Glen Scotia 7yo Campbeltown Malts Festival 2026 & Woodrow’s Campbeltown 10yo Cask 75 (Warehouse Reserve)

Glen Scotia 7yo Campbeltown Malts Festival 2026

Region: Campbeltown

ABV: 53.9%

Price: £59.00

Bottled in celebration of the Campbeltown Malts Festival 2026, this 7 year old Glen Scotia is medium peated and was matured in first fill ex bourbon casks before a six month finish in first fill Ruby Port casks. No official outturn was stated. 

Nose

The nose opens with a slightly metallic, iron-like aroma, and the medium peat is actually heavier than we had expected. The peat has a coastal, slightly salty profile, and we're starting to find some smoked meats and star anise coming through. Going back, we're also getting some of the sweeter vanilla, almond, and salted caramel aromas. The dram definitely appreciates some air, as those initial metallic notes begin to fade and the peat starts to integrate with the sweeter notes. The port casks have also imparted some dark fruits, blackcurrants and some dark cherry aromas too. 

Palate

The palate opens with a big hit of red and black fruits, lots of sour strawberry and cherry, some blackcurrant cordial, and red currants, quickly moving into an earthy, slightly vegetal peat smoke. Again, the peat is more prominent than we would have expected for medium peat, but the cask and spirit flavours seem to stand up to it. The finish has more of a sweet lemonade flavour coming through for us. There's also quite a bit of coastal sea spray and brine as we take another sip, alongside some orange segments and a drizzle of olive oil.

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose has a bit more of the vanilla sweetness from the initial bourbon maturation appearing up front, but it's still fairly peaty, and still quite fruity in the background. Definitely sweeter, but perhaps a little more one-dimensional - much less port influence now.

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate follows the reduced nose - more bourbon cask flavours, more fruit, less port and still a fair bit of salty, peaty goodness. There's a bit more warming spices coming through, some cinnamon and aniseed towards the finish.

Conclusion

A solid malts fest release from Glen Scotia - the ruby port casks adding a layer of dark berries to the (quite punchy) peaty spirit - more port influence than we would expect for only a 6 month finishing period. The dram definitely benefits from some time in the glass, it brings the flavours and aromas into harmony.

Score: 7/10

Value

A little younger, but also cheaper than last year’s festival release.

Woodrow’s Campbeltown 10yo Cask 75 (Warehouse Reserve)

Region: Campbeltown

ABV: 56.0%

Price: £74.95

Distilled on the 3rd February 2015 and bottled on the 20th January 2026, this Woodrow’s of Edinburgh Warehouse Reserve release is a secret Campbeltown teaspooned malt matured in a single hogshead. The outturn was 263 bottles. 

Nose

The nose opens with fresh vanilla cream, salty sea air, almond paste, fresh green apple and a little bit of peach juice. Going back, there's also more salted caramel coming through, as well as lemon balm and even a little pineapple right in the background. There's a tickle of peppery alcohol when we get deep into the glass, but it's not overwhelming. Time and air brings a handful of honey nut cheerios and a little mango pulp. 

Palate

The palate opens with a mixture of sweet orange juice, honey butter, digestive biscuits and waxy lemons. It's much more fruit forward than we were expecting - but behind this sits a weighty spirit with some dunnagey, funky aromas. As it sits on the tongue much more of the mango flavour comes out, it's slightly underripe, not as sweet as you'd expect, but still very mango-forward. There's hints of other tropical fruits in the mix too. The texture of the dram is lovely, nice and viscous, mouth coating and slightly buttery. The finish lingers for a good while, more oak spice coming through, a little drying, with some crushed black peppercorns and a little cocoa nib. 

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose becomes a lot more orangey, with those salty sea air aromas still firmly in place. There's also those under ripe mango notes, and something a little more sour than we detected before. The alcohol prickle has pretty much disappeared, but there is still a bit of that dunnagey, earthiness still present. 

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate continues with the mango and orange flavours up front, a little effervescent fizziness afterwards - reminds us of a Rubicon mango drink mixed with carbonated water. It's very very fruity now, a lot of the richer, drier flavours have receded and it feels sweeter overall.

Conclusion

We were surprised this was a refill hogshead from the nose - it feels more 1st fill, but the palate leads with the fruity Scotia spirit and the cask working as a supporting act. It's a tad drying and warm on the finish, however it's a wonderful expression of the spirit character and a very well crafted whisky.

Score: 8/10

Value

This is competitively priced against other Indie bottlers Scotia releases.

• 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.

If you like what you’ve read then check out our social media (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) to get notifications of when we post a new review or just to chat about whisky with us.