House of Hazelwood : The Lost Estate 43 Year Old

Tasting Notes and Recommendations for The Lost Estate 43 Years Old by House of Hazelwood

Tasting

Appearance
The whisky displays a pale, luminous gold hue, typical of grain long matured in American white oak casks. This clarity, achieved without any added colouring, hints at an almost creamy texture, inherited from more than four decades of cask ageing.

Nose
The nose is rich and creamy, carried by esterified notes of pear drops and vibrant mandarin. It then unfolds into a perfumed bouquet of ripe tropical fruits, papaya and pineapple to the fore, underpinned by the sweetness of vanilla and whipped cream. Hints of sawn wood and fine pine needles bring a resinous dimension, while dried lemons preserve a lovely overall freshness.

Palate
The attack is immensely soft and creamy, evoking whipped cream, before giving way to lemon sweets and a subtle touch of bisongrass. Stewed red apples add fruitiness, and the palate then moves towards icing sugar and fresh green apple, with a very light aniseed note reminiscent of fennel. A clean, bright note of barley sugar rounds off the whole, bringing depth and freshness. The finish, medium to long in length, lingers on vanilla, apple skin and fennel.

Pairings and Tasting Moments

A sipping whisky par excellence, The Lost Estate is best enjoyed neat, at the end of a meal or during a moment of quiet contemplation, to fully appreciate its aromatic richness and long finish.

Mixology

Given its rarity and the finesse of its aromatic profile, The Lost Estate is an exceptional whisky best enjoyed without embellishment, neat, so as to reveal the full breadth of its aromas.

The Lost Estate 43 Years Old: A Rare Blended Grain Scotch Whisky Paying Tribute to Two Lost Grain Distilleries

House of Hazelwood, a Scotch whisky house born from the Gordon family's private stocks

House of Hazelwood is a Scotch whisky house launched in 2022, backed by William Grant & Sons and built on the private stocks accumulated by the Gordon family over nearly a century. Its name comes from Hazelwood House, the family residence located in Dufftown, at the heart of Speyside, where the family's private cellar is also found. Rather than a distillery, House of Hazelwood presents itself as an independent blending house, showcasing rare malts and grains sourced from across Scotland. The brand is today led by the fifth generation of the Gordon family, under the aegis of William Grant & Sons, the group's current owner, with Jonathan Gibson at the helm of marketing since 2021.

The Lost Estate 43 Years Old, a blended grain whisky from ghost distilleries

The Lost Estate 43 Years Old is a blended grain Scotch whisky crafted from well-matured grain whiskies sourced from two now-closed grain distilleries. Matured for 43 years in American white oak casks, it is bottled at its natural cask strength of 41.6% ABV, without colouring or chill-filtration, in keeping with House of Hazelwood's cherished tradition of minimal intervention. It forms part of the Legacy Collection, where, alongside The Eight Grain, it embodies the House's beloved "ghost distilleries" theme. Praised by the specialist press for the complexity of its aromatic profile, The Lost Estate 43 Years Old stands as a testament to House of Hazelwood's expertise in showcasing exceptionally long-matured Scottish grain whisky.