Glen Scotia 10 Year Old / Heavily Peated

Since 1996, Glen Scotia is in the hands of Loch Lomond Company. In my opinion it is still trying to find its own identity, judging by the rate at which the packaging changes look. More than 3 times in less than a decade. Since 2017 the bottles are severe, serious and quite nice looking. But this is a bottling from 2014 – two ‘looks’ ago, so to speak – of the Glen Scotia 10 Year Old, heavily peated. It is bottled at 50% and ‘only’ 6000 bottles were produced.

The nose is immediately sweet and sour on gooseberries, Seville oranges, toffee and apricot pastry – with a smoky side. Some roast beef and pineapple cubes. Toffee and toffee apples. And in all honesty: I think it’s great.

The body is fine. The peat is quite big and offers an immediate smokiness. The fruit kicks in and evolves towards the candied variety. Seville oranges, apricots, peach and even some passion fruit. Clearly some sherry casks went into the mix here.

The finish is very long. It starts honeysweet, but then the fruit has to clear the stage for a big smokiness that keeps lingering. Very good.

What a pleasant surprise. 60 to 70 EUR is not cheap, but the whisky pleases, so he gets a spot in the cabinet.

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