East Lothian locals and visitors from all over the world swarm to Lockett Brothers of North Berwick every year and upon arrival will discover an incredible array of fine wines and in my opinion one of the best handpicked ranges of malt whisky in Scotland.
I first met Chris Lockett in 2012 when I visited the shop to flog my wares, unfortunately I chose the day when Bradley Wiggins was marching to a gold medal in the Olympic time trial. Those of you who know Chris will know there is one thing he loves more than whisky and wine and that is cycling! Thankfully our Carn Mor malts were tasty enough to catch his attention that day and I am delighted that we have worked with Chris and Graham at Lockett Bros ever since. It is a privilege for me to work with such masters of their trade and I am proud that our whiskies grace the shelves of this wonderful shop.
My family business, Morrison and MacKay, has been bottling Carn Mor Whiskies since 2008. We specialise in sourcing casks from Scotland’s bountiful choice of distilleries and bottle them for our Carn Mor Strictly Limited and Carn Mor Celebration of the Cask ranges. My father Kenny has worked for 40 years in the whisky industry and selects all of the casks before bottling. New bottlings are released on a bi-monthly schedule so he is always kept on his toes selecting the best casks for bottling!
When I was very kindly asked to write an article on my highlight of 2017 in the Carn Mor range, there was only one choice, our Carn Mor Strictly Limited “Williamson” 2010 7 year old. Williamson is the name given to casks from Laphroaig distillery that have been “teaspooned” with another Islay malt to protect the use of the Laphroaig name. For an independent bottler like ourselves, there are a few distilleries which can be difficult or impossible to source and “teaspooned” casks are a great way to source whisky from these distilleries.
This particular whisky was matured for its whole life in a sherry cask from Jerez de la Frontera in Spain. The combination of the sweetness that is extracted from the cask and the billowing smoke from the distillate produces a whisky that will blow your socks off! And all for £45 a bottle!
This magnificent cask only yielded 950 bottles so get yourself down to Lockett Brothers of North Berwick and grab a bottle for the festive period!
https://www.lockettbros.co.uk/shop/carn-mor-strictly-limited-williamson-6yo-46/
