Hi everyone,
There’s a distillery I’ve been neglecting to review that is showing a lot of promise recently: Glen Scotia.
This gem has perhaps been overlooked, partly because it hasn’t received much love ownership-wise, partly because it had a variable reputation over the last decade or so. But they seem to be doing a lot better now, with Ralfy and others very much liking the new 15yo.
I’ve had a chance to try two recently, so here they are. First up an official 16yo for the airports and another 16yo single cask from the cask wizards Cadenhead’s.
Glen Scotia 16 46%
Colour: Gold
Body: Medium/Full
Nose: Malty, slightly dirty orange, flour and pastry, vanilla, a little funky, dry oak in there, even a touch of soot.
Taste: Malty with some cinnamon spice, spicy theme continues with sweetness behind, slightly floral, orange, ginger, quite peppery with black pepper. A bit harsh if drunk quickly.
Finish: Long length. More sour here, with some pastry notes and black pepper continuing.
Travel retail exclusive, which normally is slang for rubbish whisky. Not so much here though, the higher strength is really helping this. The funky style more reminiscent of Springbank on the nose.
74/100
Glen Scotia 2000 Sherry Cadenhead's 57.8%
Colour: Amber
Body: Medium/Full
Nose: Austere, mineral and interestingly feinty, some bakery notes, some yeast, dirty orange, maybe a little strawberry. Interesting funk as it opens up.
Taste: Very soft for abv, rich sweetness builds, lovely dirty orange, some sulphur then spice and oak, black pepper, some cinnamon, grassy and mineral into the finish.
Finish: Long length. Softer again and more austere, some dried fig and lasting dry pepper.
2000-2016 at 16yo from a Sherry cask. Great whisky, great cask. Softer and less spicy with water but not as good. If you’re very sensitive to sulphur, you may not enjoy it as much as me though. For me, it really adds something here. This really reveals how much potential this distillery has and has made me a firm believer in great quality Glen Scotia. Very tempted by some of the older Sherry cask ones now, as if I need more whisky to be tempted by!
84/100
Thanks for reading!
Scotch Reviews #564-#565
Whisky Network Reviews #669-#670
Network Average: 74.7
Best Score: 93
Worst Score: 22
0-49 Terrible
50-59 Bad
60-64 Just About OK
65-69 Ok to Good
70-74 Good
75-79 Very Good
80-84 Excellent
85-89 Superb
90+ Magnificent
Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.
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