Whisky : Glen Scotia 11 Year SMWS 93.153 “Unusually unique”

Country/Region : Scotland/Campbeltown

ABV : 57.3%

Cask : First Fill Ex-Bourbon

Age : 11 Year (Distilled Sept. 2009)

Nose :  Fruit, cream, and subtle maritime.  Mellow creamy notes led into lemon and orange citrus, candied ginger, melon balls, and jammy red raspberries and marionberries.  Cream and fruit notes combined to give the impression of berry jam on a soft creamy cheese or orange creamsicles.  Gentle maritime notes hung in the back with palm fronds and coconut.

Palate :  Medium bodied and oily with a crisp profile of citrus fruits, spice, and herbal notes.  Citrusy pop of lemon, tangerines, ripe nectarines, and purple passionfruit.  The fruit carried into herbal notes of menthol and tea with a hint of coriander and peppery spice in the background.  As the fruits faded notes of jasmine mint tea lingered on through the finish.

Finish :  Lingering herbal fruit and tea.

Score : 7

Mental Image : Iced Tea under the Palm Trees

Notes : Bright and fruity this Glen Scotia was marvelous as it transitioned between several distinct layers of flavor.  Glen Scotia definitely has a great cask program if these SMWS bottles are at all representative.  Seemingly every dram has been in a wonderful first or second fill cask full of sweet oaky spice and bourbon sugars.  This had worked especially well on some of these younger malts which absolutely pop with tropical fruits and citrus.  The dram did suffer a bit of youthfully spirited heat which appeared in right behind those citrus fruits on the palate.  A few drops of water toned things down, but also simplified the profile.

Overall, this was a great pick for a festival bottle.  It was a notch above most of the other young Glen Scotia I have tried from SMWS lately and the profile was surprisingly non-funky compared to the others.  Perhaps that is what a festival releases calls for though— a bottle with easy mass appeal and a straightforward and approachable profile.  I do not think it hit quite the same heights as the 17 Year Glen Scotia (93.128) they did last year for their Campbeltown Festival release, but this was still a cut above the rest.