Review by: dustbunna

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Distillery: Undisclosed.

Bottler: Hunter Laing.

Region: Campbeltown.

ABV: 46%.

Age: NAS. Bottled in 2023.

Cask type: Unknown, likely various fills of ex-bourbon.

Price: $35 USD.

Natural Color. Non-chill-filtered.

Bottle open across approx. 5 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.

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Nose: vanilla cake, Fruit Stripe gum, mango, pencil shavings, machine oil.

Palate: medium body ~ cereal, paper, bubblegum, mint, pepper, vanilla wafer cookies, more pencil shavings.

Finish: short ~ apple rings, citrus in the background, moss, gets slightly more astringent.

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Conclusion: Hunter Laing recently released a ‘Journey’ series of blended malts patterned to compete with Douglas Laing’s Remarkable Regional Malts, with several bottlings focused on different Scotch regions. Like Gauldrons, DL’s Campbeltown blended malt, this is very much driven by Glen Scotia in profile. I was impressed with this at first sip, though my expectations were adjusted by its price. Upon finishing it, I still feel it’s quite a good, solid whisky— drinkable and interesting throughout, and punching above its $35 price point (which is nearly half what Gauldrons sells for here.) To nitpick, perhaps it has a bit less power than I’d like, but I struggle to think of any Scotch whisky sold that cheap that offers the kinds of notes in here, balancing brighter fruit with some woody and spicy notes. 

Final Score: 82.

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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.