Side by side : Glen Scotia Single Casks

A couple of lovely drams for this side by side, a pair of @GlenScotiaMalts single casks.

Glen Scotia is one of the smallest Scotch whisky distilleries in Scotland and still maintains much of its original design, including the fermenters, the stillroom and the dunnage warehouse dating from the 1830s.

One of only three distilleries left in Campbeltown, Glen Scotia has had a troubled passed closing on 3 different occasions. In the hands of Loch Lomond Group since 1999 it's future is secure and it's producing some cracking whiskies - unpeated, medium and heavily peated.  I visited in April '18 and will be there again in September '19!

As I'm sure you know I'm a bit of a Glen Scotia fanboy and love getting my hands on any of their single cask releases! I've tried a few over the years but this time it's my latest purchase a 2006 vs the oldest cask in the warehouse from 1989.

Dram	2006 Cask #98	1989 Cask #316
Characteristics	57.9% ABV, Natural colour, NCF 12yo from a first fill bourbon cask giving 207 bottles in November 2018	55.2% ABV, Natural colour, NCF 28yo from a first fill bourbon bottled in May 2018
Distillery info	Opens on distant peat smoke with vanilla custard and juicy peach. There is some golden syrup and melted brown sugar finishing on delicate cinnamon spice. It's a medium peated Glen Scotia. PPM will be about 20.	I couldn't find out much about this dram, nothing from the distillery but my understanding from a number of sources is that this is from the oldest cask at the distillery being distilled shortly after it reopened, for the second of 3 times, in 1989.
My thoughts:
Appearance
	Mid gold in colour, swirls bead up immediately and fall as slow thick legs.	Pale gold in the glass, swirls form an inverted crown before eventually falling as very slow thick legs.
Nose	Pineapple on a BBQ - there's loads of lovely tropical fruit notes with a blanket of light peat smoke. After a little time in the glass there's some mint and ginger notes.	Standing on Campbeltown Pier - seaweed, salt, oil, smoke maybe a hint of fish - it's got it all! Again after a while in the glass nut and red fruit notes come through. This reminds me of the 2001 Mashman's Reserve I had at the distillery in April '18.
Palate	Lovely thick syrupy arrival - quite sweet with loads of spicy notes - ginger and cinnamon. There's some cherry / plum notes before the ABV gives a slightly drying effect and leaves a sugary smoky toffee note on the tongue.  Yummy!	Not as thick as the #98 - more oily honey and brown sugar, there's a little maritime influence and some BBQ ash but also a load of red fruit - strawberry and cherry notes. The spice is there but not as in your face as the #98 - a wonderful balance of smoke, spice and fruit.
Finish	Long smoky finish with spicy syrup notes - is keeps going for a long time reminding you that it's a special dram!	A long spicy finish with maritime notes and a gentle blanket of smoke.
Overall	So neither of these dram need water despite being close to 60% - like all single cask drams they deserve respect and time. As much time nosing as tasting, and in that tasting hold the dram in your mouth for a good 10-20 seconds. Small sips allow to to enjoy the dram as it was in the cask. I was really impressed with my recent purchase - the #98 ticks all the boxes for a lightly peated Campbeltown dram, the Glen Scotia spirit also offering tropical fruit notes - for me a perfect combination. This bottle was less than £50 - well worth hunting out if you can still find it, but I'd recommend buying any single cask from Glen Scotia that you can get your hands on! The #316 sums up everything I love about Campbeltown - (which to be honest is almost everything except that the mother-in-law lives there - but we won't go into that!) the salt from the sea, the fish on the boats at the pier and a light peat smoke. To be honest I've not tried a heavily peated Glen Scotia - most of the output is medium peated - around 20ppm and I think this is the perfect point when coming from Glen Scotia - balancing perfectly with the tropical fruit notes. The #316 came as part of a sample swap - I'd seen Glen Scotia and thought - "oh yes please", but when I looked into it I realised what a special dram this was. Glen Scotia opened in 1832 but has ridden the wave of whisky boom and bust - closing 3 times over the years. The second closure was between 1984 and 1989, this dram is from 1989 when it was reopened and is reportedly from the oldest cask in the distillery. NB: Then I visit the distillery as part of our #BlindtastingOnTour in September 2019 I actually got to see cask #316 and have another sample from the tiny amount left! @Iainmca67 the Distillery Manager drew it himself and shared the secret that the cask had been incorrectly labelled as refill sherry when it was actually a first fill bourbon!

Thanks to @AlpacaJo for the sample of the 1989 Cask #316 which was my 600th dram - a special dram for a special milestone!