Glen Scotia 9 Year Old Unpeated Fino Sherry Finish 2024 Festival

Glen Scotia 9 Year Old Unpeated Fino Sherry Finish 2024 Festival

Region: Campbeltown

ABV: 56.2%

Price: £65.00

The 2024 Campbeltown Malts Festival bottling from Glen Scotia features unpeated spirit that was matured in first-fill Bourbon barrels and finished in Fino Sherry casks for no less than 6 months. 

Nose

Initially, the nose offers chocolate buttons, charred oak, chopped apples, fudge, lemon juice, and caramel. Giving it time to open and there’s also dried earth, s’mores, roasted chestnuts, and a subtle Campbeltown funk in the background. We think we can faintly discern the Scotia character, although being honest that might be us being influenced by knowing what this is. There's a hint of black pepper spice, but the alcohol is not overly noticeable given the ABV.

Palate

The palate begins with dark chocolate, coffee revels, grapefruit, salted peanuts, tonka beans, and a touch of caramel. Mid palate, that saltiness really dominates before transitioning into an overly pronounced hit of cardamom and cracked black pepper spice on the mid-length finish. The mouthfeel is good, though we've experienced releases with a more substantial texture.

Nose (with water)

Before dilution, the influence of the bourbon cask was more prominent. However, adding water brings to the front notes we’d more closely associate with the Fino cask, revealing notes of beef, cashew nuts, warehouse must, burnt toffee cinders, and treacle. There’s also a note of dried mangoes as we sit with it.

Palate (with water)

Adding water has accentuated the bitterness and spice of the dram. Unfortunately, the mouthfeel has become disappointingly thin, and the sweetness now leans towards a more synthetic character, reminiscent of sugar rice paper. The finish maintains roughly the same length but is slightly less spicy.

Conclusion

We're not as taken with this release as we had anticipated. There’s too little Glen Scotia character here for our personal taste, making it our least favourite festival release in recent years. That said, we're pretty confident that others will enjoy it more than we did. We'd give it a personal score of 6.5 and a technical score of 7.

Score: 7/10

Value

Glen Scotia's younger releases definitely offer pretty good value for your money.

• 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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