Glen Scotia: 15 Year (Scottish Single Malt Campbeltown Whisky: 15 Year: 46% ABV)
Visual: Deep bronzed gold.
Viscosity: Quite a few fast, thick streaks.
Nose: Golden syrup cakes. Gingerbread. Light alcohol presence. Chestnut honey. Coffee cake. Nutty. Milk chocolate.
Body: Light up front. Coffee cake. Gritty. Alcohol at the back. Dry honey. Water brings out grassy and slightly waxy character. Apricot. Vanilla toffee.
Finish: Gritty. Bitter. Shredded wheat. Coffee cake, Grassy. Chocolate malt drinks. Sour dough. Water makes waxy and slight brown bread. Dried apricot and light spice.
Conclusion: Darn it, just when I thought I was getting into Glen Scotia. On the nose this looked to be another one playing a binder. In fact looked good on the eyes as well. It all looked set to take a deeper, darker set of flavours to play amongst the native grassy, slightly waxy character.
Yeah, well, the body didn’t deliver that. I’ve given it both time and water and neither helped that much. For such a strong aroma, and for a respectable 46% ABV, the body actually comes in very light up front. Behind that initial light impression it is then a tad gritty – you do get some apricot and coffee notes but generally it Is emptier and yet also slightly rougher than expected. I can like rough but with big flavor. I can live with a light front for a smooth character. This has neither.
The finish is more to expectations with that Campbeltown grassy character, but again coming in a bit gritty. Throughout the whisky there is a solid coffee cake character, and a light waxy style, which are the best characteristics. Together by themselves they would provide a gripping and soothing whisky. Unfortunately put together with everything else it, overall, feels rough and empty in a slightly contradictory fashion.
Not doing much to bring me back to Glen Scotia again.
Background: Bit of a mixed background for old Glen Scotia, I love the Campbeltown area, but mainly for Springbank, on the other hand I recently tried a miniature of Glen Scotia that I adored, so I decided to grab this 15 year from Independent Spirit to give a try. There are only three distilleries in Campbeltown now, two of which owned by the same people. This is the odd third child of the group. Drank while listening to Garbage – Strange Little Birds, still not as good as their first two albums but I’ve not got bored of it yet which is a good sign.
