Glen Scotia 10yo Cask #1961 & Thompson Bros Glen Scotia 10yo Tawny Port Finish (TWE Exclusive)

Glen Scotia 10yo Cask #1961

Region: Campbeltown

ABV: 55.9%

Price: £87.95

Distilled in 2014 and fully matured in a single first fill bourbon barrel, this distillery single cask was bottled in 2025 as a Whisky Show exclusive. Peated to around 50 ppm, with an outturn of 226 bottles.

Nose

The nose opens with earthy, slightly nutty, vegetal peat smoke. There's a lovely sweetness riding on the top of this, marzipan, roasted nuts, and molasses. There's also a bit of acidity, balsamic vinegar, maybe a little Worcestershire sauce too. Behind this sits light fudge, vanilla and a sprinkling of salt too. It's quite expressive, with a good alcohol balance that lets you get your nose deep into the glass. 

Palate

The palate opens with a lot of upfront sweetness, lots of almond marzipan, vanilla, whipped cream, white chocolate mice and condensed milk. It quickly develops into a smokier, richer and slightly dirtier version with lots of liquorice and Maldon sea salt. The alcohol is present and a bit punchy, but it adds to the weighty character of the dram. The texture is good, fairly mouth coating, and the finish does linger for a good while, mostly dark chocolate, roasted nuts and heavy peat smoke. 

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose has more of a creamy, sweet character, and less of a punch of peat, I guess you could say it's more "balanced" but we feel like it's lost some of its charm. There's more of a sour apple note that's appearing, and it's still great on the nose, but avoid the water if you like the punch of peat. 

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate has even more sweetness, and it was pretty sweet before. Tons of vanilla coming through now, and like the reduced nose, the peat has softened greatly. We like this, but again, the unreduced version had a bit more character for us.

Conclusion

Lots of Glen Scotia character, lots of bourbon sweetness, and a big whack of peat smoke. There's nothing really to complain about - it does what it says on the tin. We're big fans of this style of Scotia, and this is a really well done example.

Score: 8/10

Value

The price is in line with what we’d expect for a single cask, heavily peated Scotia.

Thompson Bros Glen Scotia 10yo Tawny Port Finish (TWE Exclusive)

Region: Campbeltown

ABV: 53.3%

Price: £69.95

Distilled in 2015 and aged for ten years, with around four of those years spent in Tawny Port casks, this whisky was bottled in September 2025 for The Whisky Exchange. The outturn was 317 bottles.

Nose

The nose opens with a little salted caramel, liquorice, wet earth, bung cloth, Big Red cinnamon flavoured chewing gum, and a handful of macerated raspberries. There's also a bit of marzipan, dunnage funk and artificial strawberry flavour. Going back, we're getting some sour apple juice too. The alcohol is definitely there, and it's definitely around the 10 year old mark for us, but it's quite balanced and pleasant. Time and air brings out richer notes of plum jam and a handful of raisins. 

Palate

The palate opens with a big sprinkling of salt, sugar paper, dried leaves, moving into more dark fruits - blackcurrants and plum - on the latter part of the palate. The mouthfeel is good, there's a certain viscosity here, and there's also a bit of a zing as we take another sip - some fresher, more acidic berries. The biggest issue for us is the finish - the palate seems to drop off quite suddenly. The alcohol is in decent balance, with a little gingery spice and a touch of white pepper. Air brings out a bit of chocolate and biscuit too. 

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose feels richer, with more of those dried spices, aniseed, cinnamon and cloves all coming out more prominently. There's also more of the dried fruits, all the fruits you'd find in a good Christmas cake. 

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate follows the reduced nose with a lot more of that tawny port influence, lots of chocolate, roasted nuts, wood spice and some sweetened ginger coming through on the finish. Water has helped to lengthen the palate, and it feels less.. flat, which is good. 

Conclusion

A decent Glen Scotia - the tawny port finish has added another dimension without completely overshadowing the distillery character. Our biggest gripe comes from the lack of mid palate, and it sort of ruins it for us. Saying that, it's still a solid dram and displays lots of the salty and sweet character of the distillery.

Score: 6.5/10

Value

On the cheaper side for indie Scotia. 

• 10 - Perfection. One in a million
• 9 - Outstanding. Exceptional whisky.
• 8 - Great. Would seek this out.
• 7 - Good. Quality whisky.
• 6 - Above average. Happy to have a dram.
• 5 - Average. Drinkable whisky.
• 4 - Below average. Passable.
• 3 - Flawed. Noticeable negatives.
• 2 - Defective. Significant faults.
• 1 - Offensive. Pour it out.

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