Glen Scotia Victoriana

This official Glen Scotia, at 54.2%. Glen Scotia is a Campbeltown single malt, this a peated bottling, smoke over a salty coastal spirit. A former owner, Duncan MacCallum, drowned in the loch that fed the distillery, and is said to haunt it.

It was distilled slow from peated malt in the Glen Scotia style, for a smoky spirit with a briny, oily core. A refill bourbon hogshead held it, keeping the salty, oily character to the fore. Carrying no age, soft vanillin (vanilla) and a coastal salt suggest a fair spell in cask. Refill oak lets the salty, oily Glen Scotia character lead the way. Its long ferment, averaging well over a hundred hours, builds a fruity, coastal character. The slow distillation and shell and tube condensers give the oily Glen Scotia body. The Campbeltown style is oily and salted, the cask deepening it over the years. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and coconut over the fruit.

At a hearty 54.2% it carries real weight. A smoky, oily sweetness, with a soft vanilla from the oak. A baked apple and a peaty sea salt lift it. The finish runs long, smoky and coastal. This is a peated malt from one of the last three Campbeltown distilleries.