A favourite of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, being conveniently situated close by Balmoral Castle. Royal Lochnagar was originally a key ingredient in VAT 69, but most production is now for single malts.

Royal Lochnagar is so-called after it was bestowed with a Royal Warrant by Prince Albert and Queen Victoria following a visit in 1848. The popularity of the distillery’s Begg’s blend saw it acquired by John Dewar & Sons in 1916, who later became part of DCL, upping the demand for its whisky from other brands in their portfolio, including Johnnie Walker. Today it is part of Diageo, their smallest distillery by some margin, making the modest amount of its single malt spared for bottling increasingly sought after. 

Prior to the formation of United Distillers in 1988, the distilleries within the DCL portfolio were often licensed out to its blending companies, and in the case of Royal Lochnagar it was former owners, John Begg Ltd. Their 12 year old bottling replaced the Haig's Glenleven blended malt within the Ascot Malt Cellar range, an early DCL precursor to the Classic Malts range launched later that decade.

When the classic malts was launched, Royal Lochnagar was not included, but United Distillers continued to market the distillery's brand, re-launching this 12 year old alongside the Selected Reserve. For many years they were the most expensive permanent product in the Diageo portfolio.