Another SMWS bottling this time from the Region of Campbletown which once was one of the biggest whisky regions and is now reduced to only 3 operating distilleries (Springbank, Kilkerran and G.Scotia). I’ve tasted a few GS’s in recent months (Indie bottling by Kintra of NL and another 19 year old I’ve yet to review, and will do soon). I quite like the smoky, but very unusual profile of those, which differ quite a bit from any other from the region. What i came to notice is that some Glen Scotias are amazing, and some are best described as “funky”. Let’s hope this one is a good one.
SMWS Glen Scotia 20yo , 93.50 ‘Hot embers at the gates of hell’, 58.6%, Refill Hogshead
Nose: The nose is really spicy, with chilly and hot chilly that is… Sweet and burnt wood. Cinnamon. Anise. Wood smoke. Pepper. Candied ginger. Vanilla. A funky nose!! Yes, this is one of the funkiest whiskies I’ve had in a while. It’s not bad, just a lot going on. I guess the gates of hell are like that…
Palate: Peppery mother of god! Spicy entry. Mega pepper. Lots of wood smoke. Coal embers. Salt. Vanilla custard. Raisins.
Finish: Spicy with pepper and wood smoke.Medium.
This one is funky all over, nose is complex, but non-standard, the palate is nice but very spicy, and is less complex than the nose. A very weird profile, but not a bad one at all. This is like a weird experiment that came out nicely, and the whole is better than the sum of its parts. Can i recommend this wholeheartedly? I do not think so, It’s not one of the better SMWS I’ve tried, but it’s indeed something i would suggest you try if you can get a sample. A whole bottle of this? Probably not, for me at least. I’ll give it a few more points for originality, though.
One thought on “SMWS 93.50–Glen Scotia 20yo–“Hot embers at the gate of hell””