Royal Lochnagar 12yo

I read back in the Google archives of this group looking for Royal Lochnagar. I'm interested in this for a couple distinct reasons. The first, it seems there's not a real consensus on this malt--opinions I found varied widely. Second, it has a sort of special place on my shelf since it was the first single malt I ever tried[1].

So I'm curious for the group to share impressions. I'll list mine, from tasting it tonight:

The color strikes me as pale (and I have been informed it's caramel colored, so it looks a bit richer than it actually tastes to me), and the consistency appears a bit thin. Nosing it gives me a solid snout full of peat, and not a lot of other complexity beyond the hint of caramel/toffee. The body is on the light side of medium--I get the opposite of richness as a sensation. It tastes "high" to me and feels volatile. The taste does deliver the peat that the aroma promises, but without any complex flavor accents to carry it through. It has a quick finish and nearly no aftertaste other than that caramel. There's a substantial sweetness to the aftertaste but without any "afteraroma" for me. If you fancy peat and caramel, this is for you.

I'd actually like to try a version of this sans the coloring, I think I'd prefer it without, even though I don't take offense at it. I can't say there's anything unpleasant about the flavor, but the aromas are definitely lacking for my taste. I'd very much like to hear the group's opinions.

[1] Before I attained legal drinking age, I had fixed in my mind the idea that I'd celebrate the occasion by striding boldly to the counter of my local liquor store with a bottle of "12-year-old Scotch" in hand. When I got to the actual moment, I was confronted with a decision that I had no basis whatever for making. Maybe a dozen varieties on the shelf met my "12-year-old" criterion for purchasing. I suppose that the legend on the Royal Lochnagar label "by appointment to their late majesties, Queen Victoria, King Edward VII, & King George V" was probably what swung the decision in the heat of that moment. But I really had no clue. I got the stuff home, uncorked it, and poured myself a healthy blast, intent on savoring this very adult treat. I recall not caring for it especially--I know I never finished that bottle. But the experience cemented in my mind and palate this idea of how Scotch whisky is supposed to taste (for better or worse). It took fifteen years or so for me to get back around to trying it, this time with a more genuinely adult palate to judge it with. The stuff tastes just as I remembered it, and it evokes quite a reaction, bringing me back to relive this formative experience. But now I know there are malts I like a lot more.

Rob

It does seem to invoke reactions from love to disdain. For me, and I like it quite a bit, it's the classic example of scotch that doesn't show it's best side except by comparison with others. Easy to overlook its subtleties. Michael Jackson has a great line; he reports that Queen Victoria used it to lace her Claret, "thereby ruining two of the world's great drinks".

It wasn't my first scotch, but I tried it early on in my scotch experience. I found a bar, Wylie's, now defunct, that had a dozen or more single malts on the menu. They were all pretty standard stuff, but at that time several were still untasted by me. I and my friend Edd went to have an evening tasting whiskies, and judging them by comparison one to another. The two best of the evening were the Glenrothes '79 (the old one) and the Royal Lochnagar. Both of these were flavorful, but also gentle whiskies whose best qualities could be overlooked if they weren't tasted head to head with their peers.

So I decided to buy a Royal Lochnagar. I knew I had seen one at my local store. It was in it's cardboard box. When I took it home I noticed that while the box said 12 years old, the bottle didn't. I didn't think much of that, and drank it anyway. It was a couple of years later that I learned that the bottle I had bought for about thirty dollars came in the wrong box. I had not bought the 12yo, but the "Selected Reserve". Ordinarily, a much more expensive bottle. I still had the empty bottle so there was no doubt. I still have it today, as a souvenir.

Without a doubt, that was the best "bargain buy" whisky I've ever bought. I only regret that I bought it so early in my experience with scotch that I couldn't really appreciate what I had.

Bart