Lagg "Kilmory Edition", 3 yo. (b: 2023)
 
Style & Origin
styleScotch Single Malt Whisky
region Highlands, Islands, Arran
age3 yo.
strength46% (92 proof)
peatedyes
casksEx-Bourbon
bottled2023
price$163
availabilityvery rare
websitewww.arranwhisky.com
whiskybasewww.whiskybase.com
winesearcherwww.wine-searcher.com
distillery Lagg
Bar Log
Fri., Jul. 5, 2024bottle #1926 added to stock
Fri., Nov. 15, 2024bottle #1926 in stock
Release Notes
For the LAGG Kilmory Edition we have used Concerto malted barley and water from our own borehole. Our chosen yeast and fermentation time allows us to create the full-bodied flavour with a vibrant and fresh taste profile which is the cornerstone of what LAGG Single malt has to offer into the future. The influence of the peat combined with the vanilla and creamy influence of the american oak forms the backbone of the go-to LAGG Single Malt.
It can be said that the Kilmory expression embodies the 'house style of LAGG' which centres around the use of Bourbon Barrels with our peated spirit.
The Kilmory edition is 100% First-Fill Bourbon Barrel matured and bottled at 46% ABV, without chill filtration and with no added colouring.
Lagg
3rd Party Tasting Notes
Nose: Heather smoke and charred citrus
Palate: An initial burst of fruit gives way to subtle bonfire smoke and a long lasting finish
Finish: Citrus, Smoke, Vanilla, Long lasting.
Lagg
The Distillery: Lagg
Established: 2017
Silent since: False
Address: Isle of Arran KA27 8PG
→ website
In 2017, we began building our distillery and its magnificent visitor centre. Two years later, we opened our doors to the waiting world. Our architects have created a spectacular building to echo the contours of Arran as you’d see it from Ailsa Craig. Its dramatic roofs are covered with a sedum blanket. This contains a mix of plants that change colour with the seasons. Our custom-made copper pot stills were installed on the distillery floor in August 2018, and now sit proudly alongside our mash tun and four traditional wooden washbacks. The first middle cut of spirit was recorded at 14.35 on Tuesday 19th March 2019.

Before Arran distillery commenced production in 1995, there hadn’t been a legal distillery on the Hebridean island since 1837. While Isle of Arran Distillers’ first distillery came to life toward the end of a downturn for the Scotch industry, its second is being realised in a boom period.

In 2017, some 22 years after Arran distillery opened at Lochranza on the north side of the island, groundwork began at Lagg in the south.

Phase one saw the immediate build of three new warehouses to provide maturation facilities for both distilleries, while construction of the new site began in November 2017.

Lagg distillery eventually took its first spirit cut on 19 March 2019 at 14.35pm, and filled its first cask on 10 April, a Sherry butt which will be reserved exclusively for members of the Lagg Cask Society.

Construction is still ongoing at the distillery, and the visitor centre is not expected to open until summer 2019.
from Lagg, ScotchWhisky.com
The Owner: Arran
Established: 1993
Silent since: False
Address: Lochranza, Isle of Arran, Argyll, KA27 8HJ, Scotland
→ website
2008 - The logo of the Arran distillery was restyled.
A decade after being opened in 1995, a few different expressions of Arran became available to the public around 2005. For many years the only widely available expression has been the standard NAS version (no age statement), released for the first time in 1998.
The only potentially disturbing element in Arran"s success story is the relatively large quantity of single malt and blended whisky that has already been bottled and sold at a relatively young age. The Arran distillery has a substantial production capacity of circa 750,000 litres per year, but they presently only produce a fraction of that; 125,000 litres. Will there be enough casks left by the time the spirit reaches its prime in a few years time to satisfy demand? What"s more, were they able to secure enough decent casks in the first place? Judging from the wide variety of different finishes that Arran distillery has released, the results of maturation in their regular (bourbon?) casks often required further "tweaking" before the Arran whisky was deemed suitable for mass consumption. Well, I"m no traditionalist, and I don"t mind unconventional measures if they get results...
In the new Millenium
And this time I could actually notice notable improvement. A score of 67 points still isn"t an astronomical score by any stretch of the imagination, but it"s the section of my Hit List where I"m starting to have some genuine fun. I won"t be running to the liquor store the next time Arran releases another new bottling, but if they were smart enough to save up enough of the first casks (and I suspect they were) the future looks quite bright indeed for Arran. Their regular offerings at circa 10 years old can already compete with established brands.
Things started to look really sunny when Arran entered the Awards in 2004. They submitted two "single cask" bottlings that both earned a bronze medal. I wouldn"t be surprised if Arran came up with a really interesting whisky in just three or four years time. By the way, their Lochranza blend isn"t half bad either; I can"t say I really "love" it (50 points), but I like it better than many mainstream blends like J&B and William Lawson"s, that much is certain. And pretty good value too here in Holland.
For almost a decade, Arran kept releasing fresh batches of this bottling, and because it doesn"t have an age statement you could never know for certain if a bottle you bought in 2002 contained malt whisky that was three or seven years old. When I tried my first one in 1998 I was pleasantly surprised. My score of 61 points was actually pretty good for a 3yo whisky. I"m happy to report that the malt whisky from Arran has improved considerably since then.
Along the way Arran released some "special" bottlings like the "Painters" series and the "Robert Burns" shown below, but the lack of any further information on the actual age of these bottles kept me from investing much money in them. The fact that they demanded handsome ransoms for these "special" bottlings that couldn"t have been that old (or good) has tempered my enthusiasm for this distillery for a while, but by 2003 the "Non-Chillfiltered" bottling appeared.
2003 - Arran released the Arran "Non Chill Filtered"; as far as I"m concerned the first really "mature" Arran. They also released their first double matured whisky - a Calvados Finish. This was the first in a long range of different finishes, including Marsala, Champagne, Port, Bordeaux, Chareau Margaux, Tokaji, Rum, Cognac, Cream sherry, Fino sherry, Amarone, Fontalloro, Lepanto PX Brandy, Moscatel de Setubal, Montepulciano d"Abruzzo Mascianelli, Pineau de Charentes, Pineau de Charentes, Sassicaia, St. Emillion Chateau Fonplegade, etc. In recent years more and more (independent) bottlings are released that were matured in relatively mundane sherry casks.
2007 - A new racked warehouse with a capacity of circa 3,000 casks is added to the Arran distillery.
Trivia:
  • During the construction of the distillery, a pair of Golden Eagles built their nest on a nearby cliff. Since Golden Eagles are a protected species, construction of the distillery was temporarily halted.
  • Arran doesn"t have its own malt mill; ready made grist is purchased from the mainland.
  • Until the 1830"s there were three distilleries on the Isle of Arran, all on the southern part of the island.
from Malt Madness