A few Glen Scotia


April 5, 2024

A few Glen Scotia

Glen Scotia is a prime example of a distillery that has greatly improved its reputation in recent years. It must be said that what was found twenty or more years ago was quite uncertain and, generally, rather "feinty". So of course, they turned to myriads of active casks and just a few years ago, there were still releases that seemed a little 'made-up'. But even that seems to have changed, credit must be given to the owners!
(Glen Scotia Distillery)

Glen Scotia 'Campbeltown 1832' (46%, OB, travel retail, +/-2023)

I know, travel retail, it has somehow become the dregs of the spirits trade, hasn't it? This humble NAS was matured in American oak and finished in PX. I believe I've seen this elsewhere… Colour: light gold. Nose: there's a bit of smoke, a hint of vanilla, a touch of menthol, some sawdust, a bit of pine wood, a little bit like pine resin candies... All in all, it's quite multifaceted, which is quite amusing. Mouth: more peaty on the palate, not unpleasant, with Szechuan pepper and slightly burnt wood, as well as bitter oranges. A bit of smoked fish, but I have a bit of trouble pinning down the style, if you can call it that. It's a difficulty found in the vast majority of non-peaty malts that start making peated versions; the styles are often unlikely. I'm finding more and more caramel and the typical spices from wood here, ginger, cinnamon... Finish: quite long, on fresh wood and peat. Candied lemon in the aftertaste. Comments: marked by active wood.
SGP:655 - 78 points.

Glen Scotia 16 yo (46%, OB, travel retail, +/-2023)

I haven't yet tasted this 16-year-old that's matured in bourbon and American oak. Colour: straw. Nose: lovely notes of ripe apples, vanilla cake, pale ale, then a little coconut and fudge, hints of an old copper kettle, very ripe kiwi, a bit of cough syrup... All of this is well-constructed. Palate: rich, quite creamy, with fresh and lemony American wood, a lot of mocha, café latte, vanilla, nougat, green apple... You can tell it's the cask doing the work, but it's well done, once again. Finish: of good length, a bit sweet, with lots of citrus zests and liqueurs. Wood smoke in the aftertaste. Comments: great wood technology and a bit of a very agreeable Glenmorangie twist.
SGP:652 - 84 points.

Glen Scotia 'Victoriana' (54.2%, OB, Travel Retail, +/-2023)

This is finished in deep charred oak, which might be a little concerning as once again, it'll be pretty much about the wood. The Victoriana that we tried back in 2015 had been pretty disappointing in that respect (WF 72). Colour: gold. Nose: coconut liqueur and ripe apple absolutely everywhere. Not very interesting at this stage, let's move on... With water: bandages and mercurochrome, as well as quite a bit of liquorice. A complete turnaround. Mouth (neat): much better on the palate, even amusing, mentholated, with hints of lemon and chartreuse, lots of eucalyptus, myrtle liqueur, even absinthe... With water: the same. It's really quite fun and much better than the first Victoriana we tasted. Although, admittedly, the distillate has little to do with this final result. Finish: long and rich. Pastis, limoncello, orgeat syrup, and candied oranges. Comments: it feels very 'craft', as if the distillery had started operating less than a decade ago.
SGP:661 – 84 points.

Glen Scotia 11 yo 'Peated White Port cask Finish' (54.7%, OB, Campbeltown Malt Festival 2023)

Peated White Port Cask Finish? Are they mad? They say it's a 'whisky experiment', but really, I don't know any other business where they sell their experiments like this. Generally, this kind of thing stays in the labs; they don't push it onto the public. Unless it's a great success... Colour: pale gold. Nose: ginger, zest, and lemon. With water: same, but with more ashes. Mouth (neat): it's sweet at the beginning but mainly very spicy, with a maximum impact from the cask. A lot of ginger, turmeric, cardamom, lemon liqueur, pepper, ashes... I find it a little suffocating, to be honest. A little too much. With water: a bit better, the water lightens everything but it remains thick, a little saturated. Finish: long, woody, spicy. Comments: I won't deny that it's well done technologically, even very well done, but it's completely driven by the cask. Ultra-techno.
SGP:664 - 81 points.

Well, it's not that we're starting to suffocate, but maybe one last little one will be enough...

Campbeltown Blended Malt 6 yo 2017/2023 (59.1%, Milroy's Soho Selection, refill hogshead)

It's rumoured that all these young blended malts from Campbeltown are actually Glen Scotia. I'll add that having already tasted a few, I find them to be of higher quality and, above all, less marked by the hyperactive casks than the recent official releases. Colour: white wine. Nose: and there you have it, it's the distillate that speaks, and the distillate isn't bad at all! Very nice lemon and green apple, chalk, bread dough, orange blossom, slate, porridge, muesli... In short, all is well. With water: we're very close to barley, grist, wort, beer... Mouth (neat): it's very much marked by green apple liqueur (manzana verde) and barley sugar. Very syrupy, without being excessively cloying. With water: here we are, candy apples, barley sugar, marshmallows, fruit biscuits, little sugar Jesuses... Finish: medium length, fruity, on barley. Comments: it's still very good to have access to some young quality malt that hasn't been botoxed to death, right?
SGP:641 - 85 points.

Check the index of all Glen Scotia we've tasted so far