Glen Scotia 5 Years Old 2016 Cask #21/769-12 (TWE)

The bottler The Whisky Exchange bottled this Glen Scotia, a 5 year old, distilled in 2016, from cask 21/769-12, bottled at 57%, one of 223 bottles. 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.

Drawn off the stills after a long ferment for a fruity, briny spirit, giving a coastal, briny Campbeltown spirit. Maturation came in an Oloroso cask, layered over the briny Glen Scotia make. At an extractive age eugenol lends a clove note and lactones a coconut, the spirit fresh, oily and coastal. Maturation in the Campbeltown warehouses, by the sea, lends a coastal edge. Its malt comes from Greencore Maltings in southwest Scotland. Crosshill Loch water and a long ferment give the oily, coastal Glen Scotia make.

At its natural 57% it is concentrated. An oily, salted sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Soft citrus and a salted oil sit behind the cask. A briny finish ends on citrus and a soft oak. This is Glen Scotia, a survivor of the old whisky capital.