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Monday, April 25, 2022

Glen Scotia 10 year old Peated

I like Glen Scotia single malt, but it's difficult to pin down what exactly links one Glen Scotia whisky to another. Sometimes they're peaty-ish, sometimes not. Some have industrial funk, while others are fruity and floral. Perhaps these capricious styles are due to four different owners in less than three decades, varying fermentation times, three malt types and a range of cut points. Or not.

A limited edition "heavily peated" 10 year old made an appearance during the distillery's Disco Cow Era (thank you, Jordan!), while a "peated" 14 year old was exclusive to Sweden, a whisky whose bottle design MUST BE SEEN. 🌈🐄💘 Then in 2018, the current ownership bottled a 10 year old, non-chillfiltered, natural color, bourbon cask, 46%abv "Peated" Glen Scotia. And that is what I'm going to be sampling today.

The distillery has unpeated, medium peated and heavily peated malt runs, so I'm not sure how peated this "Peated" is. With my luck, this Peated won't read peated and I will feel mildly defeated.


Distillery: 
Glen Scotia
Ownership: Loch Lomond Group (via Exponent)
Region: Campbeltown
Type: Single Malt
Age: minimum 10 years
Maturation: first-fill bourbon barrels
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Chillfiltered? No
e150a? No
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

Pears, saline and Big Red gum are wrapped together by gentle wood smoke in the nose. Smaller notes of band-aids, roses and white rum color in the background. Sweet, heat, salt and smoke merge in equal parts within the palate. The smoke, mesquite. The heat, first ethyl then chile oil. White rum and lime appear after 30 minutes. It finishes with chile oil, lots of salt, lime and a hint of wood smoke.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

A very young but very satisfying pour, this Glen Scotia could serve as a comfy introduction to peated whiskies if only it had wider distribution, as it's certainly more approachable than Islay's heavy hitters. But that may require more on-hand stock than the distillery has. It cannot compete with Springbank 10, but I did enjoy this Campbeltowner's style more than my last bottle of Longrow Peated. Glen Scotia 10's price keeps me from hunting down a US bottle since the superior Loch Lomond 12 (yes, I typed that) sells for half that amount.

Availability - Limited quantities in US and Europe
Pricing - $65-$80 (USA), $40-$60 (Europe)
Rating - 84

2 comments:

  1. Don't apologize for slinging mild praise at Loch Lomond 12. On a lark last winter, I did a semi-blind SBS of LL12 and my last remaining bottle of Springbank 10. And I mixed up which was which in my assessment. Granted, I've found Springbanks go through huge changes from bottle opening to finish, but still... it was clearly in the flavor ballpark. In today's insane climate for pricing and ever more limited availability to US enthusiasts, LL12 at 46% and $40(!!) in my state has become my de facto house Scotch.

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    1. Hey Anon! I'm with you on the LL12. Had the pleasure of finding it on sale for $30 a couple years back, and that became my house malt too. :)

      https://www.divingforpearlsblog.com/2022/05/things-i-really-drink-loch-lomond-12.html

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