Official Bottlings | 46% ABV

Campbeltown Excellence

Spending most of my whisky reading time here at Dramface HQ makes looking at other whisky websites an interesting experience.

You, dear DF readers, know what we’re about – honesty (sometimes brutal), transparency, value, context, and often simply, well, life (with Paisley’s and Ogilvie’s recent reviews two terrific examples) – yet other sites often shift the focus elsewhere.

For example, “lifestyle,” for lack of a better term, is often something contained, promoted, and delivered through some other publications and sites. Like you, I’ve gotten used to the look and feel of our site, my amazing fellow writers, our terrific commenter community, alongside the podcast, features, and news.

When I click on other whisky sites it’s therefore sometimes a little jarring. Glossy bottles of 50-year old Glen Whatnot sitting on their trendy-artist-of-the-day-designed stand are positioned front and centre when you hit the site, alongside features on the huge production behemoths of the industry, which may be interesting enough but are likely aimed at a different audience than we are here.

One site I have open now is promoting as a headline a collaboration between a very well-known mega-blend and two of the most famous rock musicians of the last fifty years. While I love these two musical geniuses, I don’t have much time for the whisky, nor for contrived “tributes” that bring nothing to the whisky but serve to justify a high price tag. It’s not aimed at me, and I of course recognise that people who are not me enjoy whisky in ways different from me. I don’t judge (ok, not too much anyway), but I instead click back over here to see what my fellow writers are enjoying (or not) along with browsing a few other trusted commentators who are a bit more critical, a bit more analytical, and as objective-as-possible when they approach a dram.

All that said, I’m probably being a bit of a grump as well as a snob because we will sometimes find articles elsewhere that are of interest if you’re a member of the Dramface community. Whisky Magazine online, for instance, recently published a worthwhile story on the revival of Campbeltown as a region. It touches upon a number of issues that probably most of you reading this probably already know: Springbank scarcity, the highly frustrating exploitation of high demand and limited supply, the revival of Glengyle, and the ongoing renaissance of Glen Scotia.

It revolves around interviews with Springbank sales and marketing director David Allen and Glen Scotia brand ambassador Gary Mills. Among other observations, the author wanders around the Campbeltown Malts Festival and spots at least two kinds of festival go-er: those who fill up bulging suitcases as quickly as they can and head straight to the bus stop to flip them faster than you can say “Local Barley,” and those who stick around, absorb the atmosphere, and enjoy the spirits and comradery.

For Mills, the fact that Glen Scotia is often more available than its neighbour distillery was a deliberate plan to “create a Campbeltown malt that would be available all year round” when Loch Lomond Group took over in 2014. Indeed, few other Scottish distilleries can boast a renaissance that can hold a candle to Glen Scotia’s. Look no further than the Dramface Top 40 list, with Glen Scotia well within the top 10 at #7. It’s clearly loved by many of us (including yours truly, as well as many other Dramfacers).

There’s of course no doubt that much of the appeal of Glen Scotia, Springbank, and Glengyle has to do with “Campbeltown funk,” whatever that actually is. If you’ve never read it, go back and read our fearless leader Wally’s first feature for Dramface where he interviews folks from each distillery to do a deep dive into this elusive “funk” that so many of us love, and that appears in each of the three distilleries’ single malts to varying degrees and styles.

Discussing the different potential explanations for “funk,” Loch Lomond Group master distiller Michael Henry suggests that “potentially Glen Scotia is somewhat lighter, perhaps more accessible nowadays, but very importantly still has that robustness and coastal influence associated with Campbeltown and has a wonderful flavour profile; that is, an assemblage of higher alcohol gleaned from the fermentation process and that maritime influence – subtle oils, sodium, and occasionally a somewhat dirty appeal, this is what you would historically expect to obtain from the region as a whole.”

Wally asks David Allen (Springbank), Iain MacAllister (Glen Scotia Master Distiller), and Michael Henry what expressions they would recommend trying to explore “Campbeltown funk” across the different distilleries. Allen points first towards the Local Barley series, but quickly realising that it’s Unobtanium for most of us instead suggests the stalwart and consistently outstanding 10 year old or the 15 year old, or Kilkerran 8 or 12 year old.

For Glen Scotia, Iain recommends the Victoriana. Michael, however, recommends the 15 year old. For Michael, “Glen Scotia 15 year old is the best example of Glen Scotia’s distillery character. It is matured in first-fill bourbon with a short oloroso finish so the character retains the distillery influence.”

So today, let’s take Michael up on his suggestion, shall we?

Review 1/3 - Drummond

Glen Scotia 15 year old, Official releases, 2020 bottling vs 2023 bottling, 46% ABV
£65 paid

This is our first review of Glen Scotia 15 year old. I’m not sure why – we’ve reviewed lots of other Scotias over the last couple of years, and we generally quite like them. My only guess is that some of the higher ABV releases such as the popular Victoriana and the annual Festival releases might somewhat overshadow this 46% 15 year old, or that the more affordable Double Cask might be a bit more accessible.

Yet for me, while I love most if not all of the Glen Scotia’s I’ve tried and own (see the row of Scotia bottles here in the bunker at Fort Drummond), in my brain the 15 year old has always sat proudly at the centre of the range. A solid age statement that sits in that mid-teens sweet spot where so many malts tend to be at their peak between youthful vibrancy and aged complexity, an ABV that allows the natural oils and viscosities of the spirit to shine, and at a relatively affordable price – all of these have made Glen Scotia 15 one of the few consistent staples of my collection. I’ve had a few bottles of this over the last five years or so, and while the first one wasn’t quite there (batch variation is a natural thing, of course…but my inexperienced palate at that time was likely also the issue), the next bottle and the bottles today have been – well, you’ll see in a minute.

It turns out that I have two bottles here: an older label from 2020 (according to the tiny numerical stamp on the back of the bottle) and a newer label from 2023. So, I’ve placed them side-by-side and compared them; over the last several weeks I’ve been sipping these on different nights and writing tasting notes separately, and in the last week I’ve had a couple of drams of both together.

I hear you: “but Drummond, that means twice as much work to review a single expression!” It’s an extra burden, true, but (rolls up sleeves) such is my commitment to you…

Score: 8/10

**Something special.**
***TL;DR***
*Affordable and available Campbeltown excellence*

Nose

2020 bottle: Lightly salty and lightly briny sea breeze. Oak bench, vanilla custard, stewed fruits, malty. Smells mellowed with age. Bourbon cask sweetness balanced by the savoury aspects of the spirit. Apple pie, hints of savoury herbs and spices, and pepper. Oak toffee. Ever so faint hint of light background peat.

2023 bottle: Orange peel, oak, and gentle salty sea breeze. Lemon oil and boiled soft fruits: peaches and melon. Somewhat lighter on the nose than the 2020 but the same character is here, even if a slight variation. Faint herbal quality, gentle maltiness, woody vanilla pod, hint of acetone and diluted diesel fuel.

Palate

2020 bottle: Maltier than on the nose, but much of the nose follows through on the palate: wooden bench, salty harbour breeze, vanilla pods, boiled peaches and apricots, orange peel in an oak barrel. Spices rather than herbs. “Campbeltown funk,” which today, to me, comes across as a savoury workshop quality, reminiscent of Benromach. Nice mouthfeel and texture: oily for 46%. Impressively balanced…nothing overpowers anything else.

2023 bottle: Pleasantly oily mouthfeel, engine oil on a wooden bench, salty sweet soft fruits (again boiled), wood spice, and salty sesame oil. Ambient workshop vibes. Creamy vanilla pods, malty, peppery oak, and a salty sea harbour quality. Hint of floral notes on the finish, alongside spices (nutmeg, allspice) and lightly buttered maltiness. Again, balance all around.

There’s more coastal salty breeze on the 2020 nose. More orange peel on the 2020 palate. More lemon oil and barley sugar on the 2023 palate. More workshop qualities on the 2023 palate. There’s also a slight difference in colour, with the 2023 bottle a shade lighter. Does this indicate a bit less artificial colouring? Given Glen Scotia’s recent moves with expressions such as the Double Cask Rum Finish stating quietly on the back label “natural colour,” and all of the Festival releases are natural colour, perhaps they are gradually easing off on the E150a in the core range. If so, this is certainly very welcome.

Both batches are highly characterful but in a subtle way: brooding, non-shouty, complex, layered. Sophisticated even. Both drams are also very inviting; not boisterously swinging the door open and giving you a bear hug, but rather calmly and cordially opening the door and welcoming you in, offering you a seat and the promise of a conversation that will be stimulating, interesting, and probably steering towards the more meaningful rather than superficial or banal.

The Dregs

This is simply excellent whisky. As I sit here throughout the evening with a single pour, I keep coming back to it as it shifts and transforms little by little with each passing hour to reveal new layers of interest, complexity, and flavourful permutations.

I’m just a punter and an amateur enthusiast, and Michael Henry has forgotten more about whisky than I’ll ever hope to know. But at the risk of sounding more knowledgeable than I am: I can only agree with Michael that the 15 year old is indeed the quintessential expression and experience of Glen Scotia. And, as the quintessential experience of Glen Scotia, it’s therefore a quintessential experience of Campbeltown single malt.

As an example of the unique experience of regionality of the Wee Toon, I put Glen Scotia 15 right alongside Springbank 10 and Kilkerran 12 as the exemplars of the Campbeltown style. Indeed, you would be missing out on something of C-town if you only stuck to Springbank.

There’s a reason our readers – you – have ranked Glen Scotia distillery so highly in the Dramface Top 40. There’s a reason why people around the world continue to discover the delights of this tiny and unique distillery that delivers bags of flavour and complexity. And there’s a reason why this humble but wonderful 15 year old should be a key stop on your exploration of Campbeltown. This towers above today’s ocean of over-priced, over-hyped plain vanilla whiskies – or often, just sheer mediocrity – that we see far too much of.

Maybe some of you have visited the town, and if you have you’ll know Kinloch Park; the open green area at the head of the Campbeltown Loch. It’s a great place to sit and get some fresh air after spending a day in the distilleries and enjoying all that they offer. When I was there back in May, I did just that, the sun shining.

It’s too romantic and too ridiculous, but this dram takes me there. Wherever you are, I hope you’ll join me and thank Glen Scotia and Loch Lomond Group for giving us this delicious, complex, evocative, characterful, and affordable whisky. Have a seat, pour a dram, have a little patience and spend some time with it, and let it take you to the harbour, sitting in the sunshine with the coastal breeze blowing on your face, looking out across Campbeltown Loch, and the shimmering sea beyond.

Score: 8/10 DD

Review 2/3 - Broddy

Glen Scotia 15 year old, Official release, 17/07/2023 bottling, 46% ABV
£65 or less & generally available

No fancy story here. Glen Scotia is on my “always buy” list and when this popped on discount, I snagged two bottles. I fancy the 10 yo for what it is, and Double Cask PX is a permashelf-er, so the 15 yo made complete sense to buy.

Score: 7/10

**Very good indeed.**
***TL;DR***
*The definition of a balanced whisky*

Nose

Balance. Sweet, malty, savoury oaky balance. Vanilla, deftly balanced sherry raisins and nuts, brown sugar sweetness. Cinnamon coffee cake. Nougat. It has that lovely undertone of something very lightly peated, providing a strong bass line tempo for the top notes to sing proudly. There’s no peat or smoke, just that identifiable uptick in interest, yet not easily definable given its deft touch here. This is a sweet and easy smelling whisky.

Palate

Balance again. Spicy and sweet. Candied ginger. Brown sugar and vanilla again. An orange citrus note is joining the party now. There’s a char-like note hiding in the background, something I find in the venerable Victoriana. The finish is a smoothly declining sugar, char, and malty endeavour.

Again, Campbeltown has done it again. A well-priced 15 yo whisky worth the price we fork over our toils for. As a core range whisky, we are fortunate this exists, just to show us how whisky could be given some time and care.

It has that extra little oomph that I have been routinely finding in whiskies that have a very very light phenol content in them (something from my recent dalliances in the older Tomatin 12 as well). I have a very hard time reaching past the trifecta of the Glen Scotia Double Cask PX, 10 yo, and 15 yo. What a stellar entry to a core range, something others would do well in learning.

Score: 7/10 BB

Review 3/3 - Dougie

Glen Scotia 15 year old, Official release, 2021 bottling, 46% ABV
£65 or less & generally available

I bought many of these early in my journey, because Ralfy said it was amazing. Initially, and probably for the entire first bottle, I found it spicy and hot, way too weird and finished it in a blaze of confusion. What was this new flavour I was experiencing?

Since then I’ve loved a lot of Glen Scotia, tried some fantastic examples in their warehouse, rinsed many Victoriana bottles and faced the dirty beast in the Callander Drinks Co single cask.

Those following my stash opening season will be delighted to know that I opened my last bottle of Glen Scotia 15 from 2021, and it’s already 2/3rds empty, such is the draw I have to it at the minute. It’s nothing like the first time.

Score: 7/10

**Very Good Indeed.**
***TL;DR***
*A very good, solid, robust, reliable, funky dram.*

Nose

Strawberry bon bons. Dark cedar, soily. The GS engine pit. Tinned pineapple rinsed with cranberry juice. Sour fruit bowl, mostly reds. Engine oil hand cleaner, the orange stuff - orange zest into the nostril directly. A bit stingy but massive potent flavour. Smoked bavarian cheese, the circle plastic one. Plastic tubs. Bit of cream cheese. Foam bananas. Macaroon bar.

Palate

Icing sugar coated raspberries - might be a bit of tart bon bon with the toffee centre. Dirty - souring at the edges, feels viscous and oily. Gritty in the soily sense. A citrus seam flows throughout but not overtly, a peripheral zest. A core redness surrounded by tan cedar wood. A lick of liquorice appears, the black sticky stuff. Maybe one of those pink button dotty jelly things that are left in the packet every time.

A touch of water brings a peppery, rubbery, woody delight that reminds me of my Grandma’s house in winter, when she’d draw closed the ultra thick, patterned brown velvet curtains.

The Dregs

I’ve really enjoyed this bottle. It’s clear my palate has developed significantly since the first time I tried it, because all I’m finding is that classic dirty red engine bay magic that Glen Scotia brings in abundance. Some nice memory jogging there too - my grandma had a drawer in her giant wood dresser that held all the stationery, and there was always a rubber (eraser) that looked like a square of fudge. It was a crap eraser, would smudge the graphite instead of removing it and I always tried to eat it. But the touch of water in the glass reminded me of it, and I’m grateful for the memory.

I worried that the rebranded 15 would decline, as so many do when they’re repositioned under the cloud of new ink and foil. It’s why I held onto this for so long. But looking at both the boy’s take above, I can’t help but feel happy that, should I desire a bottle of 15 after this one is gone (soon), the new stuff is as good as the old. Very Good Indeed.

Score: 7/10 DC

Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. DD

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