Review by: dustbunna
Douglas Laing’s Remarkable Regional Malts series of mostly blended malts includes Big Peat (Islay), the Epicurean (Lowland), Scallywag (Speyside), Rock Island (Islands) and Timorous Beastie (Highland), and was expanded in 2018 to include a blended malt from Campbeltown. Despite the general C-town craze, for whatever reason this seems to be the least-advertised of the five expressions, and doesn’t get the same kind of push as the other regional representatives. There are only three distilleries in Campbeltown, and it’s a common remark among reviewers to state that this is pretty much Glen Scotia, as it’s unlikely to contain a large amount of Springbank/Kilkerran distillate. However, it is a blended malt, and the contents are not officially revealed. This is the inaugural batch, from 2018.
Distillery: Various.
Bottler: Douglas Laing.
Region: Campbeltown (blended malt).
ABV: 46.2%.
Age: NAS. Bottled in 2018.
Cask type: Undisclosed.
Price: $60 USD.
Natural Color. Non-chill-filtered.
Bottle open across approx. 6 months, notes taken leisurely across that period. Bold notes taken beneath the shoulder, regular-formatted notes taken further into the bottle past the halfway point, italicized notes taken towards the heel.
Nose: honeydew melon, grass, chalk, a hint of herbal smoke, lime oil, chocolate sprinkles.
Palate: medium body ~ a bit of ethanol sharpness at first, mellows to peach, malt, talc, an unripe sourness in the background, lime candy, more melon and grass.
Finish: medium length ~ light smoke, cough drops, Necco wafers, more talc, strong minerals, a bit of Concord grape.
Conclusion: Lovely profile. It’s lightly peated, but only makes the smoke obvious at the finish, with a nice balance of green fruits, grass and minerals throughout. While this bottle was open, I had the opportunity to try two OB Glen Scotias at a bar (the 10yr Peated and the 18yr), then came home, poured a dram of this, and thought it was the most flavorful and expressive of the three. I found this delicious, fun, and really cracking for its price. It’s a simple and young whisky that takes a bit of time to find its footing, but is also fresh and full of flavor. I hope that later batches have continued this level of quality.
Final Score: 83.
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.
Malt Runners 