Glen Scotia 15, Glen Scotia Victoriana

Review by: The Muskox

I noticed a few weeks ago that my local liquor monopoly had picked up Glen Scotia Victoriana, and, amazingly, was selling it at what appeared to be a knock-down price, given what I had heard about that particular release. My buddy Aryeh was happy to pour me some when I dropped by his place last night, and was nice enough to pour me some of the 15 as well for a lovely side-by-side. So big thanks to him for these drams!

Glen Scotia 15.

Distillery: Glen Scotia.

Bottler: Official bottling.

Region: Campbeltown.

ABV: 46%.

Age: 15 years.

Cask type: American oak.

Price: $86 CAD.

Color: e150. Non-chill-filtered.

Nose: Sweet and funky. It’s more of an earthy funk, with seashore, over-ripe fruit, and chicken stock. There’s sweet, rounded barley, mixed nuts, milk chocolate, raisins, and orange peel. Plenty of spice too: cinnamon, cloves, sandalwood, and cane sugar cola.

Palate: Medium-thick texture. Sweet up front with caramel and lots of cinnamon, with a hint of bitter citrus pith. The mid-palate is rich, sweet, spicy, and slightly savoury. There’s black pepper, salt, milk chocolate, earthy oak, cloves, and vanilla. I was certain I was picking up some sherry here, but apparently there’s no sherry maturation involved at all. Rich spice on the back end.

Finish: Sweet and salty. Trail mix, orange peels, cherries, dark chocolate, black pepper, and damp earth.

Conclusion: Great stuff. I was really convinced that there was some sherry influence with all this rich sweetness and spice. The funk in here is interesting, and really helps beef things up. The malty, caramel sweetness is very nice. This can hang with the best standard releases in its class – Clynelish 14, Springbank 15, and Bunnahabhain 12 come to mind. I’m impressed.

Final Score: 85.

Glen Scotia Victoriana

Distillery: Glen Scotia.

Bottler: Official bottling.

Region: Campbeltown.

ABV: 54.2%.

Age: No age statement. Bottled in 2019.

Cask type: Heavily-charred casks.

Price: $99 CAD.

Color: Paler than the 15. Non-Chill Filtered.

Nose:

Loads of coastal notes up front, along with a sort of buttery richness. Sea salt, wet rocks, bonito flake… lobster? Clayey mud, musty basement, and salted peanuts as well. There’s sweetness too, but brighter than in the 15. Pineapple, strawberries, citrus pith, and white chocolate. Brown sugar and malted barley emerged after another few minutes in the glass.

A drop of water added a distinct note of fresh celery(!).

Palate: Extremely oily, thick texture. Bright fruit and salt up front: nectarine, yellow plums, a hint of lychee, as well as some juniper. The coastal notes come in bright and fresh as seashore and crushed rocks. There’s barley sugar next, starting fairly green, and becoming more caramelized as it develops. Black pepper spice, with caramel, pecans, milk tea, then cinnamon a hit of nutmeg.

Finish: Long and salty-sweet. Much fresher than the 15, with that oily texture still coating the mouth. There’s a tiny hint of ashy coastal peat here. Plenty more of that nutmeg, as well as lemon, pear, beach grass, and salty sand.

Conclusion: Wow, really delicious. So much awesome coastal character, mixed with lovely fresh fruit and barley sweetness. The best part for me though, is the hugely oily, rich, mouth-coating texture. It’s so drinkable, so sippable, but still with loads of complexity and character. This is closer to that SMWS Glen Scotia I tried ages ago, but richer and thicker. This was really fun to compare to the 15, as there were both distinct differences and a clear common thread of character present in both drams. Victoriana definitely won the day, though. An excellent dram.

Final Score: 88.

Scoring Legend:

  • 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
  • 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
  • 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
  • 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
  • 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
  • 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
  • 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
  • 50-59: Save it for mixing.
  • 0-49: Blech.

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