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'Loch Lomond" Whisky: Does it really exist?

epic_fail
Member
#1 · Posted: 1 Apr 2015 20:40
I'm curious about this one.
What did Hergé base Loch Lomond whisky on? Was it his idea?

(Sorry for "Herge" because of that accent, but it bugs when I add it).

Moderator Note: Thanks for even making the attempt at adding the accent to "Hergé" - it is appreciated! If you ever have a problem with adding the acute accent to the letter "e" (and this comes from experience of typing for a long time on a lap-top with a defective keyboard which didn't like making the accents either), you can always copy and paste it from somewhere else (for example, the word Hergé appears in the text at the bottom of forum pages in the copyright information).
Your wish has been granted, and the acute has been inserted for you!
The Tidy Tintinologist Team
jock123
Moderator
#2 · Posted: 1 Apr 2015 23:04
Yes, there really is a Loch Lomond whisky, but the fact is that Hergé didn't know that at the time he inserted it into the books (for the 1966 version of The Black Island).
The intention had been to remove references to Johnnie Walker, another real-life brand; it was felt better to fictionalize the name so that there was no need to ask for permission to use it, and I imagine so that it lessened the chance of some young copy-cat getting drunk by accident when playing at being Captain Haddock.

Loch Lomond is well known as a Scottish beauty spot, which has long been immortalized in the popular song of the same name, so I imagine that it was seen as a very good choice - it sounds right. There may even have been attempts to check that there wasn't already a whisky bearing the name - and they were probably delighted to find that there wasn't, so that's what they used.

However...

It turned out that there was a brand with the name - it just wasn't in production at that time, so the fact must have slipped past the Studios.

Then the whisky went back into production, and things came full circle.

So the answer is, Hergé didn't base his whisky on anything other than imagination - but accidentally came up with someone else's idea!
MT50446
Member
#3 · Posted: 12 May 2015 19:15
Once again a example of Hergé's forward thinking seeing into the future... genius!
JJohannes
Member
#4 · Posted: 17 Oct 2017 18:36
I actually had a bottle of Loch Lomond single malt once. It was decent and comparable to the likes of Glenfarclas or Cragganmore from the Speyside, even though it is officially a Highland whisky.

Production of Loch Lomond started in 1965 but naturally the whisky wasn't available for the customers until much later.
Wombleydude
Member
#5 · Posted: 12 Jun 2020 20:29
I am sitting here drinking a bottle of the new stuff now. It pleases me as a Tintin fan, a Captain Haddock fan and a whisky fan!

I say new but of course it is 12 years old :-D
Balthazar
Moderator
#6 · Posted: 24 Jun 2020 16:53
Wombleydude
A belated welcome to the forums, Wombleydude, and thank you for your dedication to that first-hand research!

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