Glen Scotia Victoriana

The Maker

Glen Scotia, or simply ‘Scotia’ as it was originally known, was founded back in 1832 in Campbeltown, on the Kintyre peninsula. At the time the area, now known unsurprisingly as the Campbeltown region, was the beating heart of the Scotch whisky industry. So much so that on the day Glen Scotia opened there were almost thirty licenced distilleries already in operation close by.

Campbeltown’s success during the Victorian period was largely down to three things: the concentration of people thanks to the presence of industry (mining and farming); the cheap fuel (coal and peat) and ready ingredients (barley and water) those industries supplied; and abundant shipping routes to Glasgow (then a 9-hour journey) and the wider British Isles straight from the town’s port.

Sadly, while these three foundation stones made for a thriving whisky industry during the 1800s, their decline had the same effect. Indeed that decline was so rapid that by the end of the 1920s Glen Scotia was one of just three remaining distilleries - before itself closing in 1930. At this point, with fewer than three active distilleries, Campbeltown was arguably no longer a whisky region.

Over the subsequent decades the distillery followed the all-too-common path by opening, closing and renaming itself through various booms and busts under a series of different owners. So volatile and long-lived was this period that Glen Scotia only really began to see some stability in the late 1980s when it was reopened under the ownership of Gibson International.

From the late 1990s onwards Glen Scotia, like the rest of Scotch whisky, has been on the up. The Campbeltown region was formally re-established in 2000 with Springbank opening its sister Glengyle [Kilkerran] distillery, and as recently as the last few months there has been plans submitted for a new Campbeltown distillery from the people behind North Star Spirits.

But the big change for Glen Scotia came in 2014 when it was taken over by current owners Loch Lomond Group. This saw a massive investment to increase capacity; open warehouses; and develop a new visitors centre that includes a Victorian style shop for those who are into that kind of thing.

Throughout all of this investment and expansion Glen Scotia’s approach to whisky has remained constant. They have focused on the traditional method of small batch distilling which creates a natural variation in production over time and eventually makes for a more interesting mix of spirit for Master Blender Iain McAlister to choose from.

This is added to by the decision to run the distillery unpeated for the vast majority of the year, with only a six week of peated production. To give a sense of the small-scale nature of their approach the whole distillery still only employs just eight staff!

Yet it's the investment in casks which has been the focus of Glen Scotia’s maturation processes and is what has accelerated their reputation in recent years. This has included them bringing in some of the best available casks from around the world to create some truly fascinating editions worthy of fellow cask centric distilleries such as GlenAllachie, Kilchoman and Bunnahabhain.

All of this has combined to challenge Glen Scotia’s place as Campbeltown’s ‘forgotten’ or ‘other’ distillery. The Campbeltown distillery for which you don’t need to spend hours refreshing online shopping sites for a chance to get a hold of a bottle only to see they are already ‘out of stock’ at the time of upload (we see you TWE!). Or the Campbeltown distillery which doesn’t ask you to pay over the odds due to its rarity at your local retailer.

But this availability, price point, and growing reputation does beg the question as to whether it can really stand up to the big Springbank brands based just a few streets away? That's for every drinker to judge for themselves but in my experience, while Glen Scotia is definitely a step behind some of the others in terms of providing a rounded finish, it’s producing no less interesting whisky and is worthy of consideration alongside its regional counterparts. If nothing else, it’s whisky you can actually get hold of today, and that’s nothing to be sniffed at in what is ultimately the region for the nerdiest of whisky nerds.

The Expression

The Victoriana has been designed to be a tribute to the history of Campbeltown distillation. This is part of a trend over the last decade or so to create expressions which are reminiscent of a past age. To my mind this was kicked off by that reproduction of Shackelton's whisky which has since become a supermarket staple. Others have followed with distilleries like Penderyn and independent bottlers like James Eddie each having their own stab at bringing back something which was otherwise long lost – by the way the James Eddie Trade Mark "X" is a particularly good drink for a very reasonable cost for those who are tempted by such releases!

On this continuum the Victoriana is undoubtedly the most adventurous (and expensive) interpretation I've tried. This is principally because of the rather adventurous vatting process that goes into its production. They begin by ageing their whisky for at least 10 years in 1st and 2nd fill ex-bourbon barrels. Although they are quick to point out that the majority of the whisky used is actually a fair bit older (perhaps up to around 16 years old).

At this point they take that whisky and split it into 30% Pedro-Xieménez casks and 70% heavily-charred American Oak casks for an additional 12 months. Finally they are vatted back together in neutral old casks to rest for an additional few months. From there it is bottled at a cask strength of 54.2% and is, as you’d expect, non-chill-filtered and naturally coloured.

The Neck Pour

Initially the Victoriana is a rather fiery spirit on the nose and the oak char is very pronounced. There's also a lot of fennel seed in there and that bitterness continues into the taste. But what dominates at the beginning is the rich texture. There are plenty of oils here and a pleasant saltiness that's reminiscent of an Island/Islay malt.

Then the taste moves on a hint of green apple and then that strong oak char comes back for the finish that is long with increasing sweetness and just a hint of smoke off the back of that char.

At this point it's obvious that this is a very complex whisky. But I’m unsure about how much of that might just be the suggestion of that vatting process. At this point it certainly feels like a harmonious, rounded whisky despite the steps taken to pull it all together.

The Body

Working my way through this bottle i've given it to a good number of friends to try. In general, it hasn't been that well received, which is rather surprising given the reputation the Victoriana has quickly built up within the whisky community (recently coming third overall in the Online Scotch Whisky Awards for example). But I guess that just shows that the diversity of taste out there is as strong as the diversity of whisky. As a comparison we tried it alongside Glen Scotia’s 2021 Seasonal release. Despite having a rather similar make-up description the two were remarkably different. The majority of my friends preferred the Seasonal release but I have to confess to much preferring the Victoriana.

Over time the two sherry elements are taking this bottle in two competing directions, diminishing that harmony described above. On the nose the bitterness of a really dry sherry is talking over. However, on the palate the sweetness of the PX is pulling it back the other way so it ends up feeling a little bit confused. But though all of that the rough cask strength spirit is still there and that heavy oak char isn't going anywhere.

Final Thoughts

Finishing the bottle i've noticed that the tasting notes claim there's a lot of vanilla in there. I can't say i've found any of that at all. But that often seems to be the case for me when I compare what I get to the official notes. I've not found anything additional to what i've described above in the last few inches of the bottle.

Nonetheless, this is definitely an expression capable of dividing people as my tasting session demonstrated. Furthermore I fear that its availability compared to other Campbeltown malts might even count against it in the eyes of some as it’s sort of like finding a shelf full of Boosters when you’re searching for a Turbo Man - if you’ll excuse the obscure 90s Schwarzenegger reference.

It also doesn’t help that it’s a whisky that is asking a lot of its drinker. I hope that doesn't sound too snobbish, but this isn't something a casual drinker is likely to pick up and easily enjoy. There are just too many off notes and complexities here. Such things don't automatically make it a good whisky of course. And when you consider the price point of around £65 I have to confess that Glen Scotia definitely has other core expressions I would consider better value for money - and more accessible. But this is still something different and worth seeking out if this review has piqued your interest.