Lonach 36 Yr Blended Scotch

Has anyone else tried this or any of the Lonach Single Malts in the 41-43 age range? I grabbed a bottle of the 36 yr blended for $70 today. It's pretty good, but I"m curious to know if anyone knows why it's so pale. It's much paler than Johnnie Gold which is only 18 years old.

The color depth of a whisky isn't always consistent with its stated age.

It stands to reason that the older it is the darker it should be, but that's not always the case. A LOT of Scotches have caramel coloring added, and the type and condition of the barrels used in the aging process contribute to the color, too.

JW uses caramel coloring to get a consistent, uniform color depth in all of their bottlings.* I suspect JW uses CC to get a darker, more rich appearance just as much as they use it for color consistency, but I think their public stance is that they use it specifically for a consistent look.

I don't know anything about Lonach, but their non-use of CC would be a possible explanation for the lighter tone. Considering it's a 36, it's more likely that the look is all natural. The younger the blend, the more likely it is to "need" CC to give it some color.



*Actually, I don't claim that with complete certainty as I don't know for sure if they put CC in JW Gold...but I think they do. They use it in other labels for sure. I assume it's in Gold as well.