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History In A Bottle Day 15: Glen Scotia 1999 KWM Cask No. 359

Posted on December 15, 2022

This post is Bonus Content. It has information on one of the KWM Cask bottles that are featured on the back of our 2022 KWM Whisky Calendar box. You can find the blog post for the mini bottle for Day Fifteen of our Whisky Calendar here.

by Andrew

Campbeltown whisky is so hot right now, in no small part because there are only a handful of distilleries, and none of them have much in the way of output. The region has a coastal, oily style if we are to generalize. The most famous distillery is Springbank, and it has basically become the new Pappy Van Winkle with demand dwarfing supply so much that the secondary market is making some people act silly. Glen Scotia was for at least a few years a great alternative for those wanting a Campbeltown malt, but even it starting to become a hot potato.

Glen Scotia has a very oily profile, that can range from clean to dirty, and as it ages it can develop soft tropical fruits. We were lucky to bottle a Glen Scotia cask a few years back, and it was a beast. Distilled in 1999, the spirit was filled into an ex-Sherry cask, where it matured for just shy of 20 years, before bottling at 53.6%. The whisky displayed an almost violent tug of war between the sherry, peat and dirty engine oil. Off to the side, tropical fruits were pushing hard to make themselves seen. It was a very layered whisky, and a hit with our customers.

We have been asking to do another Glen Scotia cask for a while, and while we haven’t had any luck with another official bottling yet, we are expecting a new Glen Scotia Cask from Gordon & MacPhail next year!  

Glen Scotia 1999 KWM Cask No. 359

Our first exclusive Glen Scotia is from an ex-sherry cask (likely a Hogshead) filled in July of 1999 and was bottled in March of 2019 after 19 years at 53.6%. 227 Total Bottles. The first official bottling of Glen Scotia ever to come to Canada, possibly North America.

Andrew's Tasting Note

Nose: cola cubes and old-fashioned root beer; delicate smoke, a touch of wasabi-ginger and salted caramel; a touch of the classic Glen Scotia dirty engine oil, honeydew melon, mango and brown sugar round out the nose.

Palate: big, rich, herbaceous and oily, very oily; this is classic Glen Scotia with a fine balance between the dirty engine oil-soaked rags, subtle maritime smoke and delicate fruits; more salted caramel, root beer cola cubes and chinotto; melons, mango and Granny Smith apples make way for wasabi, sliced ginger, clove and nutmeg.

Finish: long, coating and oily; like the palate, it moves in layers, with traces of fruit, spice and dirty engine oil; creamy and fruity for the finale.

Comment: This is a cracking Glen Scotia; it was made at a time when the distillery was severely neglected, almost decrepit; I have long marvelled at how this distillery produced such beautiful whiskies, especially the older ones, almost despite itself; this whisky is not for everyone, but if you like the classic Campbeltown style, there is much to love here! 

Producer's Tasting Note

"Sweetness up front then spices start to build, cloves, allspice and ginger. There is fruitcake, raisins, sultanas and figs ending with a little oak tannin edge."

Andrew Ferguson

Owner

Kensington Wine Market

This entry was posted in Whisky, KWM Whisky Calendar 2022, KWM Single Cask

 

 

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