Lost Distillery Company Lossit Scotch Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B

We’ve already discussed who The Lost Distillery Company is in previous reviews, and the name sums up what they do pretty succinctly. Instead, I’ll cut straight to discussing the lost distillery at hand, especially in view of how it’s from that island so esteemed by so many diehard Scotch whisky fans: Islay.

Lossit, sometimes also spelled Lossett or called Ballygrant, not far from the town and loch of the latter name. Founded in 1817, it operated to 1860 years as a farm-scale, grain-to-cask distillery. The distillery continued in the business, as some shuttered facilities across the world do, for several more years by providing warehousing to others. In this case, Caol Ila stored bottles with Lossit.

The Scotch
In the glass, the vatted malt, recreated Lossit has a pale yellow appearance, standing one step on the spectrum from clear. The coat in drops thick, streaming legs.

The nose is soft fashion, balancing traces of oily, smoky residue against a current of green wood. This aspect of the nose is actually something I’m familiar with from cutting my own firewood, sawing logs next to the barbecue pit. Behind that is a personable, spicy pinch of ginger and canned pears.

The Lossit presents itself light and slippery on the tongue, with a flavor that is like chili-flecked nuts. Later on a slight tinge of earthiness and a strong current of pepper (distinct from the earlier chili spice) comes on. After the swallow, the flavors separate, leaving pear sweetness on the top of my tongue, and spicy tingling over the rest.

This whisky makes for a nice sipper, especially for novices or casual drinking. It has balance and personality, but no demanding complexity, and only a hint of the smoky character one expects from an Islay malt.

The Price
Expect to pay $43 a bottle for Lost Distillery Company’s Lossit.