Hand-picked by master distiller, Iain McAllister, finished in heavily-charred oak casks & bottled at cask strength. Bottled at cask strength, non-chill filtered and natural colour. It is NAS as Glen Scotia use a range of ages: 70% 1st fill bourbon unpeated 10yo, 10% 1st fill bourbon medium peated 12yo and 20% 16-18yo refill American oak unpeated.
Appearance: Light honey gold, that cider colour again. Slightly more viscous than the DC, thicker and slower legs form and glide down the glass.
Nose: Immediately recognise the CS ABV in this one. A heady wave wafts from the glass. Lemon, apple and some maltiness.
There’s a harbour aroma too, not purely sea air, but other elements like the fishing boat rope, fish and chip shop saltiness and other seaside town smells.
Then there’s the sweeter dark fruit side. Rich and deep, a great balance against the coastal elements.
The individual batches of spirit are vatted together and filled into 70% heavy charred American oak/30%1st fill PX for 12 months before vatting together and marrying in refill casks for 3 months before bottling #thewhiskeychaps
— Michael Henry (@LLBlender) January 6, 2022
Palate: Great mouthfeel, oily and coating the entire mouth. Lovely and rich/full-bodied. There’s sweetness as well as the hint of the sea, possibly in the form of seaweed.
The lemon is still there from the nose, there’s also Mars bar! Chocolate and caramel at least!
Finish: The finish for me is a tad more dusty basement, some of those lovely spices and a touch of the sweetness. Nice balance, medium in length.
Overall: I completely get why this is such a solid and popular release. It covers all bases, is an easy drinker (even at CS) and has the complexity and variety of interesting flavours to explore that we all love.
