Whisky : Glen Scotia 15 Year; Campbeltown Malts Festival 2019

Country/Region : Scotland/Campbeltown

ABV : 51.3%

Cask : Ex-Bourbon 15Y, Ex-Guyana Rum 8 Mo.

Age : 15 Year (Distilled 2003, Bottled 2019)

Nose :  Sweet maritime salt and candy on the boardwalk.  Candied and poached fruits, boiled peanuts, and soft cheese spread on malty sourdough bread.  Subtle notes of smoke kerosene—old tar and coal smoke stained wood on the docks, or perhaps walking by the remnants of a beach bonfire the morning after.

Palate :  Soft, mild palate full of maritime salt, pastries, and hints of tropical fruits.  Honey covered fried dough, fresh peaches, and green mango.  A bit of creaminess, a dash of mineral notes, and dusty book pages.  The wife described the flavor as, ‘licking a sand dollar,’ which she intended as a compliment.

Finish :  Medium length, sweet with light salt and faint green mango.

Score : 6

Mental Image : Beach-day!

Something Similar : Bowmore 21Y; Hunter Laing for K&L (similar green mango/tropical fruits)

Something Similar : Port Charlotte 11 Year BC:02 (similar fried bread, more earth/manure)

Something Worse : Bowmore 15 Year Old, Fèis Ìle 2018 (similar fried dough, more coffee/chocolate)

Notes :  I love that Glen Scotia made this a wide release in 2019— wide enough that bottles made it into the US three tiered system and down into a retail bucket that I could access.  I only wish I had grabbed some more— though by the look of the K&L inventory online— I might get that wish.  This bottle represents an excellent value for the price, especially the K&L price at $70.  Considering the tariffs that have been slapped on single malt Scotch entering into the US, I doubt anything quite like this, at that price, will appear any time soon (not to mention COVID-19 shipping disruptions).

This was a great combination of salt, pastry, and fruit.  I love the notion of honey drizzled fry bread, that just takes me back to my childhood right away, while the maritime-seaside notes keep me rooted in my island present.  This grew on me a little bit each tasting as different notes came to the front.  I found very little of the peat, not nearly the industrial/machine oil notes I get on other heavily peated Glen Scotia— there was just a kiss on the nose.  The rum cask influence was subtle, doling out just fleeting hints of tropical fruits.  This was such an easy drinker at cask strength, I can easily image the bottle disappearing in the blink of an eye.