Loch Lomond at Alexandria is one of Scotland's most idiosyncratic distilleries. Built in 1965 on the site of a former calico printing works, it operates both pot stills and column stills under one roof and produces a remarkable range of single malt characters by varying still type, cut points and peating levels. Inchmoan, named for one of the loch's island woods, is the heavily peated single malt expression.
The 12 Year Old is matured in a combination of refill and recharred American oak casks and bottled at 46% without chill filtration. The peated malt is distilled in the distillery's distinctive straight-necked pot stills, which act somewhat like rectifying columns and produce a cleaner spirit than traditional swan-necks would yield, leaving the smoke unmasked by the heavier congeners of a Campbeltown or Islay equivalent.
The nose is unambiguously smoky, with wood ash, charred lemon and a saline undertow. The palate keeps the peat front and centre but allows the bourbon-cask vanilla and the distillery's characteristic pear note to make themselves felt. There is a peppery bite and a faintly medicinal edge. The finish is long and ashy, leaving a clean smoked dryness.
This is mainland peat in a Highland register, distinct from Islay's iodine-and-tar profile. It demonstrates that Loch Lomond's experimental bent can produce genuinely interesting smoky whisky, and at its price it represents fair value among peated 12 year olds.
