Lagg Batch 01 Ex-Bourbon Cask 50%

Distilled in 2019, this is the first of a trio of Inaugural Release bottlings from the Lagg Distillery. Opened by the folks who brought you the Isle of Arran Distillery, now called Lochranza, Lagg started production in 2019. This release is made from double distilled heavily peated Concerto malt matured entirely in ex-Bourbon casks before bottling at 50%. 

Producer Description

"For this series of inaugural bottlings, we used Concerto malted barley and water from our own borehole. The malt is peated to 50ppm in the kiln. We receive it, crush it and agitate it in our mash tun to create a cloudy wort which delivers a more oily, robust flavor. Our chosen yeast and fermentation time allows us to create the full-bodied flavor we're looking for in our distillation. We then distill twice, at nearly twice the speed of Lochranza, in our handmade copper pot stills. The spirit for this release was matured in first fill, ex-bourbon casks for just over three years prior to release. It was bottled unchill-filtered, without the addition of any colorings and at the higher strength of 50% ABV. A very characterful dram, with notes of citrus, heather and bonfire smoke."

Colour: Very pale – white wine/pale straw

Nose: Medium intensity. A hit of earthy peat with slight medicinal note in the background there too. A sweetness; caramels, vanilla tablet. Alongside the peat there is also a slight herbaceous note there too. Can’t quite pin what it is exactly – like walking in an herb garden?

Palate: Very mouthfilling, quite thick texture. The sweetness on the nose is sill there, but more butterscotch and malted biscuit. Vanilla tablet notes and there is also now a minerality to it.  

Finish: Medium-Long and very full. Nice warming peat that lingers but a bit more of that medicinal note is prominent.

Comment: With water, a burst of the sweetness on the nose and then less of the vanilla but more mineral and herby notes. After some time much more of that rock pool-y bit salinity is present. Sweet, with earthy peat but that interesting minerality and herby element in the background.