The Heart Cut has announced its latest bottling, which has been made in collaboration with single-estate distillery Lochlea. 

Selected for the Heart Cut by Lochlea master distiller Jill Boyd, the single malt was matured in a cask which previously held peated Islay whisky. The result, says the Heart Cut, has notes of smoke which are drawn entirely from the cask — the spirit itself is unpeated. 

Georgie Bell, co-founder of the Heart Cut, commented: "Smoke isn’t only born in the kiln. With this cask we can show drinkers how an ex-Islay barrel creates a gentler, sweeter haze — think smoked Maldon salt sprinkled over baked apples and vanilla cream — without ever smoking the barley itself. And partnering with Lochlea to tell this story is a dream."

Lochlea recently used ex-Islay casks for a bottling under its own brand; the distillery's Cask Strength Batch 3 combined sherry and Islay whisky casks for the first time.

David Ferguson, commercial director at Lochlea, said: "Due to our limited production and three-decade inventory plan, we only work with a small select number of independent bottlers. However, given their strong reputation in the market and real partnership approach, we are delighted to be partnering with the Heart Cut on this single cask.

"Jill found some gems in our warehouse, and the one Georgie and Fab chose is outstanding — full of our signature tropical fruit and cereal flavours, alongside sweet smoke from the ex-Islay cask. I can’t wait to grab a bottle when it launches!"

The Lochlea bottling is the Heart Cut's second foray into Scotch whisky, having made a Madeira wine cask-finished Nc'nean its twelfth bottling earlier this year.

The independent bottler was launched by Georgie Bell and Fabrizio Leoni in 2023, with the aim to tell the "tale of people, provenance, and... flavour" through single-cask bottlings. Since then, it has been named Independent Bottler of the Year for both 2024 and 2025 in the Icons of Whisky. 

The Heart Cut #17 Lochlea (54% ABV, RRP £58) will be released in a limited run of 410 bottles on 1 July 2025 via theheartcut.com.