Inchfad takes its name from one of the smaller islands on Loch Lomond, lying a short distance from Inchmurrin. At the distillery the name is applied to a peated single malt distilled in the conventional swan-neck pot stills, distinguishing it from the peated Inchmoan spirit drawn from the straight-neck stills.
This 14 year old is matured in refill American oak and bottled at 46% without chill filtration. Loch Lomond's peating is moderate by Islay standards, and fourteen years in Highland warehouses has softened the smoke into a dry, slightly maritime character — more bonfire than medicine cabinet — which sits comfortably alongside the distillery's house waxiness.
Inchfad releases have historically been limited and intermittent, bottled when stocks allow rather than as a continuous line. That irregularity is part of the appeal: each release offers a slightly different take on Loch Lomond's peated production, and the 14 year old is a well-judged example, striking a balance between the smoke, the oak and the underlying orchard-fruited Highland spirit that makes Loch Lomond's core style so distinctive.
