Tasting notes·Glen Scotia

Glen Scotia Double Cask

You hear a lot of good things about distilleries from the Scottish coastal town of Campbeltown in recent years. It's hard to have a conversation about Glen Scotia without someone steering the topic towards Springbank, which everyone agrees is better in every way. Is that really true?Double Cask is an NAS Scotch with Glen Scotia single malt matured in first-fill ex-bourbon casks and aged for up to a year in Pedro Ximénez (PX) sherry casks. Up to one year - a wild time specification.

The panel

Marcel
87
Sascha
83

Mean 85.0 · spread 4

Value for money 5/5

Distillery
Glen Scotia
Type
Single Malt
Region
Campbeltown
Country
Scotland
Strength
46% ABV
Character
delicate

Tasting

Nose

More intense than expected. Honey, vanilla, candied fruits, as you know them from the fair and a bunch of peach. If the whisky lingers a little in the glass, we perceive hints of leather (yes, exactly the section for leather shoes in the shoe shop), herbs and clear sherry notes. A floral note, as well as something woody, which is more reminiscent of a burnt match, can also be detected.

Palate

Dry - really dust-dry - a lot of spicy oak lies mouth-filling in the foreground. Left and right we find a bit of cinnamon, some peanuts, dried fruit (dates, apricots and peach) and a dominant vanilla.

Finish

The finish drags - like chewing gum - spicy-intense, as well as earthy-leathery and has a dominant note of Swiss herbal bonbons.

Verdicts

Marcel

This Glen Scotia Double Cask is a genuine surprise hit – packed full of character and drinkability that you often miss in some pricier malts. For less than half the price of a Springbank 10, it offers significantly more enjoyment and an exciting, spicy depth. Anyone looking for a delicious, straightforward Campbeltown whisky with plenty of personality should definitely snap this up.

Sascha

The Glen Scotia Double Cask demonstrates a remarkable balance between intense sherry notes and a spicy oak structure, making it highly competitive compared to the Springbank 10. The complex aroma profile featuring leather, herbs, and dried fruits is supported by a long-lasting, spicy finish, with the cask combination well harmonized. For the price, this Campbeltown whisky delivers a convincing interplay of structure and character that shouldn’t be underestimated.

What it is worth

We do not yet hold bottle-level auction results — that sits behind Whisky Hunter’s authenticated feed. What follows is the market for Glen Scotia as a whole, which sets the weather for this bottling without pricing it.

£1£10£100£1k£10k2005200820112014201720202023

Latest mean bid £89 across 185 lots · 2024-08

Source

Tasting note and scores by WHISKY:EDITION — tasted by Marcel and Sascha, published 2022-10-20.