Glen Scotia Campbeltown Harbour

Glen Scotia from the distillery, at 40%. Glen Scotia is a Campbeltown single malt, one of only three distilleries left in the old whisky capital. The Glen was added to the Scotia name around 1930, the distillery dating to 1832.

Drawn off the stills after a long ferment for a fruity, briny spirit, giving a coastal, briny Campbeltown spirit. Ex-Bourbon casks held it, the gentle American oak letting the briny make lead. No age is given, but vanillin vanilla and a salted toffee are well integrated over an oily body. Maturation in the Campbeltown warehouses, by the sea, lends a coastal edge. Active wood frames the fruit without overwhelming the briny Campbeltown spirit. It sits on High Street in Campbeltown, on the Kintyre peninsula on the west coast. A former owner, Duncan MacCallum, drowned in the loch that fed the distillery, and is said to haunt it. Its malt comes from Greencore Maltings in southwest Scotland.

Reduced to 40%, it is mellow. Citrus, salt and a soft vanilla, with a soft vanilla from the oak. A baked apple and a sea salt lift it. The finish runs long, oily and coastal. This is Glen Scotia's coastal, briny Campbeltown style.