Glen Scotia 10 Year Old 2008 Campbeltown Malts Festival 2018

I was truly impressed with Glen Scotia’s 2019 festival release, a 15 years old on rum casks. As luck would have it, I also got a sample of the previous year’s festival bottling. This time around, it’s a 10 years old Glen Scotia finished on rum casks. Let’s get to it.

This is a rather sweet nose in which the peat plays only second fiddle. Lots of red fruit like raspberries and strawberries. Some hazelnuts and sniffing tobacco. A bit of salt, but quite discrete. This is mostly sweetness. I confess this is a totally different Glen Scotia than anything I’ve smelled before.

It’s a lot feistier on the palate than the nose promised. The ABV is most likely the culprit. It makes it sharp and piquant. Chili pepper and nutmeg. The red fruit returns, but is now overpowered by the peat and especially the salt. Turns into a very maritime malt, with just a whiff of port in the mix. The exact opposite of the nose. And from the second sip on it does turn into a typical, dirty Glen Scotia, but of the sort that I am less fond of.

The finish is medium long, smoky and a veritable battle between salt and sweet. Candied grapefruit at the death.

The nose and the finish were okay, but on the palate this was much to sharp to my taste.

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