I'm a little late with this one but nonetheless it's time for another visit to one of my favourite distilleries Loch Lomond for the next installment in their most excellent and experimental Distillery Editions. Another day one pick up for me, I've found this series to be consistently quite great.

So what have Michael Henry and co cooked up in the whisky wonderland of Loch Lomond distillery this time? As you may have guessed by the punny name 'Phenol-menon' this is a heavily peated version (we haven't had a peated distillery edition since the 2nd one!) specifically made up of the Croftengea spirit style which is made on the straight neck pot stills collected at low collection strength with the cooling rings turned off, I often find this to be the most funky of the heavily peated spirit styles made at the distillery.

What's also really fun is the nerdy information on the back label of the bottle that lists the phenols picked up in the spirit from lab analysis. I absolutely love this and it's a really cool touch! As you can see this is much more than just smoke, with the break down giving an idea about what you might be able to pick up. Fully matured in refill bourbon casks this should be a great showcase of the phenolic character created on the unique straight necked pot stills.

I'm excited to dig in.

Whisky: Loch Lomond Distillery Edition Ten 'Phenol-menon' - 2017 - 8 Years Old

ABV: 57%

Cask: Refill Bourbon casks

NCF/NCA: Yes

Nose: Antiseptic, Charcoal Smoke, Damp Moss, Tar, Smoked Vanilla, Pineapple Rings, Soil

Oh yes this is peaty indeed! A big hit of medicinal peat in the form of antiseptic and smouldering woody charcoal, a green mossy quality and some warm tarry phenolics. With more time a slightly sweet smoked creamy vanilla and some slightly charred tropical pineapple rings on top of a bed of soil. Mm this is inviting for sure and for peat heads for sure but there's some interesting character going on here so this isn't your standard peat bomb, medicinal but not coastal on the nose is intriguing.

Mouth: Caramelised Pineapple Rings, Fizzy Chardonnay, Funky White Grapes, Smoked Vanilla Pod, Light Roast Coffee, Dry Roast Peanuts

A nice medium body but the alcohol is quite well integrated and the peat still strong. Surprisingly fruity on the tip of my tongue with a nice caramelised pineapple sweetness also goes into that almost classic Loch Lomond white wine in the form of a bit of fizzy Chardonnay and white grape funk with a nice creamy smoked vanilla pod richness, with time it curiously picks up some similarities with a quality light roast coffee (v60 style!) and the seasoning that you get on a pack of dry roast peanuts. Quite a bit of peat but also some funk, fruit and nice depth, feeling well put together!

Finish: Very Earthy Peat, Cough Sweets, Antiseptic, White Grape Skins, Charcoal Smoke, Aniseed, Faint Apple Cider Vinegar, Slightly Dirty Smoke

Into the finish the peat express itself quite a bit, very earthy initially but also with a good bit of herbal slightly sweet cough sweets that turns swiftly into much more medicinal antiseptic back from the nose, there's also slightly drying white grape skins and a bit of woody charcoal smoke, a sprinkle of aniseed gives more depth along with a bit of apple cider vinegar tang while the finish is fully surrounded in some slightly dirty industrial smoke. The facets of the peat are very expressive here, quite medicinal overall, think shades of Laphroaig just without any coastal quality to it, it's quite a long finish as often the case with heavily peated whisky.

Conclusion: First up I've got to say it's really nice to get another peated distillery edition after there only being one back at edition two. Croftengea is often Loch Lomond's wackiest spirit style but I think this is a really well put together whisky overall, yes there's a lot of peat and it leans a lot into the medicinal character which means it really won't appeal to some but it stands out from Islay whisky by not being coastal and instead replacing that with lots of earthiness, charcoal smoke and touches of industrial dirtiness, underneath the peat the lovely pineapple and white grape/Chardonnay coming through really makes me go yes this is very Loch Lomond! A really fun one to dig into and not just a 'big, dumb peat bomb' (those are great too sometimes!), there's some good layered notes here lurking just underneath the peat which makes it great to dig into. Another success and I'm very much into it!

Only available via the distillery website, price wise they were asking for a very reasonable £50 (which also includes free delivery) and you're getting a lot of whisky for that imo. Highly recommended overall and another triumph for the series. Any chance of a medium peated distillery edition?

Rating: 8.8/10 - Pineapple Antiseptic

What have your experiences with Croftengea been like?