Favorite Campbeltown Single Malt Whiskies

A recent expression from the new redesigned range of Glen Scotia, one of the few remaining Campbeltown distilleries. This single malt was first matured in bourbon barrels, before being finished in Pedro Ximenez sherry casks and bottled at 92 proof.

Springbank Distillery in Campbeltown produces 3 distinct labels of single malt: Springbank, Hazelburn, and Longrow. Being one of the few family-owned distilleries left in Scotland allows them to experiment with different casks, methods of distillation, and levels of peating. Hazelburn is triple-distilled and unpeated (the malt is air dried); Sprinkbank is 2.5 times distilled and lightly peated; and Longrow is twice-distilled and heavily peated. After maturing ten years in ex-bourbon casks, this expression gets bottled at 46% ABV.

Opened in 2004, Glengyle Distillery set to the task of waiting 12 years for its flagship whisky to mature. In the meantime, it released several "Work in Progress" whiskies. Matured in sherry oak casks, the single malt whisky is not chill-filtered and has no added color. This lightly peated whisky was released in 2015 with 12,000 bottles available worldwide.

Glengyle Distillery opened in 2004, over 125 years after it was initially founded by William Mitchell in 1872. Its history is colorful one, involving ownership changes, ceased whisky production, and multiple attempts by investors to re-open the distillery. This eventually became reality when it was purchased by Hedley Wright, great-great nephew of Mitchell himself. While the distillery waits 12 years for its flagship whisky to mature, it has been releasing a line of "Work in Progress" whiskies. This bourbon-matured expression is the second half of their WIP #7 release; the first half being a sherry-matured single malt. Released in 2015, it is also bottled at cask-strength.

Victoriana is a non-age statement (NAS) Scotch from one of the last three remaining Campbeltown distilleries. It was introduced in 2015 as part of the distillery's international rebranding. The casks were selected from its reserve cellar (to have one is considered a very Victorian value - hence the name) for their individual characteristics, then married together in a barrel that's been given a heavy char. It's bottled without chill-filtration.

A semi-annual release from the Springbank Distillery, one of the last family-owned distilleries in Scotland. Beginning in 2010, Springbank began releasing two vattings per year of a twelve-year-old cask strength malt, aged in a combination of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks at around a 60:40 or 70:30 ratio (depends on the vatting). The distillery releases one in Winter/Spring and one in Summer/Fall. Whisky nerds and Springbank-lovers keep track of the different batches by the ABV, which varies slightly with each new iteration. As with all Springbank products, this malt is non-chill filtered, and it contains no added coloring.

Longrow is a peated range of whiskies that has been distilled at Springbank since 1973. Sprinkbank boasts a long history and pride in still conducting 100% of their production on site. Double-distilled and aged in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry barrels. These bottles show that peated whiskies can be made outside of Islay. Bottled at 92 proof with no coloring.

Perhaps because Springbank Distillery is family owned rather than being in the hands of a large corporation, they can be a bit more experimental. This distillery employs three different recipes and ergo three different names of single malts: Hazelburn, Longrow, and Springbank. They vary in the number of times they are distilled and the different levels of peat for their malts. Springbank is distilled 2 1/2 times and is lightly peated.

Released in August 2016, Kilkerran 12 Year is the highly anticipated flagship whisky from Mitchell's Glengyle Distillery in Campbeltown. Since Hedley Wright, great-great nephew of Mitchell himself re-opened the distillery in 2004, they've been releasing experimental "Work in Progress" whiskies while waiting for this one to mature. Lightly peated and double-distilled, 70% of the single malt aged in first-fill ex-bourbon casks and the remaining 30% matured in sherry. Non-chill-filtered without added coloring, it is bottled at 46% ABV.

Campbeltown was once considered the "whisky making capitol" of Scotland with 28 distilleries. Of those 28, only 3, including Glen Scotia remain. Though they no longer malt their own barley, they source it to very specific details, using longer fermentation and vatting methods than in the old days. Released in 2015 as part of the brand's relaunch, this Scotch was matured for 15 years in ex-bourbon barrels before bottling.