Glen Scotia Distillery Exclusive 8 Years Old 2015

Glen Scotia from the distillery, an 8 year old, from 2015, cask 1536, at 58.8%, 194 bottles in all. Glen Scotia is a salty, oily Campbeltown malt from the west coast of Scotland. Its long ferment, averaging well over a hundred hours, builds a fruity, coastal character.

The spirit was drawn off the stills after a long ferment for a fruity, briny spirit, for an oily spirit with a coastal, salted edge. A refill bourbon hogshead held it, keeping the salty, oily character to the fore. At an extractive age eugenol lends a clove note and lactones a coconut, the spirit fresh, oily and coastal. The maritime setting on the Kintyre coast threads salt and brine through the spirit. It runs a single pair of stills and shell and tube condensers for a slow, oily make. Crosshill Loch water and a long ferment give the oily, coastal Glen Scotia make. Years in oak round the spirit, the brine and citrus deepening to a salted toffee.

At cask strength 58.8% it is full bodied. Sea salt, citrus and a salted toffee, with a soft vanilla from the oak. A baked apple and a sea salt lift it. A long, oily finish carries a sea salt and a citrus. This is Glen Scotia, a survivor of the old whisky capital.