Lochlea Our Barley
Number 02 of 50
Lochlea Our Barley
Age: Not stated
ABV: 46%
Chill filtered: No
Natural colour: Yes
Price: £45
What they say
Nose: Pear syrup, fruit bonbons, warm cut grass, marmalade
Palate: Golden syrup, pepper, rye bread, macadamia nuts, cream soda
Finish: Long with a lasting orange beeswax note
What we think
Fresh, crisp and zesty, balanced by a lovely creaminess. The bourbon casks give Our Barley its vanilla notes and toffee sweetness, the sherry casks amplify the fruit, and the STR casks bring a freshness, almost like peppermint, that some might taste as a hint of spice on the finish.
THE DISTILLERY
When we think of Lochlea two things spring to mind: barley and John Campbell. Lochlea is one of very few distilleries in Scotland that grows all its own barley (Daftmill is the only other we can think of) and, perhaps even more impressively, it is one of only two distilleries that can boast about the whisky-making skills of John Campbell (the other is Laphroaig).
When John left a 27-year career at the Islay icon in 2021 (having spent 16 of those as distillery manager) to head up operations at Lochlea it was perhaps the whisky equivalent of Lionel Messi leaving PSG to play for a plucky non league outfit. Laphroaig is more than 200 years old and has an annual production capacity in excess of 2.7 million litres. Lochlea, meanwhile, was only built in 2017, and when John joined it hadn’t released a single drop of whisky.
But what a difference 18 months makes! Lochlea has recently released its seventh expression (six limited editions and a core release), all of which have been made entirely with barley grown on the distillery’s farm, the furthest edge of which is within a mile of the still house.
THE WHISKY
So what do they do with their barley to turn it into Our Barley; the one core expression Lochlea will have until it releases its first age statement (which is planned for 2026)?
“The two flavours that run through our DNA are a biscuity cereal undertone, with big, bold, juicy fruit on top,” says Commercial Director David Ferguson. “That cereal note is important for us – we talk a lot about the barley so not having that coming through in the new make wouldn’t make sense. When John joined, he actually kicked that up a notch by raking the mash to get a cloudier wort and more of that cereal note coming through.”
Lochlea mashes Monday to Friday; clear wort one day and cloudy the next. The cloudy wort gives grassy and oily flavours, while the clear wort gives more fruit. Two lengths of fermentation in wooden washbacks (two at 64 hours and three at 116 hours) are used, partly because production stops at weekends. The longer a fermentation, the more the flavours can be balanced off to get that combination of grassy, cereal notes and fruit. Finally, the spirit still is run really slowly to remove any bitterness from the new make spirit and – you’ve guessed it – to bring the fruity flavours on even further; allowing green apples to come through along with a creaminess.
“John spent a lot of time over the cask profile for Our Barley,” says David. “We’ve ended up with 60% first-fill bourbon from Maker’s Mark [the bourbon’s wheat content adds sweetness to the flavour profile], 18% first-fill Oloroso sherry, and the remaining 22% is shaved, toasted and re-charred (STR) ex-Rioja wine casks.”
The bourbon gives Our Barley its vanilla notes and toffee sweetness, the sherry casks amplify the fruit, and the STR casks bring a freshness, almost like peppermint, that some might taste as a hint of spice on the finish.
the ethos
“Our Barley is bottled at 46%, we don’t add any colouring, and we don’t chill filter. We just leave it alone in that regard,” says David. “Based on everything else we do, if we then got to the final product and whacked in caramel it wouldn’t make any sense. If someone buys a bottle of Our Barley in Glasgow, and it’s a slightly different shade to one bought in Shanghai it doesn’t bother us at all. We don’t have 200 years of tradition, so we are creating our traditions now.”
Grassy, cereal notes run through the heart of the release – both on the nose and palette – so is Lochlea keen to recreate what is seen typically as a light and delicate Lowland style? “Absolutely not. We are in the Lowlands because that’s where the farm is, but we’re not trying to fit into a category within Scotch; we’re very much doing our own thing,” says David.
That drive to sit outside clearly defined boundaries is one of the reasons John trialled his own floor malting last year; steeping the barley in the back of a trailer and germinating it on a warehouse floor – and sharing it all on social media! The new make from that trial is in cask now, one of many exciting experiments in the Lochlea warehouse. But that’s for the future.
THE FUTURE
“Until we have our first age statement [currently planned as an eight year old in 2026] we’ll continue to have Our Barley and four limited edition seasonal releases every year [named Sowing, Harvest, Ploughing and Fallow]. The spirit will obviously get slightly more mature every year and the cask profile might change a little; there might be a different cask ratio or we might introduce a completely new cask type,” says David. “We’re making subtle improvements all the time, but you’re not going to try a bottle of Our Barley next month and think it’s wildly different from one you’ve had before.”
And what about further out? “A big part of our philosophy is long-term planning because we are 100% family owned. So we’ve already set casks aside for Lochlea 25 Year Old.
“If we have Our Barley as the non-age statement core product, and then have an eight year old expression, what are the other things that sit around that? The feedback that we’re getting on the seasonal releases may help inform that, but there are also some casks we haven’t even released yet.”
Lochlea has age statements planned for eight, 12, 18 and 25-year-old expressions, which means the small team is working to 2050 and beyond.
“Whether the liquid is five years old or 25 years old, John always talks about balance, depth and complexity. There should always be a balance between wood and spirit, and plenty going on in the glass,” says David.
There’s always been plenty going on in John Campbell’s glass – perhaps now more than ever before.