It has been a challenging year so far. Between covid lock downs, online school and alcohol bans, it feels like we are all trapped in a recurring dream. However, now and again, the year has an unexpected highlight to break the monotonous rhythm.
One of these unexpected moments came when I got the opportunity to sample the Glen Scotia Dunnage tasting 2021 set.
A pack of 5 Glen Scotia single malt releases was specially selected for Glen Scotia’s distillery online festival. Master Distiller Iain McAlister chose five drams from specially-selected casks within the warehouse for people worldwide to experience. The spirit spent time in bourbon casks and was then finished in 1st-fill bourbon, port or oloroso.
Glen Scotia is situated in the small Campbeltown whisky region on the Kintyre peninsula in Scotland. Once this region was once the premier whisky-producing region in the world. At one point in time, Campbeltown was home to over thirty whisky distilleries.
But less than forty years later, Campbeltown became a prime example of the fragility of the whisky industry. By the 1920s, the heavy smoky/oily Campbeltown style that had come to define the region’s whisky was out of fashion. Due to Prohibition and the Great Depression, export was down. Only Springbank and Glen Scotia remained to represent the Campbeltown style on the whisky stage.
I wrote about the Double Cask before. Released in 2015, the Double Cask single malt is matured in first-fill ex-bourbon barrels and then finished in ex-Pedro Ximénez sherry casks for up to 12 months. A great dram available in South Africa and retails for around R780.
First up was a single malt whisky from a 1st fill bourbon cask (Cask1535) at a whopping 60.5% ABV. It was distilled in 2015 and bottled in 2021.
NOSE: Grassy freshness, peaches, caramel, vanilla and oak. Rich and fruity.
PALATE: Bit of alcohol heat, warming oak spices, pepper, cinnamon, vanilla, butterscotch, creme brulee with pear. A bit of water softens the pepper spices and makes it very accessible and drinkable.
FINISH: Long and lingering. Just lovely!
RATING: EXCELLENT
Next was a dram that first aged in refill bourbon and was then finished in 2st fill bourbon. Cask2018/257/2, distilled 1999 and bottled 2021. Another huge ABV of 59%.
NOSE: A more prominent nose. Charred wood, vanilla, oak, brandied fruit, Christmas cake, winter spices with burnt caramel.
PALATE: Toasted oak, pepper (more than the previous cask), Christmas cake, bits of leather and honey. Rich and oily. Water softens pepper notes.
FINISH: Long and lingering with notes of dry oak and honey sweetness.
RATING: EXCELLENT
This single malt Scotch release was aged in refill bourbon and then finished in 1st fill oloroso sherry casks. Cask no 2019/618/81, distilled 2002 and bottled 2021. It has an ABV of 58.7%. A beautiful copper colour.
NOSE: Condensed milk sweetness with cherry pie, salted caramel and honeycomb.
PALATE: Drying oak, cherries and pepper with a ripe orange sweetness. Big and bold with lots of complex fruity notes with peaches and dried fruit. Here you can easily pick up the salinity from the coast. However, water kills the complexity and dulls the dram. Not a whisky for beginners. It is an after-dinner or evening sipping drink. Delicious but not easy drinking.
FINISH: Medium with dried fruit and spices.
RATING: EXCELLENT
The colour of the ruby port whisky was just glorious. It reminds me of a bright red sunset. This sample is from cask no 2019/609/80 distilled in 2002 and bottled in 2021. It is from a refill bourbon cask and finished in 1st fill ruby port. Another big ABV at 53.8%.
NOSE: Red fruits, cherries, plums, nectarines. The fruitiest nose from all four samples.
PALATE: Cream covered red summer fruit salad. The port notes come through big and bold. Not as spicy as the other samples. Drying oak with hints of salinity in the background. Bits of cinnamon and faint vanilla.
FINISH: Fruity long and lingering
RATING: EXCELLENT
Each of these individual Glen Scotia Dunnage drams spent time in bourbon casks first and was then finished in other casks. It allows you to better see the impact of the finishing casks on the whisky from both a colour and a taste perspective. A wonderful experiment of sorts that shows what a difference the various finishing casks make.
They are all excellent drams. It took us a while to choose a favourite, but in the end, we both agreed that the first one (1st fill bourbon cask Cask1535) was our favourite dram, followed quickly by the last one (finished in 1st fill ruby port cask 609).
Sample disclosure: I received this whisky from Glen Scotia. The review and tasting notes are my own honest, fair and independent thoughts about the whisky.
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