Glen Scotia Victoriana...

Glen Scotia Victoriana (51.5%): A beautiful long awaited rainy Sunday morning here in Los Angeles and such a perfect day to start with all the samples piled up on my desk for weeks... First pick is from Wee Toon, a.k.a. Campbeltown... I was eyeing this bottle since it arrived and cannot wait for another minute... Victoriana is one of the three expressions of Glen Scotia's newly revamped core range amongst Double Cask and 15 year old bottlings. It is finished in deep charred casks and bottled at cask strength.

Color: Light amber, orange blossom honey

Nose: Polished hardwood furniture, tawed leather and olive oil fruit cake. Concrete dust, damp gardening soil and creme de cassis. Raisins and freshly sliced red apples. After airing a couple of minutes and adding a few drops of water: Fresh black currants, gummi bears and jelly beans. Honey glazed pastries, maple syrup and figs. Pecan pie, spearmint leaves and baby bananas.

Palate: Darker and thicker on the palate than it felt on the nose: Blackberry jam, damson plums and milk chocolate. Incredibly easy to drink at this abv... Ground ginger, light cinnamon and nutmeg. Very syrupy, dark fruit molasses and brown baking sugar. Creme de cassis is still there... Water adds subtle peat. I was wondering ay what point I will get some peat. Fireplace ash and charred oak. It got tad thinner in texture but lot sweeter with water: Pain aux raisins, plum preserves, creme brulee with an extra burnt top and overripe figs. Soot, rice pudding and burnt pie crust. Warming and pleasant.

Finish: Not that long but pretty memorable with baklava syrup, orange jam, hot cocoa and hint of white pepper.

Overall: Well, nothing like I expected but this is a great whisky nevertheless... Wet cardboard and sweet peat notes I always identify with Glen Scotia are almost not present at all. It is definitely the sweetest expression I ever tasted from this distillery. I don't have necessarily a sweet tooth when it comes to whiskies but this bottle really got me... Solid palate and very elegant finish. It is definitely not a cheap whisky for an NAS expression but you should taste it before judging the price. The price might not be an issue afterwards... Many thanks to Benito Quinonez from Loch Lomond Group and Kate Laufer Gorenstein from KLG Public Relations for the official sample.

Price: $120

89/100

still room at Glen Scotia before the renovation // June'14

casks at Glen Scotia // June'14