Tasting notes for Campbeltown Loch Blended Scotch Whisky
Overall: Fresh, sassy, and sweet with heat. It is mild if spicy, nippy neat but well suited to summertime ice and the classic highball. That is not faint praise. Campbeltown Loch is very good for what it is: young whisky of high quality.
Campeltown Loch
and its Parents
Campbeltown Loch is new to America, but it has a cult following in Scotland with good reason.
Color: The palest translucent gold.
Nose: Fragrant with pungent peat and sweet florals, some milk chocolate, a twinge of seaweed, and faint smoke.
Splash: Fiery sweet, like cinnamon candy.
Pallet: Golden syrup and juicy fruit are slapped on the back by chili powder, with clean, sweet grain sweeping up at the end of the line. Smoke comes out over time, but overall it has a notable flavor of fresh pears, reminiscent of pear mead.
Water cools it off and ice brings out the fruit.
Finish: Grandma’s dish of hard candies, orange, and raspberry, and lemon-lime, with some old fashioned cinnamon Red Hots. Then there comes the young, green peat with some nice smokiness that stays around a good while. The end game is about oak boards freshly sawn, along with cloves and licorice.
A summertime scotch working well in the classic highball.
Mixers: Ginger Ale – Great, Coconut Water – Very Good, Seltzer/Soda – Very Good, Cola – Not Recommended
Full Review
There was a time when you could only purchase Campbeltown Loch blended Scotch whisky in Campbeltown, the small city on the Kyntire peninsula of Southwest Scotland. And even there, you could only buy it at the Springbank distillery, from whence it comes. It is their house blend and like most blended scotch it is made with 40% single malt and 60% grain whisky.
But this blend features only the Campbeltown malts, Springbank and Longrow, both made at the same distillery. It is uncertain if any Hazelburn ends up in it. In any case, the only malt whiskies made in Campbeltown for many years are owned by the same company, J and A Mitchell.
Now, Campbeltown Loch is generally available, over there. I was shocked to see it in a shop in New York City. I acquired the last bottle on their shelf, to make sure it was set safely on the shelf.
Color: Pale as sunlight. You may find malt whisky this translucent from some of those ultra-traditional, independent bottlers’ single-cask expressions. But I cannot remember seeing another commercially produced official bottling with such a Chablis color, at times it looks like silver mercury when the light strikes it.
Nose: Just as one might expect, it has a nose that is part Springbank, malty, fruity, earthy, peaty, and part Longrow, which is extra peaty and smoky, along with a breakfast cereal sweetness that plays off the sea salt tang for which Campbeltown whisky is known. There is American oak all over it, with vanilla and banana notes. But like everything in this whisky, it is subdued and congenial, and very easy going.
Well, everything except the chili peppers.
Splash: Delicious malty sweetness sets up a big, hot chili-spiced blast. This tastes like what it is: young scotch aged in refill bourbon barrels, but young scotch of very good quality. The heat adds an exotic, almost tequila dimension to it.
Pallet: Malty sweetness is at the center of each sip. It turns fruity, like Juicy Fruit gum, and then, ole! Here comes the rushing charge of the chilis, which fades into cinnamon toast as the grain sweetness comes through in the aftertaste. After a half a glass, fresh, ripe pears emerge with honey, like the pear mead from Germany.
It has a light body, and there is nothing waxy about it. There is a touch of Campbeltown oil, but really quite mild compared to the single malts from Springbank.
Water: A splash of water takes the edge off the chili powder and some ice brings the fresh fruit ever forward.
Finish: Surprisingly long. The 5-year-old-malt and fruit pallet drops off quickly, but the smoke, spice, and tannins from the young oak keep one company for a good long while.
Dry Nose: the empty glass is peaty, with some butterscotch sugars and grass in the seaside dunes.
Conclusion: A soloist among the blended scotch choir, Campbeltown Loch is an interesting change of pace from other well known blends and comes for a price that makes it a no brainer, everyday malt-for-the-common-man.
This perky blend is a great summertime scotch. I find the fruit refreshing. My late father would have loved the spicy, smoky character for his scotch on the rocks. My brother will likely enjoy this in a whisky and soda (Happy birthday, by the way!) For me, it works great for both, and especially in with ginger ale. But I also take mine with just a splash of water.
Apparently, there have been two attempts to import Campbeltown Loch in the past three years. The first was half-hearted. The second has met with great success. While still hard to find, it should be showing up in more markets soon. It is most welcome. Now if they will only import the 21 year old version!
And that is one man’s word on….
Campbeltown Loch blended scotch whisky.
Under $40 at Mister Wright Fine Wines, and other nice shops
Great review of what seems like a very under the radar whiskey on the internet. I saw a bottle today and snatched it up for $30. I read your review along with my tasting and it was spot on. I love this young yet polished Malt blend. so very drinkable and honestly very level headed for a young whiskey. much character and the springbank and longrow really compliment each other. I’m going back tomorrow to buy the only other bottle they had. Well done and I have book marked your site! keep up the good work.
And a question maybe you could clarify, it clearly states 100% scotch whiskeys on the bottle. If it is a blend and has grain whiskey (60%) as yoiu stated then isn’t that a conflict? Maybe I don’t understand the definition of Grain vs scotch whiskey entirely.
Thank you, MaltMatt!
I agree, Campbeltown Loch is overlooked but well worth investigating. I have some sitting on the table behind me at this very moment. But having been at whisky tastings from Thursday through Sunday night I shall be abstaining, for a while yet.
As to your question, in Scotland the term “blended whisky” is defined by law as a mixture of grain whisky and malt whisky.
The term “blended malt whisky” is used for a bottle containing 100% malt whisky, which was created at more than one distillery.
“Vatted malt” is formerly what is now called “blended malt whisky.” The change was apparently made so the big spirit companies could more easily confuse people as to what has grain whisky in it and what does not.
And the term “single malt” refers to a bottle of whisky that is 100% malt whisky made at the same distillery.
Single malt is normally a blending from different casks of different ages.
Only bottles labeled as “single cask” or similar terms contain spirit that all came from the same cask.
Also by law, any whisky labeled as “Scotch” must be distilled and bottled in Scotland, and in between it must be aged for a minimum of three years in a cask or casks made of oak. That goes for grain whisky and malt whisky.
So, Campbeltown Loch is “blended Scotch whisky” consisting of 60% Scotch grain whisky and 40% Scotch single malt whisky. It is one of the only varieties of blended Scotch where all of the malt whisky came from the same distillery.
I hope that helps.
Technically, any spirit distilled from grain is “whisky”, even gin or vodka. But most people do not feel a spirit qualifies for the term unless it was aged in oak barrels for some period of time. That is what separates rectified spirits, like flavored vodka, from whisky, and the same goes for the difference between “moonshine” and whiskey, as it is spelled by Irish and American distillers.
thanks for that comprehensive explanation! completely cleared up my confusion. cheers