Royal Lochnagar 175th Anniversary Single Malt Scotch Whisky 17 Year Old

To mark the 175th Anniversary of Royal Lochnagar, a special and rarely released mid-aged Malt is released at natural cask strength. And on this occasion, it is important to understand the history of the 175 years and how they came to begin.

In 1826, James Robertson built Lochnagar Distillery on the north side of the river Dee, near the Lochnagar mountain. In 1841, Lochnagar was burned to the ground, a blaze thought to have been started by Robertson’s illicit competitors. And in 1845, John Begg builds his New Lochnagar Distillery on the south side of the river and this is the distillery we know today. Then, in 1848, a momentous occasion befell the young distillery when Her Majesty Queen Victoria visits Balmoral and, upon the invitation of Begg, pops across to the distillery for a visit. Her Majesty tastes the whisky of New Lochnagar and, suitably impressed, issues a Royal Warrant, allowing the distillery to add ‘Royal’ to its name.

Owing to the diminutive size of the distillery’s production it is rare to see a release that is not the classic 12 year old. On the sporadic occasions that they do appear they are invariably tiny runs like this 3,000 bottle lot. They can be highly collectable. Almost half of the bottles will be available at the distillery itself, meaning that the remaining bottles will be particularly hard to find in international markets.