Glen Scotia 14yo Campbeltown Malts Festival 2020 Tawny Port Finish...

Glen Scotia 14yo Campbeltown Malts Festival 2020 Tawny Port Finish (52.8%): I really should be in the courtyard of Glen Scotia distillery under a gorgeous morning sunshine and a slight cool breeze sipping this very same dram with my friends and Iain McAlister himself more than three months ago. But as we all know things didn't go as planned this year... Now here I am sitting on my desk all the way in Southern California instead finally pouring for the first time some of the 14yo Tawny Port Finish Campbeltown Malts Festival bottling into my glass. It is a 14yo peated whisky first vatted from a combination of refill American oak hogsheads, re-charred American oak barrels and 1st fill American oak ex-bourbon barrels and then finished for an additional six months in 1st fill Tawny Port hogsheads. It is bottled at cask strength and a total of 15,000 bottles have been made available worldwide.

Color: Medium amber, polished copper with a distinctive red-orange hue. Tiny beads form immediately around the glass which very hesitantly morph into slow moving and oily legs.

Nose: Dried strawberries, four fruits jam and red gummi bears. Peach Melba, strawberry cheesecake and red apple skin. It's juicy and thick... After some airing: Ocean breeze, wet sand and mussel shells. Juniper berries and cedar wood. A few drops of water add some metallic and bitter aromas: Stainless steel water bottles, a bag of new finishing nails and mineral water. Old school tin lunch boxes, preserved grape leaves and red cherries.

Palate: Even though it's actually hot at this abv it's quite enjoyable and "jam" packed with flavors such as: Strawberry preserve, raspberry pancake syrup and red currants. Black cherry soda, crystallized ginger and bitter almond cookies. Water works great on the palate. It's doughy and less bitter now: Salty pie crust, sweetened sour cherry juice and cranberry white chocolate cookies. A marvelous cherry pie even Agent Dale Cooper would approve...

Finish: Long and warming... Gentle char, pine needles and juniper berries. Sea salt and salted nuts.

Overall: Another great limited release from Iain McAlister and Glen Scotia... It's mouthwateringly sweet, fruity and jammy both on the nose and on the palate but perfectly balanced with subtle peat, salt and coastal notes. Textbook Campbeltown whisky making... I feel actually pretty good right now about having purchased two bottles right away since even today's early morning tasting already set me back three pours. It's dangerously quaffable...

Price: $80

89/100

Campbeltown Malts Festival 2019 // Glen Scotia Open Day