The 2021 annual Glen Scotia release for the Campbeltown Malts Festival. This is the first year Glen Scotia has selected unpeated spirit for its festival bottling. Matured initially in first-fill bourbon barrels and then finished in Bordeaux red wine casks, this 10 year old whisky imbues fruit and spice characters coupled nicely with the distillery’s coastal character.
Royal Mile Whiskies
Appearance
There’s a pinkish hue to this light gold dram, the swirl line is medium to thick, with slow running medium thick legs.
The Festival Releases are about showcasing the Glen Scotia spirit with different cask influence so we thought it was important to give another aspect of the distillery character with the fully unpeated release #thewhiskeychaps
— Michael Henry (@LLBlender) January 6, 2022
Nose
Now this is different. It’s quite sweet with cream soda, then a dustiness comes through, followed by perfume and botanical aromas for me. Red apple skins and red berries and tropical fruits, Opal fruits for us oldies, create a lovely fusion of sweet fruit aromas.
More time and i’m going to say vanilla custard on red berry strudel, the faint perfume note is still here, with swizzle fizzy children’s sweets, and white pepper with wood wax.
Palate
Nice mouthfeel from the off, and the ABV on this one doesn’t slap, but there’s plenty of spices again. There’s syrup from a can of strawberries bringing loads of sweetness, cranberries and orange zest add citrus , white pepper, vanilla, perhaps paprika, that would be a first for me, then anise and mocha coffee bitterness come through towards the end.
Palate: After an initial spice hit there’s lots of the berry sweetness, stone/gravel (don;t get that much!), mild chilli, some chocolate notes too #thewhiskeychaps
— Whisk(e)y Chap 🏴🥃 (@whiskeychap) January 6, 2022
Finish
Still chest warming spicy at this point, much like the end of the palate, with the addition of cigar leaves, lots of milk chocolate, and a little drying touch.
A touch of drying on the finish. The berries last the longest on the medium/long finish. There are some coastal notes too now. #thewhiskeychaps
— Whisk(e)y Chap 🏴🥃 (@whiskeychap) January 6, 2022
My thoughts
Of the 5 Glen Scotia’s we tasted during this session this was the most unusual, but also very nice. I’d say it’s refreshing in a way, with a body that’s largely fruit sweetness. The un-peated Glen Scotia does come through, the ABV is superb, it has the lovely mouthfeel too, and like the others we tasted it is a “big” dram, and i’d definitely have a bottle.
A big thank you goes out to Michael Henry – @LLBlender, for joining us on this tasting, you can follow him and us using the buttons below.
Royal Mile Whiskies can be found here.
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