The Lost Distillery Company Stratheden Archivist's Selection Blended Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml)

The Lost Distillery Company Blended malts employ a variety of whiskies in order to recreate the imagined flavour profiles of some of Scotland's long closed distilleries.

Stratheden distillery (1829-1926) was situated in the centre of the old market town of Auchtermuchty in Fife. The earliest records of legal distillation indicate it was founded in 1829, although there is anecdotal evidence of the prior use of illegal stills in the area. The distillery was unusual in that it only ever had one owner – three successive generations of the Bonthrone family. The Bonthrone’s hailed from the area and according to whisky writer, Brian Townsend, were a “…true malting, brewing and distilling dynasty.” Ancestors of the family were brewers in nearby Falkland in the 1600s. They also had local interests in baking and milling. The challenges of the early 20th century proved to be too much for Stratheden. Demand was so poor that it did not re-commence production until 1922. Successive duty increases, set alongside distilling costs that were higher than those of modern distilleries meant that margins were eroded to the point where there was little will in continuing. The final blow was the loss of its major export market, as the United States embarked on a decade of Prohibition from 1920. The distillery ceased production in late 1924, and closed for good in 1926. The maltings remained in use until the 1970s. The bonded warehouses were bought by Arthur Bell in 1931 and remained in use with United Distillers until 1989. The warehouse doors can still be seen to this day, marked as a bonded warehouse. 46% Alc./Vol. Non chill filtered.

Other reviews... A dry malt boasting sporadic muscovado fruity sweetness and the vaguest of underlying phenols. I wish the company well, but have to say that putting today's casks together to recreate a malt last distilled in 1926 (and which no one living has probably ever tasted) is fanciful, to put it mildly. In those days bourbon casks weren't available so not in use; sherry ones were then of a significantly higher standard and the peat, almost certainly, would have been a little more punchy than here. 86 points - Jim Murray's Whisky Bible 2019

...Slabs of plain chocolate, Kendal mint cake, vanilla essence, and malt with a dry, dusty character makes this suggest itself for an after-dinner occasion. The palate is very sweet; sugarplum, caramelized brown sugar, flapjacks, bramble, and pink rhubarb before it finally coagulates into a thick Horlicks maltiness. There’s an impressive trajectory of flavor here, though the mouthfeel is nothing special and dilution doesn’t enhance it to any real degree. Dry and malty finish. 85 points - whiskyadvocate.com, reviewed by: Jonny McCormick 2015