Glen Scotia 16 Years Old 2005 (SMWS 93.171)

This Glen Scotia was bottled by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, a 16 year old, distilled in 2005, from cask 93.171, bottled at 57%, one of 262 bottles. Glen Scotia is a Campbeltown single malt from the Loch Lomond Group, salty and oily in style. It is one of only three working distilleries left in Campbeltown, with Springbank and Glengyle.

It was distilled slow for the salty, oily Glen Scotia style, building a maritime character of sea salt and oil. It was matured in refill ex-Bourbon oak, a soft vanilla beneath the coastal spirit. At oxidative maturity vanillin and lactones are fully expressed, the salty, oily malt deepening. The slow distillation and shell and tube condensers give the oily Glen Scotia body. Years in oak round the spirit, the brine and citrus deepening to a salted toffee. Maturation in the Campbeltown warehouses, by the sea, lends a coastal edge.

At 57%, undiluted, it is deep and briny. Salt, citrus and a soft toffee, with a soft vanilla from the oak. The mouthfeel is oily, the fruit carried on a briny body. The finish is long, oily and salted. This is one of the last three Campbeltown malts.