Category Archives: Campbeltown

Not your ordinary blend!

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We were toying around with ideas for whisky themes for our wee Nurnberg International Whisky Explorers group, and proposed exploring inventive and interesting blends. The goal was to avoid all mass-produced well-known names. Instead, we challenged ourselves to research and bring something a bit different for each other to discover!

So what made its way into our theme of “Not Your Ordinary Blend“?

Technically the last isn’t a blend, however, we were delighted to have it close our evening – in honour of our birthday lass!

We then had a “bonus” round with Two of Pentacles blended whisky alongside a pairing – with nuts and chocolate with special wafers joining our usual close with cheese and bread to help soak up the alcohol before going our different ways. This addition was a complete hit! And certainly something to consider for future sessions.

Interested in joining our Nurnberg Whisky Explorer events? Just find us on Meetup! https://www.meetup.com/nurnberg-whisky-explorers/events/

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Surprise me: Glendronach vs Glen Scotia

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Our Nurnberg’s International Whisky group kicked off 2024 with a “Surprise me!” evening – which began with a whisky from the Lowlands, then a pair of Irish whiskies, then closed with a battle of the Glens! The whisky choices were a mystery to all but the contributors, decisions around order were proposed by the contributors too. Whilst it was a bit random, it all came together rather well!

Glendronach 12 year (2018) 43%

  • Nose – From the 1st whiff there was zero doubt this was a robust sherry matured whisky! Plummy, rummy raisins, dates, some leather… Frankly, it was soooooooo delicious!
  • Palate – Spicy, more of that leather, lots of dark fruits, some dark bitter chocolate, all the elements of a black forest cake – a quality one that isn’t overly sweet
  • Finish – Mocha

What a treat! It was complex, well-rounded, and utterly astounding how much flavour and aromas are possible with a mere 43% ABV. Everything was in perfect balance – the kind of whisky you want to curl up and enjoy over a long evening.

With the reveal, our whisky contributor shared how this expression was likely one of the last Glendronach 12-year expressions from the period steered by Billy Walker before his move to GlenAllachie.

We then moved on to our last whisky of the evening. Our whisky contributor kept quiet about the details until the reveal… just that it was something “special” he had picked up.

Glen Scotia 10 year (2013-2023) 1st fill Ruby Port Finish 46% (Whisky.de Clubflasche) ~Eur 60

  • Nose – What is that? Peat? It had a nice toasty element, fresh oats, salted nuts, a maritime breeze, mushrooms with an earthy forest dimension, and then something faintly floral
  • Palate – Rounded and well balanced, more of those nuts – almonds? Vanilla and sweet spices, warming like a fuzzy blanket
  • Finish – Long with a hint of chocolate chased by berries

Overall we pronounced it a great “rough weather” whisky. The kind of dram for when it is cold and stormy outside – and all you want to do is remain cozy inside. Or something bracing and warming after a rainy hike in a forest – yes that IS a thing!

The surprise was that it was a peaty whisky. Why? Our whisky contributor tends to prefer unpeated sherry drams. However, he shared that it came as a special “club” bottle for joining Whisky.de. As the peat was subtle and not medicinal, he found that it had started to grow on him.

What more do we know about the whisky? The casks include 1st fill ex-bourbon hogshead, finish in 1st fill Ruby Port hogshead, refill bourbon cask. Interesting.

And that concluded our evening of surprises! For most, the Green Spot and last two stood out.

Curious to learn more about the other drams sampled? Check out the other whiskies from our “Surprise Me” evening:

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Surprise me!

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Let’s be honest folks, we are influenced by brand, by past experience… our brains like putting things into easy-to-interpret boxes. Take the packaging and pre-conceived notions away, and one has to work all that much harder to understand – in this case – what lies in our whisky glass.

This was the genesis of our first session Nurnberg’s International Whisky of 2024 with a fun approach – called “Surprise me!” so named as participants brought a covered bottle, revealing the details only after trying. We had no guidelines, no theme, no notion of what would show up!

So what did we try?

Curious to know more? Click the above links to learn more…

Without any planning, it was interesting to see how there was nary a Scottish Speyside or Islay in the mix!

If you are curious to join one of our Nurnberg Whisky Explorer events – just find us on Meetup!

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Longrow Peated 46%

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It has been awhile since I’ve had this Peaty no age statement whisky from Springbank – about four years ago to be exact! For those not familiar, this Campbeltown distillery has three different “brands” – their original Springbank, a mid-peat Hazelburn and their peatiest avatar Longrow.

Longrow Peated 46%

  • Nose – Medicinal, quite industrial or think of an old railway car sleeper, a baked potato cooked in a campfire, starting to become more malty, some cinnamon, then became sweeter and sweeter with a nice fruitiness peaking through, even a dash of salt
  • Palate – Initially a wee bit harsh – wakes you up! Then settles into spice and fruit, solid, chased by a smokey malty cinnamon, peppery
  • Finish – Not so much on 1st sip however by the next, you realize there is just a light peppery peat curl that remains

Reading through our tasting notes you might think, huh? But here is the thing… for me, whisky preferences are vastly influenced by environment. What works fabulously in one context may just flop in another.

What about this one?

Let me set the stage… we had just spent the day walking around the picturesque Kallmunz. I’d been there in the summer and was utterly enchanted…. the old fortress on the hill, the lake below, quaint old colourful homes  Fast forward to November… and it was the opposite! It was overcast, drizzling and frankly frigid… company was great but the weather was frankly miserable.

So when we cracked open the Longrow, all I could think is… Now THIS is the kind of whisky you want when coming in from a cold, wet day… warms you up from the inside! One of those “I’m a serious wake-up whisky”

What do the folks at Springbank have to say about their Longrow?

Longrow Peated offers those who enjoy a heavily peated whisky the chance to enjoy a lingering smoky taste that travels through the senses like the smoke billows from a kiln.

  • Nose: Very creamy, vanilla custard. The smoke develops and toasted marshmallows, herbs and rich fruits appear over time.
  • Palate: Incredibly well balanced – rich and creamy with a slight medicinal hint. The smoke is always present and washes over the palate in waves.
  • Finish: The gentle smoke lingers and lingers.

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Glen Scotia 1832 Campbeltown 46%

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Last in our Campbeltown trio was a no-age statement (NAS) Travel Retail offering from Glen Scotia. While one may be tempted to have an NAS before age statement whiskies, in this case, I knew this expression was both more peated than a standard Glen Scotia, plus experimentation with a PX sherry cask finish, so it ‘felt’ intuitively like the one to close with… even though the least expensive of the bunch!

That’s part of the magic with tasting order – when trying whiskies side by side, selecting the right progression of profiles is critical. Try something really intense up front and you can overwhelm the senses to miss completely the nuances of a subtler dram. It seems self-evident, but can be tricky when you’ve never tried that particular expression and have to go by a ‘gut’ feel basis what you do know of the distillery, potential impact of the wood, particularly as described peat levels can be notoriously unreliable – both by ppm and the ‘eye’ (palate) of the beholder!

In this case, my blind-tasting companions from the first session confirmed the appropriateness of starting with the Springbank 10 year, followed by the Glen Scotia 16 year and this expression. So I followed the same approach for the Whisky Ladies virtual session held a few weeks later!

Whereas the small group of ladies began with this NAS followed by the Springbank 10 and Glen Scotia 16. We had quite similar impressions of all three whiskies – so with this Campbeltown trio, the tasting order made little difference!

Glen Scotia 1832 Campbeltown 46%

  • Nose
    • Mixed group – Started with Williams pear or dishrag (depending on who you ask!), walnut, caramel or toffee, bacon, dates, the gulkand that goes into paan, hints of vanilla, one also got kerosene or motor oil, sour leather… after some time – don’t laugh – but I got gummy bears!
    • Virtual ladies – For us, it started with overripe almost spoilt fruits, quite pungent, oily, shifting from sweet overripe black grapes to bananas, then figs to nuts, with rum raisin.. shifted again to dahi… after even more time the overripe fruit dimension was replaced by other elements like cardamon kheer, a touch of smoke
    • During our share and compare, the other group of ladies added their sense of honey lemon, comforting.. with a vanilla perfume
  • Palate
    • Mixed group – A clean peat with cinnamon, salt, and smoke, pepper fry, sweet stewed fruits, nice and round
    • Virtual ladies – The 1st sip was a bit of a shock of bitter spice, but after the initial ‘punch’, the 2nd sip was smooth, still having spice but chased with subtle sweet peat, and resin, with that tasty bitterness lingering… there was also a herbal green element we couldn’t quite place which the other group of ladies nailed – green capsicum
  • Finish
    • Mixed group – Salt and pepper spice, dry
    • Virtual ladies – The bit of bitterness remained, dry with black pepper licorice spice

In our mixed group, we initially found it a bit unbalanced… there was a curious quality for some time until it settled down. Once that “motor oil” quality finally dispersed and it began to grow on us. When we compared this Glen Scotia 1832 with the others, we found all three had dry finishes with this one a bit spicier than the others. Certainly, the peat was more pronounced too, though clearly not a typical Islay style.

As for our ladies? For us, it was all the contrasts that made us slow down and really explore this one.  As interesting as the nose was to begin with, after a few sips, it lost a bit of its pungency. However, by contrast, the palate grew on us more and more. This whisky challenged us – in a good way, reminding us why it is so fun to explore different dimensions with others. The other group also enjoyed it – sharing the warm and tingly combined with a perfume finish.

Bottom line – it was a ‘yes’ from all.

What do the folks at Glen Scotia have to say?

The higher peat content gives a more sweet and smoky character and a beautiful rounded finish.

  • Nose – Peat smoke on a salty sea breeze with background notes of crème caramel and vanilla
  • Palate – Golden syrup (light treacle), spiced apple and vanilla. Light medicinal peat notes bring balance to the mid-palate
  • Finish – Long, lingering peat with dried fruit notes adding sweetness

I purchased this whisky late Oct 2019 from Munich airport for EUR 62 on my way back home to Mumbai…. ahhh…. those were the days when we could freely fly back and forth!

And with that, we finished our wee journey to the Campbeltown region with Springbank and Glen Scotia!

Interested in other Glen Scotia experiences? Check out:

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Campbeltown – Glen Scotia 16 year 46%

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Today part of the Loch Lomond Group, Campbeltown’s Glen Scotia traces its history to 1832, however certainly had a few ‘silent’ periods. The first halt in 1930 was due to the dramatic fall of distilling in the Campbeltown region triggered by the depression, temperance movement, and rising distribution costs. Originally known as “Scotia”, the distillery re-opened a few years later as “Glen Scotia” when bought by the Bloch Brothers. Fast forward to the next major decline in the whisky industry – and no surprise – they again shut production from 1984 to 1989, starting up again when bought by the Gibson group.

With our history lesson now over, what about the whisky? Well… it has both lightly peated and non-peated variants, playing around with American oak / ex-bourbon, oloroso, and PX sherry casks.

As for our collective tasting experience? I’d explored a few minis from Glen Scotia with a regular tasting companion. We found the entry expression – Double Cask 46% – was quite a good indicator of what is to come, noting the 15 year took a bit of time to ‘warm’ up, whereas the Victoriana 51.5% was a clear ‘crowd-pleaser’ from the start.

So then… what about this 16-year old?

Glen Scotia 16 year 46%

  • Colour – Copper and gold
  • Nose
    • Mixed group – Musty cupboard, sour fruits, a bit like a fruity brandy, lots of honey, oak, floral talcum, rose peppermints, coffee sweets, chicory, lightly salted, dry spice, more light wood, grass, celery, cherry blossoms
    • Virtual Ladies – A nice bourbon, fruits and nuts with cocoa, changes so much in a gentle way… toffee, berries shifting to cherries… sweet but not too sweet… our IRL ladies also found beeswax
  • Palate
    • Mixed group – Spiced Christmas oranges with cloves, dry salt, cigar leaf, gooseberries, apple-like calvados, sour plum, almonds, dry sherry, peppery spice, a hint of peat
    • Virtual ladies – Simply delicious! Incredibly silky with a great well-rounded mouth feel. We tasted figs with dates, with a gentle roasted quality…  our IRL ladies agreed – noting what really stood out was the velvety smoothness with a hint of mint at the back
  • Finish
    • Mixed group – Salty dry
    • Virtual ladies – Sweet milk chocolate, after lingering for some time slowly eases out with a dry black licorice
  • Water – A few drops didn’t hurt… but why dilute something so fine? Truly not needed

For the mixed group, we concluded overall that it had quite a friendly nose – more interesting and complex than the palate. Even after the glass was empty, the aromas were most appealing. For a few in our cross-country virtual tasting (from London to scattered locations around Europe to Mumbai) this was the favourite.

As for our ladies? We agreed! We found it had a fabulous harmony, making its presence felt in a gentle enticing way. The kind of dram you want some ‘alone time’ with…. slow down and simply enjoy.

What more do we know? Just that it was matured in ex-bourbon and American oak (presumably virgin?) for a minimum of 16 years and released for Travel Retail. While the distillery notes do not indicate it was matured or finished in sherry casks, both their tasting notes and our experience would indicate a hint.

What do the folks at Glen Scotia have to say about their 16 year?

  • Nose – Fresh sea spray and floral notes give way to softer caramel and vanilla
  • Palate – Rich sherry flavours, toffee, raisins and roasted hazelnut. Apricot and orange add more subtle fruit notes
  • Finish – Long dry finish with touches of peat combining with nutty elements and coastal, salty notes

I picked it up in Singapore’s Changi Airport in November 2018 for SGP 167 (approx EUR 105 / INR 9,100). A bit pricey, but then that is also Singapore…

What did we explore in our Campbeltown evening aside from the Glen Scotia 16-year?

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Campbeltown – Springbank 10 year 46%

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This isn’t my first Campbeltown trio… Even more so, we are no stranger to Springbank distillery – I counted over a dozen different tasting experiences from the last few years! I’ve even tried this 10 year expression – back in 2015 and again 2019. Overall the experiences have been positive, so I was curious to see what we find this time around!

This whisky was sampled on two occasions – once by a mixed group from London to Paris to Nurnberg and Mumbai and the 2nd as a combination of Whisky Ladies connecting virtual and a very small group in real life, culminating in a comparison of our experiences.

Springbank 10 year 46%

  • Nose
    • Mixed group – Fruity, honey, fresh wood, tropical fruit – particularly pink guava, pineapple, toffee and vanilla cream, cake frosting and pastry…
    • Ladies virtual  – Started off quite tropical, spice, apricot, opening up to increasing sweetness, cream… over time some maple honey emerged with cereals
  • Palate
    • Mixed Group – Subtle peat, smoky, salty, a nice woodiness… after the 2nd sip, sweet spice of nutmeg, allspice, dry cherry
    • Ladies virtual – The first sip was a bit harsh – burning down the throat to the finish. After the initial spice kick, further sips were easier but still lots of black pepper and nutmeg
  • Finish
    • Mixed Group – Lighter touch, like a dry wine finish, a bit bitter and peppery
    • Ladies virtual – Very peppery finish, quite dry
  • Water – Lots of overripe fruit, spicier, sour fruit (tried only by the mixed group)

Our mixed group was a bit more charitable in our overall assessment We found that while initially there was no hint of peat on the nose, it came through on the palate. While it wasn’t a crowd pleaser, we found it settled into a mellow sweet peat.

The Ladies were all pretty clear that this one did not impress. Several had otherwise good Springbank experiences – including a venerable Springbank 37 year! Those who joined “In Real Life”, found it bitter, and oily, with some cilantro. Especially when we revisited it after trying the others, it was flat to the nose and palate. Disappointing, I’m afraid.

What about the Springbank official tasting notes?

Our 10-year-old offers whisky drinkers the perfect introduction to the Springbank range. Matured in a combination of bourbon and sherry casks, it is perfectly balanced from the first sip through to the full, rich finish.

  • Nose: Orchard fruit (pear) with a hint of peat, vanilla and malt.
  • Palate: Malt, oak, spice, nutmeg and cinnamon, vanilla essence.
  • Finish: Sweet, with a lingering salty tingle.

Would we agree? Alas not really…

What else did we explore in our Campbeltown evening?

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Campbeltown Trio – Glen Scotia, Springbank

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There may be limited distilleries in the Campbeltown region, however while it doesn’t have the range of other regions like the compact but prodigious Speyside, sprawling yet plentiful Highlands or the Islay character, it quietly yet firmly refuses to give up.

While once there were 30 distilleries, today stand 3 – Glen Scotia, Glengyle (Kilkerran) and Springbank – and I thought it past time we slow down to explore at least a small sample from Campbeltown.

While my original plan was to have representation from each of the three distilleries, in the end, I satisfied myself with 3 contrasting expressions from 2 distilleries.

What did we explore in our Campbeltown evening?

All of the whiskies were opened in January 2021 and redistributed to interested partakers. In an interesting twist – this trio had multiple dimensions to its tasting experience:

  • Combination of Whisky Ladies in Europe and a couple guys from Bombay Malt & Cigar brought together virtually, sipping from London to Paris, south of France to Nurnberg and of course Mumbai… with samples that were better traveled than some people!
  • Virtual Whisky Ladies in India – mostly Mumbai with one in Delhi and remaining bottles making their way to a very small (socially distanced!) gathering in Bandra “IRL”… after about 45 mins of tasting separately, the virtual and ‘real’ groups joined together to compare notes

It followed an earlier session exploring an Arran vertical. This just goes to show – we refuse to be daunted by limited travel, and limited sourcing means – where there is a will, there is a way!

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Original Club – Springbank 10 year 46%

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Representing Campbeltown, our host selected this classic Springbank 10 year as part of our tasting trio.

We sampled it blind following and were completely taken aback – it wasn’t at all like what we have come to expect from Springbank. Read on and discover why…

Springbank 10 year 46%

  • Nose – Jackfruit, cream, old fruit, was there a hint of smoke or peat? Mandarin orange, marshmallow, then solvent? Huh? Which shifted into paan or betel leaf, vanilla, very sweet, grass
  • Palate – Surprisingly soft, orange marmalade, then peat, sweet and even more peat and sweet
  • Finish – There but not much, sweet lemon rind

This one didn’t quite sit right with us… there was a flat tone, one even called it insipid? We certainly thought it had a lower alcohol content than the one before… and we were stumped, we simply couldn’t place it.

The reveal was a shocker. Several of us – myself included – are quite fond of Campbeltown whiskies with this Springbank 10 year a standard.

How then did it not have any of the elements we normally expect? Where was the pear, yummy rich nutty oak, vanilla, pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg, a sweet dry yet satisfying finish??

And that’s where we realised without a doubt the impact of the tasting order. Starting off with the powerful peaty Caol Ila, the more delicate Springbank wasn’t able to reveal its true character. Setting them all aside and then coming back after the Scapa made such a difference.

What else did we explore?

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Red Casks – Longrow Red 11 year Cabernet Franc 55.9%

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We don’t often get a chance to try drams from Campbeltown, though there are a few clear ‘fans’ in the house! For our original Mumbai based tasting group, this was the first peated Springbank whisky under the Longrow brand that we tried together.

We sampled this whisky blind without bias… and here is what we thought…

Longrow Red Cabernet Franc 11 year 55.9%

  • Nose – Peat! Medicinal and maritime, Hamam or Lifebuoy soap, carbolic, fish oil and salt
  • Palate – Full raging peat fire yet still sweet, well balanced between sweet and peat, most enjoyable… terrific to just roll around the palate and bask in its full flavoured peaty sweetness
  • Finish – Gorgeous sweet spice
  • Water – While it seems counter intuitive, don’t… it somehow made the whisky a bit funky

Overall we quite enjoyed this one! It provoked a lively debate about the different characters of peat… contrasting this style of peat with seaweed vs ashy campfire, with neither elements found in this whisky.

One member was absolutely insistent that it had to be Campbeltown – that the peat style was distinctively from that region! Obviously he was spot on and with the reveal backed up his pronouncement with a short discourse on the three different Islay peat bogs vs Highland vs…. you get the picture!

What do the folks at Springbank have to say? Alas the exact expression we sampled has been replaced with a pinot noir… however this remains consistent for what they are aiming to achieve with their Longrow Red expressions:

Our Longrow Red, always bottled at cask strength, is released annually in small quantities and every year a different type of red wine cask is used to mature the whisky.

Offering a different sensation from Longrow Peated, this whisky is smooth, elegant and subtly juicy.

What did we try in our special “red” casks evening?

Other peaty Campbeltown drams

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