary aromas, alongside hints of fresh hay and green grass. At 40% and with likely chill filtration, the aromatic delivery is restrained rather than expressive – not complex but pleasant, though I detect a bit of damp cardboard after some aeration.
Palate:
Neat: Honeyed and cereal forward, with some tongue warmth despite the low ABV. Yeasty bread, mashed banana, malted cereal, and oatmeal with honey. A light peat or smoke note adds mild interest without depth. Medium body at best. The mouthfeel is honest; the palate is medium-bodied.
Finish:
The finish is short, with residual cereal notes, a touch of honey and barky oak, fading with minimal development. Pleasant enough on the exit but leaving little impression or desire for another dram.
Comments:
This Glenshiel shows no real flaws… but no real quality either. This whisky shows some flavours and aromas but lacks complexity and depth. There is nothing to wake up at night for… nor make nightmares about. Quite bland and average, in short.
Rating: 5/10
Inchmurrin Single Highland Malt (1980s) Review
Inchmurrin is the name of one of several distinct spirit styles produced at Loch Lomond distillery in Alexandria, West Dunbartonshire – a facility uniquely equipped with both straight-necked and column-enhanced pot stills, allowing it to produce multiple different malt characters under one roof. Inchmurrin was introduced as a brand name during the 1980s, named after the largest freshwater island in Britain (on Loch Lomond), and was sold as the lightly peated or unpeated core malt expression from the distillery. The NAS and early 10-year-old versions bottled in the 1980s and 1990s represent Loch Lomond’s first serious attempt at a marketed single malt during an era when the distillery was primarily a bulk supplier to blenders; the resulting spirit and production discipline reflected those priorities rather than single malt craft. The 75 cl 1980s NAS bottling at 40% ABV was a proprietary official release for export markets; the 70 cl 1990s 10 Year Old version at 40% is the most commonly encountered vintage bottling today.
Colour:
Burnished (fake)
Nose:
Neat: Opens with an uninspiring combination of cardboard, yeast, and blurred fruits – the classic hallmarks of a chill-filtered, lightly made malt at 40% that has lost some of its aromatic definition in processing. Slowly shifts toward a light wort character with hints of cinnamon, mint, and flowers – the Inchmurrin distillate’s native fruit and floral character peeking through the reduction.
Palate:
Neat: Vanilla and blurred orchard fruits open with black pepper and imitation vanilla extract. A slightly sour oil note, mint leaves, and notebook paper float through the background. The black pepper provides a little bit of a kick, while the mouthfeel feels light but not as much as expected from an old 40% whisky.
Finish:
Short, carrying the bitterness, burnt notes, orchard fruits, sugar, and notebook paper character without resolution.
Comments:
Well, even though nowadays Inchmurrins can be beautiful, as we expect to see below with more recent releases, I was not expecting much from this old NAS bottling, especially bottled at 40% with chill filtration and added colour. But I was wrong: it’s not bad at all, just average. It’s far from perfect; it has flaws, but it also has more taste and intensity than a modern Glenlivet or Glenfiddich 12, for instance, which are perfect definitions of an average whisky. The intensity will balance out the flaws, so let’s consider it average. And maybe I was lucky with my old miniature, maybe I got one of the best batches.
Rating: 5/10
Inchmurrin 12-year-old Fruity and Sweet (2020s) Review
The Inchmurrin 12 Year Old ‘Fruity & Sweet’ is the flagship single malt entry point of Loch Lomond’s Island Collection, relaunched in its current form in 2015 after a revamp of the distillery’s full range. This expression is produced exclusively from spirit distilled in Loch Lomond’s straight-neck pot stills, which are unique in the industry. These stills operate at unusually high cut points, producing a distillate at 83–85% ABV – close to the legal maximum for Scotch whisky pot still spirit – which strips heavier, oilier congeners while preserving volatile esters responsible for the distillery’s signature orchard fruit character. The 12 yo is then matured for a minimum of twelve years in three types of American oak: ex-bourbon, refill, and recharred casks.
Bottled at 46% ABV, non-chill-filtered, no added colouring, in a 70 cl bottle. This is a multi-cask vatting rather than a single cask. Current UK retail pricing: approximately £40 – £47, now under the subtitle ‘Intense orchard fruit’.
Colour:
Burnished
Nose:
Neat: A confident, immediate fruit bowl: melon, pear drops, canned peach, and apricot yoghurt lead the opening, followed by tropical fruits: pineapple, mango, and hints of passionfruit. Orchid blossom, honey, buttery pastry, and white chocolate weave through the fruit. Light notes of freshly cut hay and green summer grass provide a grounding cereal note beneath the richness. A mineral, slightly chalky vein runs underneath, growing acidic.
Palate:
Neat: Arrives acidic at entry but the tropical fruit expands immediately on the swallow. Seville orange citrus builds in intensity before mellowing into peach and apricot, then creamy fudge and vanilla. Canned peach syrup, apricot mango yoghurt, and yellow banana form the fruity mid-palate. Oak pops out with each sip alongside a bite of pepper and spice that gives it presence. Texture is on the lighter side for a 46% expression.
Finish:
Medium to medium long. Tropical notes (tart mango, dried pineapple) carry through into the finish, picking up sappy oak and peppery spice as they go. Pickled ginger, nutmeg, Angostura bitters, and honey form a spiced-sweet close.
Comments:
A really nice dram, showing what Inchmurrin is known for: fruits, fruits and more fruits, and with tropical and orchard ones. There might be slightly too much wood to pretend to even higher skies, and a mouthfeel on the lighter side because of the straight neck stills, but this is a very good dram, and at a very good price. Like with the Glen Scotia 12-year-old, the Loch Lomond group has a seriously good and well price range of around 12 years of age.
Rating: 7/10
Inchmurrin 2012 Decadent Drams (2025) Review
This Inchmurrin 2012 is part of Decadent Drinks’ Decadent Drams series – the sibling label to Whiskyland, which focuses on individual cask gems at accessible price points rather than the more exclusive ‘chapter’ format of Whiskyland. This Inchmurrin was distilled in 2012 and bottled in 2025 for the April 2025 outturn, after ageing for 12 years in a single second-fill bourbon barrel. It was bottled at natural cask strength of 57.1% ABV, non-chill-filtered, natural colour, with an outturn of 215 bottles. This release is unfortunately sold out. I paid a little under €130 for my bottle at the time.
Colour:
Pale gold.
Nose:
Neat: Bright and intense from the first sniff – exactly the Inchmurrin profile at its most expressive and unfiltered. Papaya, pink grapefruit, tinned pineapple, and mango lead the charge, alongside a slight leafy quality and a touch of gorse. Vanilla custard and a whisper of creamy rice pudding round the aromatic backdrop.
With water: A few drops should enhance the creamy, custard-like qualities, while the tropical fruit pulls back slightly into a more integrated overall aromatic nose.
Palate:
Neat: Proper creamy texture from the outset – the second-fill bourbon barrel has added a smooth, rounded quality to the spirit without imposing heavy vanilla or wood. Again, an explosion of tropical fruit: zesty, exotic, and vibrant, with papaya, pineapple, mango, and passionfruit at the fore. A sprinkle of white pepper and a chalky mineral note add structure and interest alongside the fruit.
With water: The palate becomes slightly more vanillic, but just for a moment as the tropical fruits stay in front, and for slightly longer as the sprinkle of white pepper feels delayed by the reduction.
Finish:
Longer than expected for a relatively young bourbon-matured cask. Citrus fruits and tropical notes carry through into the close, picking up gentle hints of freshly cut lawn grass and green herbs as they fade. Clean and refreshing.
Comments:
On the nose, this Inchmurrin 12-year-old from Decadent Drinks is clean, vibrant, and generous – everything the official 12 yo at 46% offers but with more intensity and definition. The palate is beautifully balanced between fruit sweetness and freshness – not cloying despite the evident richness. The finish is nice as well, but overall this ticks all the boxes of great fruity, summery and waxy whisky. Great stuff.
Rating: 8/10
Loch Lomond 2009 Decadent Drinks (2024) Review
This expression is part of Decadent Drinks’ Decadent Drams series released in autumn 2024, and represents an unusual production approach: Angus MacRaild combined two separate 2009 hogsheads from Loch Lomond distillery – one of refill-matured Loch Lomond spirit (the heavier, column-enhanced pot still style) and one of first-fill-matured Inchmurrin spirit (the straight-neck pot still, lighter fruity style) – and reduced the combined vatting slightly to 53% ABV before bottling. This whisky was distilled in 2009 (both casks), bottled in 2024, and aged 15 years across two hogsheads (one refill Loch Lomond, one first-fill Inchmurrin), vatted and reduced to 53% ABV, non-chill-filtered, no added colouring, 70 cl, with an outturn not publicly stated. It sold out rapidly, but I was lucky to buy two bottles (mostly because I forgot I had already bought one, so I bought it again…) around €130 each.
Colour:
Deep copper.
Nose:
Neat: A thick, slightly coppery opening note dissipates quickly to reveal a luscious fruit basket. Jammy apricots and just a touch of sultanas arrive first, followed by a whisper of brioche dough, then a wave of exotic and tropical fruits: papaya, lychee, mango, and guava. The heavier Loch Lomond column-still spirit adds a characteristic oily, cake-like layer – apple cake, old coins, and wildflowers – that grounds the lighter, more volatile Inchmurrin fruit. Honey, custard, and a light floral hit complete a nose that grows progressively fruitier with time in the glass.
With water: A few drops soften the copper note and draw more of the lychee and floral character to the foreground, and add some creamy vanillic waxiness.
Palate:
Neat: Hits immediately with a satisfying oiliness. Then the fruit floods in from every angle: citrus (lemon peel, pink grapefruit), stone fruit (apricot, peach), and tropical fruit (pineapple, mango, papaya) all coexist without fighting for dominance. The Loch Lomond heavier still component contributes mild peat, pinewood freshness, and an oily backbone; the Inchmurrin component delivers the tropical brightness and buttercream texture. Mild candied ginger and lemon peel add a pleasant spice on the back palate.
With water: Reduction brings out a little bit more peat and pinewood, making the Loch Lomond cask slightly more noticeable and in the foreground.
Finish:
Long, fruity, and with a pleasant minty oak note on the tail. Tropical fruits carry through undiminished before giving way to the gentle pinewood and mild peat of the Loch Lomond component.
Comments:
The peat from the Loch Lomond cask brings additional depth to the Inchmurrin extreme fruitiness, making it slightly less summery but still extremely good. Whilst the Inchmurrin 12-year-old is a fruit bomb but you could almost regret it’s ‘just’ a fruit bomb, this Loch Lomond X Inchmurrin is… a peated fruit bomb, slightly oaker, but still seriously fruity and brilliant. I’ll give this 2009 half a point more because of the added complexity, but to be honest, it’s hard to decide which one I prefer, and trying them another day might invert the ratings.