Glen Scotia Single Cask – Festival Bottling 2016 15 Years Old 2001

Glen Scotia from the distillery, a 15 year old, from 2001, cask 624, at 57.1%. Glen Scotia is a maritime Campbeltown malt, one of the last three of a town that once held thirty. It was founded in 1832 as Scotia, one of the survivors of Campbeltown's Victorian whisky boom.

The spirit was run through the stills and shell and tube condensers on Crosshill Loch water, building the Campbeltown Glen Scotia style. It was matured in refill ex-Bourbon oak, a soft vanilla beneath the coastal spirit. At oxidative maturity aldehydes lend a nutty edge while ellagitannins add a gentle, drying grip over the oil. The cool, salt laden Campbeltown air gives a slow, coastal maturation in the warehouses. 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. Crosshill Loch water and a long ferment give the oily, coastal Glen Scotia make.

At 57.1%, undiluted, it is deep and briny. A briny, oily coastal fruit, with a soft vanilla from the oak. Soft citrus and a salted oil sit behind the cask. The finish is rounded, salted and oily. This is Glen Scotia, a survivor of the old whisky capital.