Glen Scotia Single Cask Selection Spring 2022 9 Years Old 2013 (55.9%)

A 9 year old Glen Scotia, a distillery bottling, from 2013, cask 21/44-4, at 55.9%, 306 bottles in all. Glen Scotia is a Campbeltown single malt from a town once called the whisky capital of the world. A former owner, Duncan MacCallum, drowned in the loch that fed the distillery, and is said to haunt it.

Worked through the stills for an oily, coastal make, building the Campbeltown Glen Scotia style. Maturation came in a Pedro Ximenez cask, layered over the briny Glen Scotia make. Young and extractive, the cask sheds vanillin (vanilla) and toasted sugars (light caramel) over the salty make. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and coconut over the fruit. The oily, coastal spirit shows the cask clearly, vanilla and brine to the fore. Long ageing turns the fresh citrus towards dried fruit, salted toffee and a soft spice. It runs a single pair of stills and shell and tube condensers for a slow, oily make.

At cask strength 55.9% it is full bodied. Baked apple, brine and a creamy oil, with raisin, date and treacle from the cask. Beneath it run citrus, salt and a soft oil. The finish is rounded, salted and oily. This is a maritime Campbeltown single malt.