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Quite funky - not quite my cup of coffee

Well, Campbeltown Malts' festival bottling has done better than Glen Scotia. This one is bone dry, comes across as a white wine on the nose and has little to offer on the finish. On the tongue, well. I would choose any batch of Kilkerran 8 CS if I had to choose.

A solid dram with plenty going on, but all working well together. II could quite happily sup my way through a bottle of this.

https://whiskylovingpianist.wordpress.com/2024/08/06/campbeltown-malts-fest-2024-glen-scotia/ N: Pickled/balsamic salty grassy barley, the sherry reasonably incorporated. T: To say this is a whisky-enhanced sherry is perhaps pushing it, but not by much. Let’s say it’s more of a 60/40 fino/malt split. Later on, the fino seems more integrated or have I simply now acclimatised to it? F: Fino and malt, 50/50 at best. Do I miss the Scotia phenols [funk]? How about a peated fino version for side-by-side comparisons? C: A common issue with grape-driven malts of this ilk is they can become a little samey, water often drowning the rather crucial whisky side [roots] of the composition. But I’m in a festival mood so, for once, let’s let it be. Also, the price and outturn size is/was inclusive and many rightly loved it.

Aroma Sweet, vanilla, malt, slightly maritime The taste Sweet, salty maritime, caramel, sparkling Resonance Medium length, clearly astringent, wood spice

Considering the color, there is a surprising amount of sherry influence, and based on the strength and alcohol integration, I actually expect a somewhat younger malt here, overall round, balanced and easy to drink. In the second tasting, I hardly feel any sherry influence, but the impression that some smoked malt was actually used is stronger. I also notice today that the whisky suits my taste quite well, at least the way it presents itself overall, more than my rating suggests, and even though the individual notes would normally not be my thing. Somehow it all fits together quite well. Notes from a blind tasting. Okay, Fino, that explains it perfectly. Interesting how civil it is for a Glen Scotia. Nice whisky, in my opinion definitely worthy of a festival bottling.

Unfortunately, this year's edition of Glen Scotia, the festival version, is a weak performance in my opinion. You can smell the alcohol, it tightens the mouth and there are too many woody notes. A big disappointment for me.

Drinks well neat and even better than diluted.

Nice malt imho. The nose is less intense than I was hoping for but on the palate and the finish it could convince me. The Fino Sherry let this Whisky appear on the drier side, but that is in a nice balance with the Campbeltown funk, also that funk is not that intense like I hoped it will be. Anyway, a good Whisky and I enjoyed it. Read my detailed review here: https://whiskyyoda.com/2025/04/glen-scotia-09-year-old-campbeltown-malts-festival-2024/

On the third day of the Campbeltown Malts Festival we head over to Glen Scotia. Every year, Glen Scotia releases a bottling for the Campbeltown Malts Festival, which is not only sold at the festival itself, but is bottled in sufficient quantities to be available in shops worldwide. This year it is a nine-year-old whisky that, after initial maturation in 1st fill bourbon barrels, was then matured for at least six months in Fino Sherry Casks. The colour of the whisky is golden-yellow, which goes well with the bourbon barrels. glen-efze.de

S 8 A vat of two batches, one with a 12-month finish in Fino and another with a 6-month finish. Hence the description on the box says “finish with a minimum of 6 months”. Although the impressive nose didn’t carry towards the finish, it has a good balance between the crispy clean Fino, Raisiny Sherry oak, and the Glen Scotia distillate characters. 81-85 - Nice, I'll drink more of this

Mododo-green. Malt (lots of raw malt)... This is not a finished product. Sorry.

21.5+22+22+22

A beautiful nose with fruity and spicy notes. The palate is similar, with well-integrated alcohol. Smoke isn't particularly noticeable. A worthy representative of the Malts Festival series.

It has a relatively high viscosity and a fairly intense bouquet. I detect aromas of vanilla, crème brûlée, shortbread, hay, apples, citrus, honey sweetness, maritime notes, and leather. Not particularly complex. Relatively dry on the palate. The alcohol is quite noticeable, and it has a relatively heavy body.

Honey, caramel, toffee, truckload of black pepper combined with ginger sharpness, hint of grapes, slightly bitter yellow apple skin. The alcohol burn is very present. Overall, the whisky comes across as being too young. Arguably, it is also missing complexity. Not my thing regardless of the price...

A young, vibrant Campbeltown whisky with a beautiful blend of fresh fruit, bourbon vanilla, and dry Fino sherry notes. The cask strength provides plenty of punch without overpowering the whisky. I finally bought the bottle after a sample performed really well at a tasting with friends – and it confirms exactly that impression: fresh, full of character and very pleasant to drink. Background to the release: This bottling was released specifically for the Campbeltown Malts Festival, which takes place every May in the small whisky region of Campbeltown. At this event, the few remaining distilleries in the region celebrate their whisky-making heritage. Glen Scotia Distillery releases a limited festival edition each year, usually at cask strength and with a special cask finish. The 2024 vintage was initially matured in first-fill bourbon casks and then finished for several months in Fino sherry casks. The bottle also features a QR code with a short multimedia story ("Sound of Glen Scotia") designed to bring the atmosphere of the distillery and the festival to life.

I had the opportunity to revisit this bottling; While Diacetyl seems to be responsible for a large portion of the aromatic profile, it's a perfectly drinkable bottling, one where youth isn't too overwhelming, and the price easily justifies the performance. Its biggest shortcoming, really, is in the complexity department. Price performance: Good Would I buy it again?: I wouldn't buy it for myself, but I'm glad I tried it.

Fruity vanilla funk: from nose to palate! I really like Fino cask finishes in general (although when they’re not great they’re REALLY not great!!!), so was excited to pick this up earlier in the year on a short visit to Campbeltown. It delivers what I hoped for (plenty of nutty and fruity notes from the fino cask), but without dominating the sweet vanilla from the prior bourbon cask, nor the salty, funky Glen Scotia spirit. The fruity, vanilla funk that you get on the nose continues through the palate (with some beautifully well-integrated oaky notes come to support) and lingers long in the finish. It’s been a while since I had a dram so consistent across all aspects of the experience. I really appreciate/enjoy that, so it ticks the boxes for me. Only some slightly rough/youthful edges on the nose and palate stop me scoring higher. Definitely the kind of thing I look for in a festival release (e.g. not just a rehash of what you can get from the standard releases). Needed water to tame the youthful edges!

Glen Scotia can produce great festival bottlings at a good price. But this one was a complete waste of time...

Fino finish is present in the form of citric sourness and nuttiness, which is slightly different from what you would expect from pure ex-bourbon cask. Despite its yooung age the whisky is solid and refines, although with some sharp edges here and there. I was less impressed with this release, especially when comparing with the previous festival malts. I presume that combining peated Glen Scotia with fino sherry finish would bring better result, but this one is also a decent one.

Nose: Bright fruits with a good splash of lime, behind dried fruits, a slightly tart note, mint, earthy and salted caramel. Taste: Quite sweet but still peppery and powerful, it packs a punch at first, the dried fruits are more present in the mouth than in the nose, vanilla biscuits, green apple, coconut and milk chocolate. Finish: Medium long, very dry, malty, slightly bitter and a little spicy. Conclusion: I find many of the notes in this Glen Scotia to be rather subtle and not immediately apparent to me. The nose is much more reserved than the palate, where it really hits home. Overall, though, it's an exciting and varied whisky, not my favorite in this series but good nonetheless.

Salted calamel, and few strawbery nuance.

Honey and vanilla

It is quaffable, but you can find better in this price range. Which is what is happening with Campbeltown distilleries these years. Decent scotch, but the price is not justified. Tasted from a 4 cl sample bought from Delia's whisky

Rich body, weight that evolves a lot, you can play with taste (time, drops of water). I don't know if it's the day, but after the 3rd sip, notes of "bad" sulfur come out like in cheap wine. Aroma: mushed apples, dark fruit, salt… maybe even more currant than cherry. Taste:. Thick, you can feel the sherry, but it doesn't dominate. Lemon cake covered in chocolate, caramel, berries, a bit of tiramisu. After adding 2 drops of water and returning after 10 minutes, nuts and even more dark chocolate come out. Finish sour fruit and long ginger, oak.

Another very nice festival bottling, powerful despite its young age. Admittedly, you do have to dilute the alcohol quite a bit further. Then you'll be rewarded with a very tasty, slightly dirty, and somewhat idiosyncratically edgy Campbeltown malt.

aroma: full, smooth, blueberries, black currants, red wine taste: harsh, sweet, wood, red wine, butter It doesn't taste bad. Red wine tones, or rather, it's heavier, burgundy.

Not the best Glen Scotia Festival Release but still enjoyable and interesting

herbs, lemon, caramel, almond Tasting: 2024-09-20 Price: 79.90€

A fresh, tart, spicy and sour dry malt that is certainly a good fit for spring or summer. The alcohol is well integrated, fresh on the nose but does not burn on the tongue. It tolerates water without breaking or becoming unpleasantly sharp. But overall it does not make it all that easy to find it consistently good. It is a bit too young and uneven for that.

Matured in first fill bourbon casks and finished for at least 6 months in fino sherry casks. Unpeated spirit. It is just my second Glen Scotia but it will not be my last for too long. I find it better without any water, on the nose and on the palate. I am guessing old fino casks, tons of nuts and a bit of sulfury influence. Massive influence for just a short finish.

Alcohol is very much in the foreground

The aroma is bright and rich, greeting with sponge cakes and caramel, as well as pears, sour apples and orange peels. Over time, the sherry influence becomes more noticeable: tones of nuts, gingerbread cookies and milk chocolate appear. At the same time, signature notes are recognized - minerals, sea salt and hay. The taste is as bright as the aroma, revealing sour berries and sweet raisins, fermented pears and apricots. Quite a lot of milk chocolate, nuts and caramel, with noticeably drying tannins on the finish. A very lively and pronounced example that stands out against the background of its predecessors!

Not my cup of tea as like as Victoriana. Great ABV though, somewhat interesting nose.

Blind tasting in the simple-sample Distillery Deepdive. 3rd place.

This is a very dry malt with a lot of dried fruits and some salty, maritime Impressions. However, the alcohol is well integrated and the funky campbeltown notes are really nice to explore.

Nothing special for a festival bottling. The alcohol only bites a bit at the end. The most noticeable and pleasant are the distinct Oloroso notes, especially the nuttiness. I'd rather drink a Tomatin 18.

NOSE- floral note like wildflowers, summery, lemon zest, lime zest, almond, vanilla, salt, tartness- grapefruit or gooseberry Palate- sweet first- like lemon sweeties- then really spicy- black pepper bite, salt, ginger, grapes, grape skins, lemon & lime, salt, summery- cut grass note, sweet & sour, honey/gooseberry . Finish-dry, salty, wee black pepper, lemon, sweet/sour with more oak, real astringent and long

Class act again from GS for the festival release… real quality taste and texture as with other years! The improvement from “disco cows” era has to be recognised! Nose- sweet, honey, vanilla, subtle citrus and salinity. “Hand rub” malt smell is very warming. Taste- surprisingly light for 56.2%, citrus comes through more. Raisins there along with pleasant spice. No water required, not feeling any burn. GS have a great ability to demonstrate quality in both peated and unpeated spirit. Personally go for peated whisky as preference but this is a beautiful drinking whisky and I’m glad I have 2 bottles!

Gorgeous divine nectar.