The Spirit Specialist reviews Lochlea Sowing Edition Single Malt Scotch Whisky (vs 2nd & 1st Crops)

Buy a bottle of Lochlea Sowing Edition Third Crop here: https://www.spiritspecialist.com/prod...

SUBSCRIBE to The Spirit Specialist and receive regular video reviews of the world’s most exciting spirits brands!

Visit www.spiritspecialist.com to buy from our range of spirits – we have whisk(e)y, rum, gin, agave spirits, liqueurs and many other brands you won’t find on mainstream shelves! UK Nationwide Delivery is available, along with Click-and-Collect from our store in Howden, East Yorkshire!

Follow The Spirit Specialist on social media:
Facebook:   / specialistspirit  
Twitter: @spiritspec
Instagram: @thespiritspecialist

The Lochlea Distillery is a conversion of the farm buildings at Lochlea Farm, situated 8 miles South of Kilmarnock, and at which the world famous Scottish writer and poet Robert Burns lived and worked from 1777 to 1784.

Plans for a distillery by the current owner Neil McGeoch were approved in 2014 and whisky production commenced in August 2018.

Malcolm Rennie, who had previously been distillery manager at the likes of Bruichladdich, Ardbeg, Kilchoman and Annandale, initially worked with Neil as a consultant before coming on board full-time to oversee the birth of the whisky – however he then left to join the rebirth of the Rosebank Distillery in October 2021, and was replaced by John Campbell, who had previously been the distillery manager at Laphroaig for 16 years.

The distillery is another new whisky venture who are producing a grain-to-glass spirit – they grown their own barley in fields literally over the road, and have their own water source. The bottle itself features embossing referencing the tyre tracks that surround the farm.

The Sowing Edition is the first of four seasonal bottlings that represent the progress of a farming year – along with Sowing in Spring, we can experience Harvest in Summer, Fallow in Autumn and Ploughing in Winter – and it has been announced that the Third Crop is the final year for what was an annual series. To evoke the fresh Springtime feel as fields are planted, maturation takes place solely in first-fill ex-Bourbon barrels – and in comparison to the Second Crop there is about 9 months extra time spent in cask - with 8,500 bottles being released at an ABV of 46% and no colouring added or chill-filtration taking place.

MUSIC: ‘Kick The Can’ by The Mini Vandals – Free Licence