Glen Scotia SMWS Distillery 93 Rare Release Changes faster than a chameleon

An 8 year old Glen Scotia from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, distilled in 2013, bottled at 59.7%, one of 1460 bottles. Glen Scotia is a maritime Campbeltown malt, one of the last three of a town that once held thirty. It has been owned by the Loch Lomond Group since the 1990s, after many changes of hands.

Run through the stills and shell and tube condensers on Crosshill Loch water, building the Campbeltown Glen Scotia style. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak, oak lactones lending vanilla and a little coconut. Young and extractive, the cask sheds vanillin (vanilla) and toasted sugars (light caramel) over the salty make. The maritime setting on the Kintyre coast threads salt and brine through the spirit. Maturation in the Campbeltown warehouses, by the sea, lends a coastal edge. The Glen was added to the Scotia name around 1930, the distillery dating to 1832.

At a hearty 59.7% it carries real weight. Baked apple, brine and a creamy oil, with a soft vanilla from the oak. The texture is oily and coating, the fruit lifted by vanilla. The finish runs long, oily and coastal. This is the oily, salted malt of the Wee Toon.