Review #732 - SMWS 93.122 'Baldrick's Cosmic Tardis' - Glen Scotia 10 Year
Glen Scotia is a versatile distillery - they produce peated and unpeated malt, and the distillery's product can display a range of flavors, everything from malty to fruity to smoky, funky, and more. Spoiler alert: here's a bottling from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society the puts a lot of those different facets on display together.
This SMWS Glen Scotia was aged for 10 years in a first fill ex-bourbon barrel... so the cask type is relatively standard. This falls into the Society's 'Lightly Peated' flavor profile, so we're expecting a bit of smoke, and the bottling strength is a relatively punchy 58.4% ABV.
For all of their whiskies, the SMWS publishes their own fanciful tasting notes; this Glen Scotia is adorned with a range of suggested flavors, and these might be the most unique we've seen: "fermenting lemons, goat cheese smoothies, pickled onion monster munch... out of date milk, roadkill stroganoff, sour bubblegum."
We're not sure that sounds particularly appetizing, but we do love the flavors that Glen Scotia malts bring; let's get into this one.
SMWS 93.122 'Baldrick's Cosmic Tardis' - Glen Scotia 10 Year
Scotland/Campbeltown - Single Malt
Price: USD 115 (2019)
Age Statement: 10 Years
Strength: 58.4% ABV
Cask Makeup: First fill ex-bourbon barrel
Details: Not chill filtered, no color added; distilled October 29, 2008; 236 bottles
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times over 4 months from a sample. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes
Nose: This pulls us in several directions: sharp peat up front, sweetness from vanilla and custard, then dirty/funky notes, borderline lactic. Creamy, malty, with accents of hay; then fruits like tart peat arrive, backed up by a strong clove note. Mineral notes, licorice, charcoal, earthy flavors... there's a lot going on.
Palate: The mouthfeel is medium-thick. This is very interesting: cocktail bitters, sharp cinnamon and oak spice, licorice, and a medium amount of peat smoke are balanced by cream, malt, and sweet black licorice. Mexican spiced chocolate, clove, and black pepper... then a bit of root beer and earthy notes. In the background, we get a vegetal, dank, or funky note, as well as some charcoal.
Finish: Spicy notes - anise, wood spice, root bear, a medium amount of effervescent peat smoke. Cocoa nibs, white grape, vanilla and cream... a bit of lemon and wormwood, too. The aftertaste has a huge clove note; this finish is medium-long.
Final Note: What a crazy whisky. As expected from the SMWS tasting notes and our prior knowledge of Glen Scotia, this single cask does indeed throw a wide variety of flavors at the drinker, everything from sweet to spicy to savory to smoky. There was a common thread of smoke, licorice spice, and cola throughout all of the tastings, but each session also added some unique flavors which kept things interesting. Our experiences with Glen Scotia bottles from the SMWS have been quite good in general - this is another example of that. Great whisky, one worth savoring and digging into.
This was one of the more reasonably priced SMWS bottles with a price of $115 here in the US; because of that, and the wild flavors in the bottle, we think this is decent value, a little above average. SMWS whiskies tend to be on the expensive side of things, but a bottle like this shows that there's still value to be found.
Our Rating: 8.1 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 6.58
About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.
Check out our other Glen Scotia reviews:
Review #569 - Glen Scotia 18 Year
Review #199 - SMWS 93.170 'Mermaid Karate' - Glen Scotia 9 Year
