Lochside 20 Years Old 1981

Established in the town of Montrose in 1957, Lochside was short-lived but entirely unique distillery, which became something of a local landmark thanks to its distinctive white tower and prominent location. The tower hints at the previous life of the building as a brewery since the 1780s before being purchased by the charismatic owner of Ben Nevis, Joseph Hobbs, who had a track record of doing things his way. The brewery was converted for whisky production, but grain whisky with a Coffey still initially, before, in 1961, two sets of pot stills was added to Lochside. Now it was in the rare position of being able to produce its own blend from a single site. Rather than just blending after maturation, Hobbs instigated the technique of combining distillates and then letting them mature into a blended whisky. In 1973, the Spanish Destilerias y Crianzas purchased the distillery, which had been used to provide content for its popular blend. The distillery was mothballed in 1992 by Allied Distillers and eventually, in 2005, developers demolished the site including the iconic tower.