Royal Lochnagar – 12 Year Old 70cl Bottle

Royal Lochnagar is one of the smallest distilleries in the Highlands. It stands just beyond the boundaries of Balmoral Castle, at the foot of the majestic peak from which it takes its name and its pure mountain water. A combination of nature’s finest ingredients and the Distiller’s art produces the distinctive, mellow taste of Royal Lochnagar. Twelve years in oaken casks complete the task that human skill began. This is a whisky you will treasure and enjoy with those who share your appreciation. Queen Victoria is is reputed to have enjoyed this malt and to have used it to lace her claret, thereby ruining two of the world’s greatest drinks. She visited the distillery which is at the foot of the mountain of Lochnager (1156m/3789ft), just off the B976 and just over the hill from the Royal family’s Scottish home at Balmoral. A man believed originally to have been an illicit whisky-maker established the first legal Lochnagar distillery in 1826 and the present premises were built in 1845. Three years later the Royal family acquired Balmoral. The then owner John Begg recorded that he wrote a note inviting Prince Albert to come and was rewarded with a visit the very next day. Soon afterwards the distillery began to supply the Queen and became known as Royal Lochnagar. Over the years the distillery has been rebuilt three times, most recently in 1967. For a period in the late 1970s and early 1980s the distillery stopped using the royal prefix but this has now been restored.