Glen Scotia 17 Year (1991) Murray McDavid Mission Gold

Review by: The Muskox

This is yet another whisky from that tasting last week. After a couple of refill-hogshead-matured whiskies, here we shifted gears into more familiar wine-cask-finished territory for Murray McDavid.

Distillery: Glen Scotia.

Bottler: Murray McDavid.

Region: Campbeltown.

ABV: 54%, cask strength.

Age: 17 years old. Distilled in 1991. Bottled in 2009.

Cask type: Bourbon / Port Cask Finish.

Color: Dark gold. No colour added, un-chillfiltered.

Nose: Rich and dark. Loads of ruby port. Deep fragrant fruit flavours of blackberries and cassis. Dark cane sugar, earth, roasted nuts, and unsweetened cocoa powder. Very musty – dusty fabric couch, though that fades as the whisky rests. A tiny hint of deep peat emerges with time… charred bulgogi beef?

Palate: Medium texture. Ruby port, aaaand more ruby port. Rhubarb pie, Nesquik chocolate syrup, rich brown sugar, then baking spices and dark wood. It gets deeper and deeper. Some deep earthy peat in there, buried under rotting leaves. Slightly mushroomy, slightly bacony, maplewood smoke. Dark chocolate and some leather.

Finish: Long and heavy-sweet. More cassis, and some dried blueberry. Brown sugar, cola gummies, birch bark, and root beer. Earthy, with hinds of salt and peat – barbeque sauce!

Possible SMWS bottling name: “Chateau de port scratchings”

Notes: Very tasty! It’s a good thing I like ruby port, because there’s plenty of that. Unlike some of the port-matured whiskies I’ve had lately, there’s a real richness and thickness to the port notes here. It’s more like drinking actual port than port-finished whisky, and I mean that positively. It’s not one-dimensional though – there are some great complementary savoury and earthy and chocolatey notes. The hint of savoury peat is also nice. This isn’t a world away from that tawny-port-finished Festival bottling, though less peaty and maybe not quite as complex.

Final Score: 86.

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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