Inchmurrin 10 yo 2010 (60.2%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, #112.78 'Waxing Lyrical', 2nd fill bourbon barrel, 240 bottles)
Inchmurrin is well renowned as a kind of deliberate 'clone' distillate of the defunct Littlemill. It's true that many bottling of it display this particularly green, Irish-accented fruity funk which is reminiscent of dearly departed Littlemill. Colour: straw. Nose: it would appear that someone has accidentally bottled a barrel of Clynelish. This is indeed waxy and showcasing a lot of almost artificial 'bubblegum' fruitiness. Fruit salad juices mixed with olive oil, cut grasses and parsley, pink grapefruit, carbon paper - funky but extremely fun and very good. Some metal polish and slightly exotic esters once again make you think of old Irish pure pot still whiskeys. With water: fresher and more open on cereals, coal dust, sandalwood, dried flowers and cigarette rolling papers. Characterful distillate indeed! Mouth: very good arrival, rather powerful and hot but also showing juicy sweet pineapple jelly, mouth-coating oiliness, more of these lovely waxy vibes and wee touches of milk bottle sweets, limoncello and tarragon. With water: perfect now. Thick in texture, full of shoe polish, waxy and mineral oil impressions. White pepper heat, buttered toast and molten white marshmallow. Finish: long, tangy with fizzy fruit sweets, new leather, mineral oils and a little more olive oil and bubblegum. Comments: I think these batches are really terrific whisky. They're fun, charismatic, playful, never boring and really very delicious. Puts many other contemporary distillates in the shade.
SGP: 651 - 88 points.

Inchmurrin  22 yo 1998/2021 (52.8%, Lady Of The Glen, hogshead with Oloroso sherry finish, 225 bottles)
I wanted to know who the Lady Of The Glen actually is, so I just checked their website and apparently she is 'the green lady ghost, purported to roam around Stirling Castle' - presumably she's been doing virtual tastings for them during lockdown? Colour: amber. Nose: a nice and rather lean and earthy sherry profile up front. One that incorporates clean rubber, hessian, Bovril and wee hints of liquorice and aniseed. These more metallic and polished notes from the Inchmurrin come through slowly but surely. Some suggestions of polished leather and the orange oils and bergamot. Lovely nose thus far. With water: gets more savoury, on cured meats, brown bread and cloves. Mouth: hmmm a bit bitter and slightly soapy on arrival. Very herbal and bitter, on Unicum and Jägermeister, black pepper, soot, carbolic soap. Not sure about this one now I'm afraid. Let's try with water… With water: only marginal improvements I'm afraid, minimal soap now but still quite powerfully bitter, vegetal, herbal and peppery. Aggressively so I'd say. Tough and a tad mono-dimensional. Was it the sherry finish that did that? Finish: medium and a tad acrid at times. Tough! Comments: things started well on the nose but overall I think it's a tough and possibly slightly flawed cask. Not sure if the finish improved or worsened things overall. Anyway, there's many other far superior bottling by LOTG out there for sure.
SGP: 471 - 70 points.

Old Rhosdhu 29 yo 1990/2020 (48.2%, Duckhammers Rare & WhiskyNerds joint bottling, cask #416, refill hogshead, 346 bottles)
For this joint bottling there are two different labels. Guys, don't accuse me of favouritism, but the one with the Otter on is definitely my favourite ;-) Colour: gold. Nose: ha! Concentrated funky old Irish whiskey mixed with some aged Guyanese rum and poured over a dollop of molten Gruyere cheese. But then there's the fruits that begin to get the upper hand, tinned tropical fruit juices, some rather opulent New Zealand sauvignon and a wee hint of marzipan. Funny but excellent. Mouth: really doubling down on this old Irish Whiskey profile now. Copper coins, suet, dried mango, monstera fruit, hessian, cod liver oil - did I mention they do 'whacky' on occasion at Loch Lomond? Some breads and more grassy olive oil notes come through now as well. Finish: good length, a little tropical but now also green acidity, cereals, breads and more grassy and oily notes. Perhaps a little cardboard in the aftertaste, which isn't as luminous. Comments: excellent at times and showcasing a pretty left-field style overall, one that's only really to be found intermittently in Loch Lomond makes.
SGP: 551 - 86 points.

Croftengea 13 yo 2007/2021 (49.5%, North Star, refill hogshead, 255 bottles)
Let's see what the House Of Croucher has unearthed for us… Colour: pale straw. Nose: if you took some bubblegum and smooshed it around in an old sooty fire hearth… you'd something that probably isn't much like this whisky, but this whisky does make you think immediately of coal scuttles and bubblegum though. Following? I thought not. A very funny and whacky nose that also incorporates metal polish, smashed cactus and bath salts. Fun stuff! Mouth: a few notches more classical with a lovely clean sweep of chalky peat smoke. Wood ashes, bath salts (again!) and a mash up of grapefruit and seawater. It teeters on a rather chemical profile but never quite commits, so it's actually rather playful in that sense. More chalk, smouldering ashes, pine cones and impressions of newspaper ink and lanolin. Finish: quite long, peated grapefruits anyone? Smoked mineral oils? New leather? Brined olives? Comments: I really like this, but at times I feel as if I maybe shouldn't? Yet more envelope nudging from the shores of bonnie Loch Lomond.
SGP: 465 - 85 points.

Croftengea 14 yo 'Batch 3' (49.5%, That Boutique-y Whisky Company, bottled 2020, 503 bottles)
Comes with a wizard on the label, or possibly a roadie for the Grateful Dead? Colour: pale white wine. Nose: not as similar to the North Star as I'd expected, this is much more farmy, and actually makes you think more of Ardmore. Lots of wet chalk, smoky grist, sooty chimneys, hessian sackcloth and things like wood ashes, soda bread and iodine. I also get a few drops of lemon juice and sheep wool. Mouth: bigger and much more classically peaty. Thick, peppery peat smoke, smoked olive oil, seawater, iodine and camphor. Still nicely farmy as well though which keeps this Ardmore cosplay alive. Finish: medium and all on ashes, chalk, farmyard smokiness, smoked olive oil and anthracite. Comments: a bit more classical, but still a peaty weirdo - in the best sense. Same quality as the North Star I think.
SGP: 476 - 85 points.

Croftengea 15 yo 2006/2021 (52.6%, The Whisky Exchange, cask #341, hogshead, 280 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: a more elegant take this time. A more concentrated profile of peat smoke that incorporates brine and ointments, along with bacon rind and syrupy cough medicines. Some touches of seawater, pink grapefruit and sandalwood too. Impressive complexity I think. With water: lovely salinity emerging now, along with a nice sappy quality. Dried sage, green olive bread and more of these camphor notes. Mouth: lovely syrupy profile! Gloopy and medicinal with herbal ointments, camphor, tiger balm and various medical embrocations. Impressions of sandalwood, bandages, ink and seawater all fading in and out. Excellent! With water: the texture is very impressive, it's got this persistent syrupy edge, more of these sappy, herbal and medicinal tones and consistently thick peaty flavour. Finish: long, warm, peppery, herbal and with a few wee fruit tea impressions that elevate the complexity. Comments: It's really quite funny how different all these Croftengeas are. This one is really top notch, great selection team TWE!
SGP: 566 - 89 points.

Croftengea 15 yo 2006/2021 (53.2%, Elixir Distillers 'The Whisky Trail', cask #342, hogshead, 269 bottles)
A sibling cask, should be same ballpark… Colour: pale gold. Nose: yup, same juice. Perhaps just a wee bit narrower, more towards coastal and saline aspects. Some dried seaweed, soy sauce and hessian. Maybe not as 'in yer face' as 341. With water: a little drier, sootier, on carbolic acidity, fermenting wash and sheep wool - yes a bit more farmy I suppose. Mouth: once again, same ballpark profile, but here it's a little less distinctive, more juicy, syrupy peat smoke, more tar, iodine and camphor stylings. It misses some of these fruitier components that made its sibling more complex I would say. With water: sits nicely between salty and umami qualities. Makes you think of many Asian influences such as nori, pickled ginger and fish sauce, which I'm a sucker for in whisky. Finish: quite long with a deep smokiness now, warm kiln air, a wee meaty bacon note and back to medicines and iodine. Comments: another great one, but I just preferred the extra dimensionality (what?) of its sibling.
SGP: 466 - 86 points.

Inchfad 14 yo 2007/2021 (54.7%, Dram Mor, cask #1100, PX finish, 274 bottles)
Colour: deep gold. Nose: unexpectedly fruity! As in ripe plums, prunes, sultanas, fruit loaf and some more savoury notes of dry oloroso sherry and black miso. I would not have pegged it as a PX finish at first nosing, but the proof may be in the eating… With water: I find it becomes nicely saline and meaty now, some pork scratchings with a glass of dry oloroso. Mouth: ok, peat comes through more clearly here, oily in texture, medicinal, lightly herbal with cough syrup impressions and more of these dark fruit notes but they are very much in the back seat now, while the peat presses the accelerator. You could also add some Iberico ham and black olives - my God, what I'd give for a few days in Jerez! With water: leathery, salty, some camphor and hessian, a little olive oil and more impressions of black olive bread and cured meats. Finish: good length, clean, earthy, salty and still dominated by the sherry. Doesn't feel like PX at all to me, more Oloroso style, which is great news. Comments: this is classy stuff and a very successful finishing I would say - the peat and the sherry are on the best of terms here. It's just that I now really want to eat some Iberico ham now. And olives. With some pork scratchings. Oh, and drink some VORS Oloroso. In Jerez of course. Urgh!
SGP: 465 - 87 points.

Inchfad 16 yo 2005/2021 (52.2%, Thompson Brothers, PX finish, 300 bottles)
Finished for 2 years I believe. Colour: deep gold. Nose: not dissimilar to the Dram Mor bottling, in that there's an initial suggestion of mirabelle eau de vie and sultanas on the nose, but overall it's a little earthier and going towards things like soots, bouillon, pollens and smoked meats. With water: lovely umami notes of miso, soy sauce, cod liver oil, camphor and putty now. A little smoky charcoal note too. Mouth: more obvious PX influence here, a wee touch of pencil shavings and graphite oils, but also more umami paste, black olive tapenade, aniseed, salted liquorice and hints of iodine and damp pipe tobacco. Very good, but perhaps a notch too much wood influence for me. With water: becomes a little jammy and peppery now, pink peppercorn, hessian, a pencil shaving note again too. I think I preferred the palate neat for this one. Finish: medium, on charcoal, olives, earth, tobaccos and a little bramble jam. Comments: not as convinced by the PX influence on this one, but it goes down very easily when neat.
SGP: 564 - 84 points.