Lochlea Distillery launches final First Crop seasonal limited edition

Lochlea Distillery in Scotland has unveiled the fourth and final bottling in its seasonal First Crop series of limited releases.

Lochlea 'Ploughing Edition' concludes the First Crop series of small-batch bottlings which aim to showcase its spirit through the farming seasons. It follows the 'Sowing Edition' in March 2022, 'Harvest Edition' in September 2022, and 'Fallow Edition' in November 2022. A Second Crop series of limited-edition seasonal releases is planned for 2023.

Inspired by the season of winter, the 'Ploughing Edition' was matured in a combination of ex-Islay whisky barrels and peated quarter casks to add a slight hint of peat to Lochlea's unpeated single malt. The expression also celebrates the distillery's connection to the Scottish poet Robert Burns, who lived and worked on the farm from1774–1784, and will launch on Burns Night (25 January).

John Campbell, Lochlea's production director and master blender, said: "Lochlea 'Ploughing Edition' is our first peated release and showcases all the expected Lochlea flavours with a wee touch of Islay. We have matured our unpeated single malt in ex-Islay peated barrels and this delivers a lightly peated version of Lochlea that I am sure you will enjoy.”

Lochlea ‘Ploughing Edition’ (First Crop) is bottled at 46% ABV, without chill filtration or artificial colouring. There are only 11,000 bottles of Lochlea 'Ploughing Edition' available globally, which are going on sale in the UK and in 20 other markets around the world (RRP £50).