In 1887, there were 21 licensed distilleries in Campbeltown, today there are only three, Glen Scotia being one of the survivors, the other Springbank with Glengyle reopening, after reconstruction, in 2004.
Glen Scotia was built in 1832 and is a small distillery, comprising one steel mash tun, six steel wash backs and a pair of swan stills. In 1930, a previous owner Duncan MacCallum committed suicide by throwing himself into the Campbeltown Loch and his spirit apparently still returns to haunt the night shift....
Some of the matured ethereal vapour, I have listed among my all time favourites.....
Glen Scotia Distillery
Glen Scotia 17yo Single Malt 46% Duthies
Honeycomb with a hint of a previous smoking, coconut ice, barley sugar with a touch of cereal poking through.
A little thin on the palate, the honey notes splash the tongue but then there is a huge grapefruit hit, salty with the barley drying on the finish...not the best example from this distillery. 78%
Glen Scotia 12yo Single Malt 43%
Honey'n malt. The cereal is dominant with lashings of vanilla and honey. A touch of new rubber in the background indicates the low peating levels.
Light and sweet initially on the tongue, then a sprinkle of pepper and a spoonful of salt season this maritime dram and leaves the palate with a lingering light smokiness. 82
Maritime, pureed strawberries and salt, sprinkled with icing sugar, the alcohol prickly but pleasant.
Thick with vanilla on the tongue, then a touch of chilli as the mid-palate moves through to a lingering lightly braaied(barbecued)barley.
A dash of aqua introduces the peat on the nose, boosts the honey and finishes on the palate with warm, sooty, tarry embers. 85
Glen Scotia 1992 16yo Single Malt 55.7% Berry's Own
Musty oak wrapped in dark toffee with a hint of smoke in the depths.
The palate is all rich spicy fruit cake drying to a tannic finish.
A splash of water opens the nose to more musty and sherried oak.
However the palate is now explosive with chewy Sugus sweets, stewed fruits and finishing with a spiced peaty dryness that lingers into a peppery smoke and medicinal finish.
Woah! What a recipe! Stewed berries with a peat ember thrown in for good measure, then warm rich toffee and honeycomb syrup slowly ladled into this exotic mix.
The palate has rumtopf and anis with rich fruit spice and smoke on the everlasting finish.
Water opens up dark toffee with the spiced fruit and smoke gorgeously balanced on the finish. Moreish comes to mind ...and more moreish....93
Glen Scotia 1992 18yo 50% Old Malt Cask
Wow! A nose of sherry trifle, fudge cake, spicy stewed fruit and dark toffee.
A bold mouthfeel of sherry-sweetened stewed dark fruits with a long lingering Oloroso finish.
Once opened the nose becomes phenomenal with vanilla, sherried toffee, creme brulee and a hint of parsley.
The palate has now developed beautifully with honeyed fruits balanced by a long slightly dry finish. Awesome! 94
