Glen Scotia Campbeltown Harbour

Smokey, toffee

Distinctively coastal with a salty tang. The smoke is more grimy and dirty - like coal chimney smoke - than the grassy, medicinal peat of an Islay malt. Not unpleasant.

Solid and smooth. Low peat. Gentle aftertase

Sweet, fruity, smoked end

Continuing on my masterclass in whisky mooching I have another generously shared dram from the almighty @cascode. This whisky from Campbeltown's Glen Scotia distillery is intended as a nod to the maritime nature of their liquids. Lightly peated and matured exclusively in first fill bourbon casks. N: Straight away I am hit by a heavy hit of toffee before it unfolds cereal and white fruits. A fresh and light aroma morphs into a very gently peated and subtly briny character with a very slight perfume influence. Light, refreshing, delicate. A lovely opening. P: A quit dry and grainy texture. I find this a little ‘cluttered’ at first but with plenty to unpack. There are hints of gristy grains, dry grass/hay fire, vanilla, and a salty fudge. The smoke grows on me, its interesting with a briny maritime essence and summery perfume to it. The texture feels a little young and ‘dirty’ for want of a better word. I think there might be some added depth that is found over time something reminiscent of stout and aniseed/rosemary. Curious. F: Medium-long. Dry grassy smoke, ashy and with a savoury caramel like flapjacks. On the advice of a few reviews I added a dash of water to the only 40% ABV liquid. Whilst water does unlock a much more apparent salty minerality like licking a beach cobble (a plus), I think the overall emergent harsher character is a detriment that I am not onboard with. Overall I think there is lots to like here, but its not immediately approachable; I find this liquid cluttered rather than complex and overall a little unbalanced. I would have liked to have seen some gentle sweetness to combat the drying saltiness and perhaps an amplification of the herbal notes. I think I would like to come back to a larger bottle of this and take some more time to explore it’s depth. Distiller whisky taste #162 [Pictured here with a Madagascan maritime friend. This beautifully preserved fossil nautiloid is Cenoceras and would have been freely swimming around the ocean around 235-163 million years. Like modern nautilus these chaps were active predators hunting for food up to 700 m deep via jet propulsion. Jet propulsion? Yes, imagine instead of swimming you swallowed water and shot it out your arse…]