Whisky: Glen Scotia 33 Year (1977), A.D. Rattray Cask 985

Country/Region: Scotland/Campbeltown

ABV: 57%

Cask: Sherry Hogshead

Age: 33Years (Distilled 28 April 1977, Bottled 6 May 2010)

Nose: Classy with big, old sherry cask-driven aromas; stewed fruit, leather, brown sugar, cherries and berries, motor oil, malty cookies, dark chocolate.

Palate: Medium-bodied, lapsang souchong with smoked herbal character, leather, berries, cigar box, roasted nuts and jam, hints of funky mangrove swamp and maritime brine; always more fruit to come.

Finish: Very long with dried fruits and leather.

Score: 8 (87)

Mental Image: Michelin Recommended Garage Patisserie

Narrative & Notes: Classy and refined with big sherry cask notes of sticky fruits, worn leather chairs, and brown sugar.  Motor oil lingered in the background as cherries jubilee arrived— classy desserts in a converted motor garage.  Goji berries and currants offered tangy fruit and berries with dirty rags and greasy floors that were occasionally broken by malty crumble and nutty cakes, or, with time, more raspberry and dark chocolate.  Medium-bodied on the palate and slightly during with lapsang souchong bringing wispy smoke and rich herbal notes to leather couches, currants, and an old cigar box.  A touch of roasted hazelnuts lingered further in and left me thinking peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as berry notes held on.  A touch of mangrove swamp and maritime brine toward the end, which always retreated back like the tide leaving fruit preserves.  The finish was very long with dried fruits and leather.

I have tasted no shortage of Glen Scotia over the years, mostly young and from SMWS, but never anything produced prior to the 1990s.  I came to this whisky hoping to fix that; try something properly old in terms of maturation and vintage.  I would not say this dram did much to inform me what the distillery was like back in the 1970s as the sherry cask took center stage and, ultimately, this was a fantastic example of an old-school sherry maturation.

Overall, classy with loads of old sherry notes and richness— the balance between sweet, spice, and savory notes was well-done. Though I wished some of the intriguing maritime and swampier elements would have pushed through, I appreciated the dirtier aspects that did develop.