Glen Scotia Single Cask Selection Spring 2022 7 Years Old 2015

A 7 year old Glen Scotia, a distillery bottling, from 2015, cask 21/77-1, at 56.2%, 308 bottles in all. Glen Scotia is a Campbeltown single malt, one of only three distilleries left in the old whisky capital. A former owner, Duncan MacCallum, drowned in the loch that fed the distillery, and is said to haunt it.

It was distilled slow for the salty, oily Glen Scotia style, for a briny, oily make of salt, citrus and a salted toffee. Maturation came in a Port 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. The Campbeltown style is oily and salted, the cask deepening it over the years. A gentle maturation suits the oily make, the sea salt and toffee growing with time. The Glen was added to the Scotia name around 1930, the distillery dating to 1832.

At a hearty 56.2% it carries real weight. Baked apple, brine and a creamy oil, with red berry, plum and a dry spice from the cask. It is oily and briny, the coastal spirit shining through. The finish is rounded, salted and oily. This is an oily, coastal malt from the Kintyre coast.