Origin: Campbeltown (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 56.1%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex-Bourbon First Fill finished in ex-Red Wine
Chillfiltered: No
Added coloring: No
Owner: Loch Lomond Group
Average price: € 55.00
Official website: www.glenscotia.com
Vote: 83/100
Like the previous year’s, the 2021 Campbeltown Malts Festival took place entirely online, with a series of events and tastings held online in May, and the usual special edition to mark the occasion.
A bottling resulting from the blending of exceptionally unpeated spirits made between 2009 and 2011, which after maturing in first-fill ex-Bourbon casks, were aged in over eighty ex-Bordeaux casks (from the Medoc region) for five months. Finally, they were put together in ex-Bourbon refill casks and bottled at cask strength without additional colouring or chillfiltration.
Something different from the usual, perhaps a gamble for some, but it’s always good to step out of your comfort zone to discover how our favourite whisky could be in a different guise, a sort of Marvellian What If…?.
Tasting Notes
Lively berries emerge on the nose, with a hint of vinous acidity floating over mellow aromas of caramel, vanilla, macadamia nut, candied orange, acacia honey. Almond paste, a touch of lemon and a cidery vein in the distance. Not a hint of alcohol. Fresh and smooth.
In the mouth the alcohol is very present, acting as a backdrop to an audible peppery taste, which opens up to quite decisive fruity flavours (lots of peach with red apple and wild strawberry) grafted onto custard, almond, a hint of nutmeg and tobacco. Wooden vein on the length with a bitter touch and a slight salinity.
Not very long and dry finish of red apple, peach, almonds and a hint of salt.
Very interesting on the nose, a little less so on the palate where the alcohol content exceeds the tones and doesn’t allow the impressions to develop properly. Meritorious as a variation on the theme, also considering its low price, and all in all it offers a pleasant dram that could meet the tastes of those who don’t like oenological influences.