A ballot for the opportunity to buy one of 184 highly collectible bottles of 1988 Royal Lochnagar Single Malt Scotch Whisky, from the cask of Prince Charles, will open at the end of the month.
Hosted on The Whisky Exchange website from 31 December, the cask was originally a gift to His Royal Highness to mark the 140th anniversary of the first royal visit to Royal Lochnagar Distillery, by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1848, and the Prince generously donated the cask to his charity, The Prince’s Foundation.
This unique bottling, which took place on The Prince’s 70th birthday, 14 November 2018, is one of the oldest single cask releases of Royal Lochnagar Single Scotch whisky.
There are 206 individually numbered bottles; to ensure demand is managed fairly, 184 bottles will be available through The Whisky Exchange ballot, one will be auctioned once the ballot is closed, one placed in the Diageo Archive, and the remaining 20 retained by The Prince’s Foundation for further fundraising. The bottles in the ballot will be priced at £1470 and the full proceeds will go to The Prince’s Foundation.
Those interested in entering can register now at www.thewhiskyexchange.com/RoyalLochnagar and the ballot will be live from 31 December until 27 January 2019.
The bottle, with etched lettering infilled in gold, and bespoke Royal Lochnagar blue presentation box, both display the arms of the Duke of Rothesay (His Royal Highness’s Scottish title), ‘The cask of HRH The Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay’, and a label that includes the handwritten edition number and natural cask strength of 52.6% abv.
On a visit to Royal Lochnagar Distillery in October 2018, during which the cask was formally handed over, His Royal Highness tasted the whisky with Diageo whisky specialist Maureen Robinson, leading whisky writer Charles MacLean, and Sukhinder Singh, owner of The Whisky Exchange.
Matured in an American oak hogshead cask, there are cereal, vanilla, pear and marzipan notes on the nose. The palate is creamy with a delicate sweetness, blackcurrant, walnut and coconut flavours.
The Whisky Exchange’s Sukhinder Singh said: ‘This whisky encompasses the full character of Royal Lochnagar Single Malt Scotch Whisky, and it lingers beautifully, developing subtle flavours on the palate. The Whisky Exchange is honoured to help sell this special bottling to raise funds for The Prince’s Foundation.’
Royal Lochnagar distillery manager Sean Phillips added: ‘We are delighted to have welcomed His Royal Highness back to Royal Lochnagar Distillery recently and are particularly pleased that this special whisky will support the work of The Prince’s Foundation at The Carriage at Ballater Station on Royal Deeside, which is so important to Royal Lochnagar and our people who live and work here.’
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