Glen Scotia Icons of Campbeltown - The Wulver

Glen Scotia recently released the third in their series based on the town's famous Cross - Icons of Campbeltown.

Following on from The Mermaid and The Dragon, the 2025 release is all about The Wulver, let's find out a little more!

Standing at the bottom of Main Street in Campbeltown, next to the Royal Hotel / Black Sheep Pub and the Harbour Quay is Campbeltown Cross.

It's a medieval carving, with Celtic designs, dating from around 1375. Made of blueish-green schist, probably quarried near Loch Sween. The Cross is 3.3m high with the largest disc-head of any known cross in Scotland at 81cm.

One face depicts St. Mary and St. John below a pair of other saints. On the left arm of the cross is St. Michael slaying a dragon, on the other is a simple foliage design. The reverse of the cross has a mermaid and sea-monster at the top, with a pair of peculiar animals on each side arm.

The cross was erected at Kilkivan Chapel on a hillside, west of Campbeltown just before Machrihanish. Kilkivan was named after St Kevin, an Irish saint and abbot of Glendalough in County Wicklow.

The cross was moved to Campbeltown in the early to mid 1600's after the reformation. Originally it stood on Main Street outside the Town Hall, but it was taken down for safety during the Second World War and afterwards re-erected in it's present location.

Glen Scotia have used some of the iconography of the cross as the theme for their new five part limited edition annual series ‘The Icons of Campbeltown’:

"The Icons of Campbeltown series pays tribute to the Campbeltown community that ensured Glen Scotia prevailed through history. Taking our inspiration from the Campbeltown Market Cross – a historic community meeting point for celebration and storytelling, with a series of saints and beasts carved into its stone face – each release recalls a tale of local community spirit. 

The Wulver of Scottish folklore was said to be a formidable create with a gentle soul, a half man, half wolf with a thick coat of brown hair. Legend believes he would dwell in a cave cut into the side of a wooded hill and spent his days fishing in solitude. By night, generously sharing his catch at the doors of the poor and needy under the cover of darkness. A guardian spirit, the Wulver embodied a sense of kindness and compassion that echoed through the communities he watched over. 

So too in Campbeltown, where resilience and mutual support are woven into our very DNA. Like the Wulver, our distilling community has always stood together through hardship, with no expectation of reward but the survival of its spirit. This limited edition 12 Year Old unpeated single malt is a whisky to be shared: finished for nine months in Tawny Port casks, it reveals deep colour, rich red forest berries and indulgent caramel. Dried fruits and a subtle maritime breeze lift the nose, while the finish is long, enduring, and true to the legend that inspired it. To capture this icon, artist Joel Holtzman has brought the Wulver vividly to life, a figure of strength and generosity, best appreciated with a dram in hand."

Let see what the distillery say:

                

Distillery notes:

Finished for nine months in the finest Tawny Port casks. The maritime character of Glen Scotia flows through layers of roasted nuts, ripe forest fruits and indulgent caramel, deepened by the richness of the port finish.

Nose: Juicy forest fruits, candied nuts and crisp red apple, all wrapped in indulgent caramel sweetness.

Palate: Layers of dried fig and orange peel unfold alongside smooth praline, offering both richness and balance.

Finish:  Dark cocoa and dried fruits linger beautifully, complemented by gentle vanilla and warming oak spice.

Let's see what it's like....

My thoughts:

  

Info: 12yo, 51.7% ABV, 9mth Tawny Port Finish, Natural colour, NCF, c14,000 bottles

Appearance: Dark gold in the Glencairn, swirls cling as a thin line, take an age to bead up and eventually fall as slow thin oily legs.

Nose: Honey and forest fruits to the fore: strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and some tart black currents. There's toffee, walnuts and a lovely salinity. A hint of gentle smoke wraps things up nicely.

Palate: Thick, sweet arrival, yummy port notes and a lovely underlying salinity. Toffee pennies, toasted almonds and black cherries vie with forest fruits, plums and orange marmalade. There's clove and pepper spice with a drying salinity left on the tongue as the liquid disappears.

Finish: Lingering berries and cherries, salinity and peppery spice.

 

Overall: I've always loved Tawny Port matured Glen Scotia bottlings and this is no exception! There is an awful lot of spice here and a dryness which means you want to try another sip.