Mannochmore Loch Dhu 10 Year Old Black Whisky

Dark Terror

Loch Dhu is Gaelic for ‘Black Lake’. It was produced by Mannochmore in 1996, but no longer. A strange whisky, to say the least. Many people believe this to be the world’s worst single malt ever made. Mannochmore claims the dark color is the result of double charring of the cask, a process in which the inside of the cask is charred twice by open flame to open up the wood. But charring is a common practice, yet there are only few ‘black whiskies’ on the markt. Nowadays, for example, there is Cu Dhub (‘Black Dog’, considered to be a ‘sequel’ to Loch Dhu, but this is not Mannochmore-made.

The nose is rife with caramel that obviously needs to cover up some nasty sour scents. I also get some figs and a burnt smell, like someone burning a complete matchstick.

The taste… oh, my god, wat a terrible taste! Again burnt caramel, but also something salty that reminds me of teriyaki sauce, but the whole turns bitter very quickly. Yikes! This doesn’t taste like whisky at all. This tastes like an experiment gone wrong. This is dark terror!

The finish is dry and bitter. And, in this case, oh-so-terribly long. My tastebuds are f*cked for the rest of the evening. Terrible!

Strangely enough, Loch Dhu is now a collector’s item. I’m guilty as well, having a 35cl bottle sitting on the shelf – unopened. I tasted this from a sample I got from a friend (can you really call him a friend after offering this…?). I recently saw a lot of 150 bottles offered on eBay (no bids, mind you) for £18.000. The seller claimed this was a ‘once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to invest in this special and collectible single malt’. I would claim that too, if I were sitting on a stock of over 150 bottles.

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