Royal Lochnagar is one of the smallest distilleries in the Diageo stable, tucked under Lochnagar mountain on the Balmoral estate in Royal Deeside. It was founded by John Begg in 1845, and on 12 September 1848 Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and three of their children walked across from the new royal residence next door for a tour. Three days later Begg was granted a Royal Warrant and added the prefix that the distillery still carries.
For the 2019 Game of Thrones Single Malt Collection, Diageo selected Royal Lochnagar as the House Baratheon bottling — Robert's stag, the iron throne, the show's nominal royal house. The pairing was pleasing in its symmetry: a real royal warrant for a fictional royal house. Unlike most of the other releases, which were no-age-statement bottlings of existing or close-cousin expressions, this one used the standard Royal Lochnagar 12 Year Old at 40% ABV — a whisky already on sale, repackaged with Baratheon livery.
The 12 has long been the only widely available official Royal Lochnagar bottling, and it remains a creditable Highland malt: malty, lightly sherried, with a quiet depth that reflects the distillery's small stills and slow production. Of all eight Game of Thrones whiskies, this was arguably the most honest — an established whisky, properly aged, simply rebadged.
