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This is a rare 5 year old 1970s bottling of Sandy Macnab’s Old Blended Scotch Whisky. The Sandy Macnab’s blend was produced at the lost Lochside distillery and this contains both Lochside malt and grain whisky (grain whisky production at Lochside was stopped in 1973).
This was bottled at 86 proof (43% – a.k.a export strength) for the European market.
Our Tasting Notes:
Nose: Orange peels. Waxed jackets. Mango skins. Lemon drops. Tree bark. Subtle smoke note. Pine resin. New leather shoes.
Palate: Waxy fruit skins. Figs. Bitter orange marmalade. Spice mix. Savoury note shining through – sweet potatoes and artichokes. Oily leather. Pine nuts.
Finish: Ash. Pepper. Floral sweetness emerges.
Lochside Distillery – Closed
Was it a castle? A whisky fortress? A giant-discoloured-tower-wall-thingy overlooking Montrose? Well, Lochside was perhaps all of those as well as being an excellent Highland distillery in its time.
What most people don’t realise is that Lochside’s iconic design was modelled after a classic German Brauhaus – very fitting considering Lochside was a brewery from 1786 until it was converted into a distillery in 1957.
For a period during its lifetime, Lochside produced both malt and grain whisky and was responsible for coining the phrase ‘blended at birth’ – a process where malt and grain new make is mixed before maturing in oak. This technique was developed for Lochside’s own ‘Sandy Macnab’ blend, until founder Joseph Hobbs died in 1964. It is worth noting that some consider the Sandy Macnab blend to have been one of the finest blended whiskies from the 1960s/1970s.
Unfortunately, after Lochside was incorporated into the Allied Distillers portfolio (now Chivas Brothers), it was quickly deemed surplus to requirements and was mothballed in 1992, with the last bottling taking place in May of that year. The site was then sold to developers, with the distillery warehouses being demolished in 1997.
Tragically, the iconic tower was never registered under monument protection and in 2005 the remainder of the distillery, including the tower was demolished and replaced with a housing estate. A tragic end for an iconic Highland distillery.
This is a rare 5 year old 1970s bottling of Sandy Macnab’s Old Blended Scotch Whisky. The Sandy Macnab’s blend was produced at the lost Lochside distillery and this contains both Lochside malt and grain whisky (grain whisky production at Lochside was stopped in 1973).
This was bottled at 86 proof (43% – a.k.a export strength) for the European market.
Our Tasting Notes:
Nose: Orange peels. Waxed jackets. Mango skins. Lemon drops. Tree bark. Subtle smoke note. Pine resin. New leather shoes.
Palate: Waxy fruit skins. Figs. Bitter orange marmalade. Spice mix. Savoury note shining through – sweet potatoes and artichokes. Oily leather. Pine nuts.
Finish: Ash. Pepper. Floral sweetness emerges.
Lochside Distillery – Closed
Was it a castle? A whisky fortress? A giant-discoloured-tower-wall-thingy overlooking Montrose? Well, Lochside was perhaps all of those as well as being an excellent Highland distillery in its time.
What most people don’t realise is that Lochside’s iconic design was modelled after a classic German Brauhaus – very fitting considering Lochside was a brewery from 1786 until it was converted into a distillery in 1957.
For a period during its lifetime, Lochside produced both malt and grain whisky and was responsible for coining the phrase ‘blended at birth’ – a process where malt and grain new make is mixed before maturing in oak. This technique was developed for Lochside’s own ‘Sandy Macnab’ blend, until founder Joseph Hobbs died in 1964. It is worth noting that some consider the Sandy Macnab blend to have been one of the finest blended whiskies from the 1960s/1970s.
Unfortunately, after Lochside was incorporated into the Allied Distillers portfolio (now Chivas Brothers), it was quickly deemed surplus to requirements and was mothballed in 1992, with the last bottling taking place in May of that year. The site was then sold to developers, with the distillery warehouses being demolished in 1997.
Tragically, the iconic tower was never registered under monument protection and in 2005 the remainder of the distillery, including the tower was demolished and replaced with a housing estate. A tragic end for an iconic Highland distillery.