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Loch Lomond tees off for The Open at Royal Portrush

Golf - The Open Course Collection returns to Northern Ireland with a 22-year-old single malt plus two other golfing greats from the world of whisky

Rain will be a likely constant companion to The Open at Royal Portrush from Thursday, July 17th to Sunday, July 20th, but that won’t deter the hordes of fans travelling to this fabled Northern Irish golf club. It’s a quick return for the premier championship, having last been hosted there in 2019, and with it comes Loch Lomond and its ongoing sponsorship. But it’s not the only golfing connection on Ireland’s northern coast.  

Here’s a snapshot of what Loch Lomond will pour in the clubhouse, plus two other golfing greats to accompany a golfing summer. 

Loch Lomond and The Open

When The Open tees off at Northern Ireland’s Royal Portrush on Thursday, July 17^th, it will mark the seventh year that Loch Lomond Distillery has held prime position creating the “Spirit of the Open”. In its role as sponsor, the Scottish whisky brand has worked hard to make its spirit the face of the golf championship.

It’s 164 years since the first Open was played in 1860 and this 152^nd edition makes a welcome return to Royal Portrush, just six years after the grandstand course hosted the event in 2019. 

Each year, Loch Lomond produces a new edition of the Open Course Collection, and for 2025, it is releasing a 22-year-old single malt. Matured in ex-bourbon barrels, it’s finished in first-fill Spanish sherry casks, creating a historical nod to the Spanish Armada ship, La Girona, that sank off the Northern Ireland coast near Portrush in 1588.

On the nose and palate, you’ll find lots of red fruit notes layered among cinnamon, spice, caramel and a gentle waft of smoke. It’s a delicious pour that’s bottled at 46.7% and which will allow the Highland whisky maker to truly make its mark across the bar of the Royal Portrush clubhouse.  

It’s paired with The Open Course Special Edition 2025. This partner release is finished in first-fill Chianti casks that drive lots of rich red fruit, honey, soft oak and tannic wine elements into the non-age statement single malt.

Bushmills and the PGA Tour

Nearby Bushmills Distillery is also deep in international golfing territory. In the third year of its four-year marketing sponsorship of the PGA Tour, it will no doubt attract visitors to its nearby distillery in Bushmills, which is less than 9km from Royal Portrush. It also happens to be the oldest licensed distillery in the world, making it a terrific destination for golf and whisky fans. 

Bushmills has been entertaining guests of the PGA Tour all across the world recently, popping up in clubhouses and at special events everywhere the PGA travels. 

If you want to taste what the premier Northern Ireland distillery has to offer, a great starting point would be one of the whiskey maker's most recent core bottlings – Bushmills 16. Matured in ex-bourbon, oloroso and port pipes, it offers a properly decadent taste of Northern Ireland’s whiskey output. 

Its dark amber colour comes packed with nuts, honey, dark fruit and spice. Bottled at 40%.

Glenmorangie and Royal Dornoch

If you can’t make it to Northern Ireland this month, then one of Scotland’s Highland greats will easily fill your golf and whisky calendar. Royal Dornoch in the Highlands has long had a relationship with Glenmorangie, situated opposite each other across the Dornoch Firth, some 40 miles north of Inverness.

It’s a relationship that has borne much fruit over the decades, with Glenmorangie releasing special editions and once-off bottlings to celebrate the golfing friendship of these two Scottish institutions. 

A perfect companion after a day on the links would have to be Glenmorangie’s Signet. This velvety, espresso-inspired single malt might just hit the spot. Using chocolate malt spirit that is distilled once a year at the Highland distillery, it’s married with ex-bourbon and sherry matured whisky to create this elegant and indulgent release. 

Although this is a non-age statement whisky, parts of it are around 35-40 years old, according to Glenmorangie, delivering complexity into this fine single malt. Released at 46%, it celebrates waves of coffee, ginger and cinnamon with dark chocolate, tiramisu, toffee and orange peel.