Royal Lochnagar Selected Reserve - Circa 1990

Royal Lochnagar is the smallest and one of the prettiest distilleries in Diageo's stable. Lochnagar acquired its Royal Warrant from Prince Albert in 1848 after he and Queen Victoria accepted an invitation from the distillery’s canny owner John Begg to visit the distillery, which is a stone’s throw from Balmoral.

Royal Lochnagar’s distillery capacity is just 500,000 litres and the make is an important part of both Johnnie Walker Blue Label and the Windsor blended whisky, a prominent brand in Asia. Official bottlings of Royal Lochnagar as a single malt are therefore limited to the standard 12-year-old, occasional Special Release editions and the popular Selected Reserve bottling, which first appeared in the late 1980s - at which time it was the most expensive single malt whisky in Diageo forerunner Scottish Malt Distillers’ portfolio. Indie bottlings of Lochnagar are scarce but well worth seeking out.

Distillery bottlings are, as the name suggests, bottled by or for the distillery from which the whisky has originated and are thus often referred to as Official Bottlings or OBs. Distillery bottlings are generally more desirable for collectors and usually fetch higher prices at auction than independent bottlings. They are officially-endorsed versions of the whisky from a particular distillery and are therefore considered the truest expression of the distillery’s character.

This ideal of the distillery character is regarded so seriously by the distilleries and brand owners that casks of whisky that are considered to vary too far from the archetype are frequently sold on to whisky brokers and independent bottlers. When this happens, it is often with the proviso that the distillery’s name is not allowed to be used when the cask is bottled for fear of diminishing or damaging the distillery’s character and status.