Glen Scotia 15 Year

Note - I'm doing the Really Good Whisky Company Advent Calendar. I've also decided to pour these whiskeys "blind" (or at least as blind as I can), then providing nose, palate, and finish notes. I'll then look at the label, proof, cask type, etc. before writing my other notes. I'll be providing some guesses around things like proof and cask type and then seeing how much I missed the mark. Slàinte Mhath! Nose: Highland? Honeyed toasted grains and vanilla. Tart green apple. Subtle baking spices - cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, alongside black pepper, which makes me want to guess re-charred or new charred cask in play. Pine and lemon. Herbaceous, grassy, and some minerality. Some brown sugar and a tinge of maple. Ripe red fruits. Guessing proof is going to be around 48%. Palate: Green apples, bananas and toasted grain with a little vanilla and honey. Am I getting mild new-make funk? Or is this just rocking some solid age and a ton of oak? I can feel it now - I'm going to look at the label when this is done and facepalm my hand clean through my head. Drying, with barrel char and bite. Black pepper, flowers, herbs. Sour cream. Tart cherries. This feels like single malt, I think. Minerality and under-ripe citrus. This hits the palate light on the front, and builds as it goes back. Lots of low-mids then some almost harsh brightness on top. Light mouthfeel. Finish: Flash of banana and vanilla. Some brown sugar, too. Grains come in. All sitting on this plank of charred oak. Floral perfume. Milk chocolate shows up, and then eventually everything falls away and we fade out on vanilla sweetness. Medium length, with some reasonable oil content. Other notes: Was close on proof - off by 2% but I'll take it. Wrong on cask type (ex-bourbon). Wrong on region (Campbeltown). Right about single malt. And the age... This whole calendar has been a huge lesson on the impact of oak and how that changes and morphs over time. The distillates getting swapped actually helps, since it means I can better hone in on what isn't changing between, say, more highly oaked expressions. I couldn't place if this had a bit of new-make funk. From what I can tell, I was tripped up by a combination of a touch of brine and that heavy oak character. 15 years is a long time, so this had plenty of time to interact with the wood and extract some of those deeper, more intense oak characteristics. I'm also seeing that this has a small bit of peat - 15 ppm keeps getting tossed out, though the Glen Scotia website says they do peated and unpeated whiskeys, without saying if the 15 is one or the other. I might believe that number, but I can't find confirmation. I actually like this. Well integrated and cohesive, everything here comes together nicely. I'd potentially buy a bottle of this if I came across it, but I don't feel compelled to seek it out. Still, very enjoyable. Until next time, cheers!

Zware jongen

This is a complex and thoroughly enjoyable whisky which is quite unique in its profile. Warmly recommended!