Glen Scotia 18 Years Old (46%)

An official release of Glen Scotia, an 18 year old, at 46%, 1200 bottles in all. Glen Scotia is a Campbeltown single malt from the Loch Lomond Group, salty and oily in style. It runs a single pair of stills and shell and tube condensers for a slow, oily make.

The spirit was drawn off the stills after a long ferment for a fruity, briny spirit, building the Campbeltown Glen Scotia style. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak, oak lactones lending vanilla and a little coconut. Through oxidative maturity esters concentrate, the citrus turning to a salted toffee over the oily body. Years in oak round the spirit, the brine and citrus deepening to a salted toffee. The oily, coastal spirit shows the cask clearly, vanilla and brine to the fore. A former owner, Duncan MacCallum, drowned in the loch that fed the distillery, and is said to haunt it. Its water is drawn from Crosshill Loch above the town. Crosshill Loch water and a long ferment give the oily, coastal Glen Scotia make.

At 46% it is oily, briny and smooth. A briny, oily coastal fruit, with a soft vanilla from the oak. Beneath it run citrus, salt and a soft oil. The finish is long, oily and salted. This is a maritime Campbeltown single malt.