Glen Scotia 12 Years Old (54.7%)

This official Glen Scotia, a 12 year old, at 54.7%. Glen Scotia is a Campbeltown single malt, one of only three distilleries left in the old whisky capital. Its water is drawn from Crosshill Loch above the town.

It was run through the stills and shell and tube condensers on Crosshill Loch water, giving a coastal, briny Campbeltown spirit. Finished in an Oloroso cask, the wood building over the oily, coastal spirit. Through integration spirit and wood marry, vanillin settling into a rounded vanilla as ethyl esters lend a riper citrus and a salted toffee. The cool, salt laden Campbeltown air gives a slow, coastal maturation in the warehouses. Years in oak round the spirit, the brine and citrus deepening to a salted toffee. A former owner, Duncan MacCallum, drowned in the loch that fed the distillery, and is said to haunt it. It runs a single pair of stills and shell and tube condensers for a slow, oily make.

Bottled at a cask strength 54.7%, it is rich. A coastal, oily sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A baked apple and a sea salt lift it. A long, oily finish carries a sea salt and a citrus. This is Glen Scotia's coastal, briny Campbeltown style.