Glen Scotia 14 Years Old 1999 93.61 CalMac welder’s tea break (58.3%, SMWS, Refill Bourbon HH, 281 Bottles, 2014)

• Campbeltown single malt scotch whisky
• 58.3% ABV,
• £53
• Score: 87/100

What they say:

On the nose, the sweet charabanc of sugar puffs, Crunchy-nut cornflakes, fudge cookies, honey and chocolate flapjacks collided into the savoury wall of smoky bacon crisps, barbecued prawns and baked ham. The palate was also a crash site – big, rich and chewy, with cinder toffee, spiced sultanas and dark honey on toast scattered in a frightening wreckage of charcoal, ash, liquorice sticks, peat reek and industrial garages. The reduced nose suggested a welder on a Calmac ferry enjoying a Daim Bar. The palate – sweet and (we thought) acceptably dirty with a big spicy finish. From the ‘quiet outsider’ distillery in Campbeltown. Drinking tip: To aid the visceral enjoyment of a brutal rugby match.

Date Distilled: 30 June 1999 Colour: Orange sandstone Age: 14 years Flavour : Oily & coastal Cask Type: Refill ex-bourbon hogshead Whisky Region: Campbeltown

281 bottle outturn

What I say:

One of a trio of first purchases from the SMWS, this one a 14 year old, ex-bourbon hogshead Glen Scotia (SMWS distillery #93), rich in both colour and flavour

Colour:

Deep orange amber with light beaded tears

Nose:

Sweet and fruity orange and ginger marmalade on brown bread pieces, some cereal and honey (honey-nut cornflakes), salty smoked bacon with maple syrup on vanilla French toast, sultanas and prunes

Taste:

Initially ginger and cinnamon on fresh orange and grapefruit, black and cayenne pepper spice, thick rich dark honey, sultanas, raisins, prunes and cherries and other dark fruits, clootie dumpling with treacle, smoky peaty ash, a little earthen with hints of cinnamon and aniseed balls, lightly oily and chewy in mouthfeel with the spiciness tempered by the rich honeyed fruits

Finish:

Long, fruit cake or fruit pudding (clootie dumpling or black bun) well fired with lots of extra nutmeg spice

Overall:

Hugely enjoyable dram, from the colour to the treacle-like sweetness on the palate, this is a wonderful single cask exampled from the Glen Scotia distillery.