Lost Lantern Mountain Meadow Single Malt Review [In Depth]
Lost Lantern Mountain Meadow Single Malt
by: ALEX WANG
Founder, writer
Founder, writer
Lost Lantern Mountain Meadow Single Malt Details
Distillery: Lost Lantern + St. George’s Spirits
Type & Region: Single Malt, California, USA
Alcohol: 53.5%
Composition: 100% malted barley
Aged: At least 4 years
Color: 0.8/2.0 on the color scale (deep gold)
Price: $150
From the company website:
St. George Spirits, the oldest independent craft distillery in the U.S., creates exceptional spirits with a true sense of artistry. By embracing old world traditions while exploring new worlds of flavor, their single malts have transformed the idea of what American whiskey can be.
We worked closely with the St. George team to create this whiskey, the latest edition to our Single Distillery Series. Mountain Meadow is a whiskey that embodies the warmth, bounty, and freshness of California. It is a blend of four truly unique casks, each quite different from the others. Incredibly fresh and piney, it has hints of Meyer lemon zest, white pepper, lemon verbena, cinnamon sticks, and jasmine tea. It has a warm and welcoming mouthfeel and a long, gentle finish.Lost Lantern Mountain Meadow Single Malt overview
Independent bottlers / blenders are huge in Scotch, rum, and brandy. They’re a big part of the spirits industry, especially in Europe where many of the big names such as Cadenhead, Velier / Habitation Velier, Gordon McPhail, Douglas Laing, and many others operate and source spirits from countless distilleries across the world.
The crazy thing is, they release a wider variety of spirits from a distillery than the distillery itself does…and in many ways act like the single barrel and small batch programs for these distilleries. That’s just scratching the surface, because there are so many other well known independent bottlers.
The concept of sourcing spirits from a wide array of distilleries is newer in American whiskey, but it’s growing. Barrell does it to a degree, but Lost Lantern is one that has gone all in and gone up, down, and all around the US to work with distilleries. Lost Lantern was founded by Nora Ganley-Roper and Adam Polonski, and is based in Vermont, but their sources come from every corner of the United States.
Through all their experiences in the spirits industry, Nora as the spirits manager at Astor Place Wine and Spirits (used to shop there when I lived in NYC) and Adam as a writer at Whisky Advocate, they decided to explore American craft whiskey and find a new way to bring it to people’s attention and elevate it by working directly with craft distilleries across the US to craft / source / produce various releases, single barrel and blended.
For Lost Lantern Mountain Meadow Single Malt Whiskey, part of their Winter Whiskey collection, Nora and Adam selected and then blended four 4+ year old barrels of single malt whiskey from St. George Spirits. There are no further details on the types of barrels, which is a bit disappointing.
St. George’s Spirits was founded in 1982 by Jörg Rupf, and is located in Alameda, California. They produce single malt whiskey, vodka, gin, liqueurs, brandy, and some other assorted spirits. You might actually know them from their Baller Single Malt, which is an American whiskey with a very Japanese-influenced label…to the point that I think many mistake it for being Japanese whiskey.
Let’s find out if there’s something cool going on here in this Lost Lantern Mountain Meadow St. George Spirits Single Malt review.
Thank you to Lost Lantern for providing this sample. All opinions are still my own.
As an FYI, I bought and use these Glencairn glasses for everything (they’re the best): Glencairn Crystal Whiskey Glass Set of 6, Set of 4, Set of 2, or just one. Full transparency, this is an affiliate link, so I may earn a commission if you buy this or something else from Amazon.
Lost Lantern Mountain Meadow Single Malt smell
The scents explode with bright honey, fresh lemon and lemon juice plus zest, fresh hops, potpourri, white peach, pineapple, malt, and a hint of roastiness in the back. Lost Lantern Mountain Meadow California Single Malt is very bright, fruity, and tropical in ways that I’ve never experienced in whiskey before. That said, there’s not much in the way of oak or spice either.
It is incredibly bright and fragrant in the way that an IPA beer is. It’s so interesting and captivating…and completely unexpected. Uh…I really like this a lot. I like IPA beer, and this feels right at home with me.
After swirling and 12 minutes of rest, I smell rich honey, lemon custard and lemon zest, white peach, pineapple, lychee, green grape, fennel, hops added at the end for fragrance and less so for bitterness, pine, and a hint of toasted malt. Oh man, this is so fragrant, perfumey, and captivating. I just wish it had more low-end fullness to round it all out.
Lost Lantern Mountain Meadow California Single Malt is crazy bright, tropical, fruity, and unique. I’ve never smelled anything like this, and that’s a major plus. I can’t fully comprehend what I’m smelling, but it smells incredible.
Lost Lantern Mountain Meadow Single Malt taste and aftertaste
Lost Lantern Mountain Meadow California Single Malt has a lot of vibrant honey, lemon and lime juice plus some zest, white peach, pineapple, clove, lychee, fragrant hops (but not really the bitter part), some roasted malt, and just a hint of roasted oak and dryness in the back. No kidding, it tastes like an IPA but with more alcohol.
It’s on the same level of sweetness as a Juicy Hazy IPA or something, but nowhere near as malty and sweet as a double IPA.
Jeez, this is so vibrant, tropical, and fruity in ways that I’ve never experienced with whiskey, although this feels so familiar if I think about it as an IPA beer. It’s like bourbon-aged Scotch that takes up the tropicalness up multiple notches.
I’m reviewing this with little to no knowledge of the whiskey, but I wonder if the mash was lightly hopped or even distilled from a mash that could have also become a great beer.
Hard “chewing” gives me dense honey, lemon zest and lemon juice, lemon custard, white peach, green grape, lychee, and pineapple, then gentle hoppiness, pine, and a hint of toasted oak and malt.
The agitation pulls out a little toasted malt and dryness, although there’s still abundant sweetness, fruitiness, and brightness. Lost Lantern Mountain Meadow California Single Malt has wonderful vibrance and liveliness, although I wish it had a bit more body and fullness to complete the experience. It’s not at all light or thin, but I want a little bit more (or a lot more).
The finish starts with honey, lemon zest, lychee, pineapple, and some roasted malt with lingering lychee, pineapple, and toasted grain. After “chewing”, it leaves honey, lemon custard with lemon zest, green grape, pineapple, lychee, fennel, and a little roasted malt and oak.
Lost Lantern Mountain Meadow California Single Malt has another level of bright, vibrant, and tropical flavors that’s unmatched by anything else that I’ve ever had.
I’ve unfortunately lost some Glencairn’s while in transit, and that made me very sad. So, I wised up and bought this Glencairn Travel Case that comes also comes with 2 glasses so I don’t need to worry so much about them breaking. I think it’s great, and I think you’ll love it too.
Seriously, if you already have glasses, protect them.
Lost Lantern Mountain Meadow Single Malt Rating
That was wholly unexpected. Lost Lantern Mountain Meadow California Single Malt is so SO great. It is one of the most unique whiskeys that I’ve ever had, and that’s written very much in a complimentary way. I had no idea what to expect going into this, as it’s also the first St. George Spirits whiskey that I’ve ever had, and I’m shocked by the experience. Great job to St. George Spirits and the Lost Lantern team, I’m impressed.
For a lack of a better description, this smells and tastes like an amped up IPA that’s also toned down in some ways. It has all that tropical and vibrant fruitiness, but less intense sweetness, maltiness (also associated with sweetness), and hoppiness that comes with a higher ABV double IPA. Those can be very sweet and heavy, while this isn’t. Don’t be deterred if you don’t like IPA’s because it’s not bitter at all.
The “hoppy” qualities, although hops may not be involved in making this, provide amazing perfumey, vibrant, and tropical qualities that are also found in IPA. There are a lot of IPA influences, but it’s also for those who may not necessarily enjoy the bitterness but love the smell.
Lost Lantern’s tasting notes were on point, which is rare. Some companies write some crazy stuff for their notes, but I’m more or less nodding in agreement after my review and referring back to their notes.
Of course, I have to get to the price. $150 for a 4 year old American Single Malt whiskey is not a value whiskey, although the quality is very high. At least directly from producers, 4 year old American single malt usually costs $70-100, which is still very expensive when 4 year old bourbon from craft and major distilleries alike is closer to $20-60. You can get some amazing 10-15 year old single cask Scotch for $150 too.
This is not something that you should splurge on if you rarely spend more than $100 on whiskey. In my opinion, Lost Lantern Mountain Meadow California Single Malt is for the “advanced” whiskey drinker who’s already tried a lot of different bourbons, ryes and possibly some Scotch / American single malts, and wants something totally different.
“Advanced” doesn’t mean unapproachable and challenging. The profile is incredibly approachable, the price just raises the bar for entry. Nonetheless, the uniqueness and “Top Shelf” quality justify the higher price…and it’ll make sense for a certain type of whiskey lover.
If you’ve gotten to the end of my review and are interested in getting a bottle, it’s still available on their website (at least as of when this review was posted)
Meet the Author: Alex
I have far too much fun writing about whiskey and singlehandedly running The Whiskey Shelf to bring you independent, honest, and useful reviews, comparisons, and more. I’m proudly Asian American and can speak Cantonese, Mandarin, and some Japanese.
There are no sponsors, no media companies, and no nonsense. Support The Whiskey Shelf by Buying Me A Shot.
Shattered glass really sucks, so if you’re on the move, this Glencairn-like stainless steel snifter glass should survive your travels. Full transparency, this is an Amazon affiliate link, so I may earn a commission if you buy this or something else from Amazon.
BrüMate NOS’R, Double-Wall Stainless Steel Whiskey Nosing Glass – 7oz (Matte Black)
