Review #883 - SMWS 122.70 'Dirty, Sexy, Intense Whiskeeee!' - Loch Lomond (Croftengea) 9 Year

Loch Lomond distillery has produced a wide range of spirit styles over the years using both barley and wheat, as well as several types of stills - traditional swan-necked pot stills, straight-necked pot stills, and column stills. They've given these different styles of spirit a variety of names, both as internal designations and when selling it externally; Inchmurrin, Inchmoan, Croftengea, and Old Rhosdhu are just a few examples.

Several of these styles are made with peated spirit; we're most experienced with Inchmoan, which has quite a few SMWS releases under their distillery code '135.' To a lesser extent, we've also tried a few Croftengea whiskies, such as today's bottle; the only other example we've reviewed is a 10 year SMWS bottling named 'Smoky to a Tee' ('Smoky TCP to a Tee' if you're outside the USA).

Both of these styles are single malts with heavy levels of peat; Inchmoan is made using primarily the straight-necked pot stills, which have increased reflux, creating a cleaner spirit despite the peat influence. Croftengea, on the other hand, is the full-fat, oily, industrial peat monster spirit style made on the traditional pot stills.

This specific example of Croftengea was matured for just 9 years in a first fill bourbon barrel, after which it was bottled at a strength of 58.1% ABV. Because of the clean cask type, we should get a good insight into the real character of this distillate; the Scotch Malt Whisky Society classified this bottle in their 'heavily peated' flavor profile.

SMWS 122.70 'Dirty, Sexy, Intense Whiskeeee!' - Loch Lomond (Croftengea) 9 Year

Scotland/Highland - Single Malt

Price: USD 115 (2025)

Age Statement: 9 Years

Strength: 58.1% ABV

Cask Makeup: First fill ex-bourbon barrel

Details: Not chill filtered, no color added; distilled March 26, 2015; 138 bottles

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times over 8 months; bottles at 100%, 70%, and 60% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes

Nose: Strong peaty, very smoky, followed by a lot of industrial notes - motor oil, diesel fumes. It's quite phenolic, and we get some wood smoke; behind that, lime citrus and some subtle stone fruit build. There's a creamy vanilla and lemon curd side as well, and in the background, we get accents of burnt sugar, espresso, and inky dark fruits. Very good complexity.

Palate: Like the nose, there's a lot going on here. Intense peat and wood smoke are backed up by sweet, juicy mango and fizzy citrus; spices of cinnamon and licorice arrive, and we also get sugary notes. That peat is sharp, but in a pleasant way; black pepper and more phenolic notes build. This has a thick mouthfeel, very rich and indulgent.

Finish: Peaches, vanilla, both juicy mango and dried mango strips; balsamic, sweet lemon, sugar-glazed pastry, and mandarin orange. That pastry note takes on a yeasty character, and we still get plenty of strong peat. Chili powder spice, charcoal, and syrupy mango juice linger in the aftertaste; it's a long finish.

Final Note: Wow, what a bottle. Good complexity here, and despite the strong peat, we actually found that this had great balance - lots of sweet fruits and baking spice notes backed up the sharper character, and we loved those industrial accents on the nose. Despite the single digit age statement, this doesn't taste young at all - we think this has developed complexity that few single malts in the age range can compare to. Highly recommended that you try one of these peated Loch Lomond single malt if you can find them - the cask strength versions are especially special to us.

Value-wise, this is very good, despite the fact that it's from SMWS, which tends to be quite pricey. These younger Loch Lomond bottles do fall on the 'cheaper' side of that spectrum, but they're just as good as some of the older expressions - tons of flavor, especially if you like a peat monster.

Our Rating: 8.5 / 10

In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.

Value Rating: 6.99

About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.