Loch Ewe distillery is located in the Highland town of Aultbea and is more a 'garage' than "farm" distillery as it really is situated in a converted garage, or shed, behind the Drumchork Lodge Hotel.

John Clotworthy is the proprietor of the hotel and the distillery has been his brainchild.

Thanks to a loophole in the law which has since been closed, John uses 120 litre Alembic 'pot' stills and even lights the flame by hand, or should I say, with a match.

So, Loch Ewe uses 120 litre stills and real matches struck by hand to light them, guess what his water source is? That's right, his own tap! Of course he filters the chlorine out first, well one would, wouldn't one!

Maturation is in 2, 3 & 4 gallon casks, although he has some at 5 litres too. (A (UK) gallon is 4.54 litres)

Theoretical capacity would be 600 litres of pure alcohol per year, but as he says "that is unrealistic due to our scale".

The oldest spirit matured to date is 6 months according to the distillery website.

Distillery photos with kind permission by Teun van Wel

Loch Ewe, New Spirit, 59.6% ABV

distilled 11.3.2008, bottled 13.3.2008

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Clear, like water

Nose: Slightly rancid spirit with a hint of raspberry.

Palate: Strong spirit but it does have a hint of raspberry, like very strong German Himbeer (raspberry) Schnapps.

With 5 drops of water: More pungent nose and a mouldy leafiness is added to the palate.

With lots more water: The leafiness extends to the nose but the palate just gets weaker.

Finish: Extremely long and leafy, just like my compost tip in Autumn.

Overall Impression: Would this turn into a typically Autumnal whisky if allowed to mature long enough? Maybe.