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Glen Scotia

	Glen Scotia
O.B.	12 years	18
	14 years	17
	Heavily peated single malt	18
Signatory	Signatory Vintage 1991	17

 

Glen Scotia 14 years
Age	14 years
Alcohol percentage	43%
Bottler	Official
Price/litre

About 30 distilleries were operating in the Campbeltown area not so long ago, and fortunately the area could preserve a limited production for the Glen Scotia distillery. The 14 y.o. version is really an amazing whisky, combining sweetness and spices to a pleasant medicinal aftertaste. Iodine is also a characteristic of the smell of this remarkable single malt. A lovely finish, although a bit too short.

The nose reveals a strange freshness, with some very discrete orange hints on a malted background. The expectations created by the first nosing are not really followed in the palate, however, the taste is very pleasant, very fresh with some slightly spiced notes. The finis is too short, but the whole results in a very nice bottle.

A rather expressive nose, with clear and pleasant fruity notes on a barley an sea breeze background with some discrete hints of coffee. The expectations issued by the nose are not confirmed in the palate; Despite the diversity of tastes and aromas, the announce complexity the nose announced is not really present, and an impression of (good) pear alcohol dominates. The finish is quite short.

The nose is marked by cereals with clear toffee hints. Not very expressive and on a rather limited flavour palette. Some vanilla on the background.
The mouth is very similar to the nose. Not more complex. Toffee, vanilla and cereals, in a pleasant but not spectacular whole.
The finish prolongs exactly the nose and the mouth. No flaw but no surprise neither.

 Comment by Johannes Sauer

Colour: Bright amber
Nose: Strong maltiness, the alcohol bites the nose a little. Later some smoke and also a strange but very interesting kind of salty sour fruitiness show up. Pickeled onions or cucumbers with dill and mustard seeds.
Taste: On the palate there is still the salt and dill pickles combined with firmly grabbing malt in the beginning, later some very discreet sweeter caramel-like notes and dark chocolate.
Finish: More short than long but with interesting smoky accents the pickles now having changed more to something fruity like forest berries.
Conc.: I am very glad to have obtained one bottle of this old bottling maybe two years ago, which is stranger but maybe even more expressive than the newer 12 years old.
Tasting date: 09/28/09

Glen Scotia 12 years
Age	12 years
Alcohol percentage	40%
Bottler	Official
Price/litre

A very nice nose, clear and straight away, very spicy (pepper) where some sherry hints and hay smell on the background. A very nice complexity. The mouth confirms the nose, with nice spicy hints, clear chocolate notes, plum hints and a warm finihs, pleasant with nice "pruneaux d'agen" aftertaste. The whole is exceptionaly complex, pleasat and without any aggressivity. A very nice whisky anyway.
What a surprise, after the blind tasting, to discover it is a Glen Scotia 12 yo...

Comments by Johannes Sauer

Colour: Darker gold, amber. (Coloured? I don’t know and I don’t want to know, and the label keeps its secret)
Nose: The most beautiful balance between such seemingly contrary impressions like smoke, seaweed, sour cream, citrus notes and sweet dried fruits (bananas, apricots) I ever experienced so far. Also hints of a musty cellar, properly salted porridge and mowed grass.
Taste: A similar beautifully arranged bouquet of impressions but here sweet condensed milk and dates are added and the smoke marks itself with a small step forward. The sour cream steps back but stays there and is not at all disturbing (tempting like potatoe crisps with sour cream ‘n onion taste).
Finish: The sweet milk, the smoke and the seaweed are wrestling on the tongue into a surprisingly good peppered finale. Pity, but I think it is a little too short and long for a little more....
Conc.: I think a few more %-points or even some years would have done pretty good to that bottling, but nevertheless a very pleasant and fulfilling Glen Scotia. It is easy to imagine the great potential of this destillery. I look forward a bottling in cask strength and keep on searching at the Indies...
Tasting date: 2009-07-17

Glen Scotia Heavily Peated Single Malt Cask #525
Age	6 years
Alcohol percentage	45%
Bottler	Official
Price/litre

The nose is clearly marked by sea spray and peat and detects hints which are both medicinal and fruity. A very nice balance between both rather different types of smells seem to reign. After a while, some cut grass whiffs come in addition of this already pleasant nose and gives it all its complexity.
In the mouth, peat merges with fruits (green apple) and give a nice and contrasted impression of a discrete acidity mixed with a light bitterness, a refined woody hint.
The finish is long and keeps the memory of the discrete bitterness and the peat.

Comment by Johannes Sauer

Cask #518
Colour: bright, clear apple juice
A very fresh nose, not dominated by peat, sea salt combined with a surprisingly clear fruity approach. Ripe pears, bitter almonds and a fresh breeze from the sea in a very well balanced relation.
On the palate the full peat shows up, mixed with a sublime sweetness.
Long and warm finish, the fruits disappear, the peat lingers on and on. Another great contribution to the revival of this a bit underrated brand.

 

Glen Scotia 1991 Signatory Vintage
Age	9 years
Alcohol percentage	43%
Cask	Sherry
Particularity	Single Cask
Bottler	Signatory
Price/litre

 

Glen Scotia is an amazing distillery, dying and helped by its only local concurrent, Springbank who does not want to see this historical monument disappear for ever.... It would be a pity. This Signatory version is pleasant but I prefer the 14 y.o. official distillery version. It remains a good bottle with the typical character of Campbeltown, somewhere between the continent and the Isle of Islay.

A second tasting partially denies the first one. This malt gives pleasure from the very first nosing and the taste, between sweet and smoke is rather pleasant. A nice finish does not temper the general impression, and the rating this time is higher.