Review #777 - SMWS 93.193 'Salty Waterslide' - Glen Scotia 8 Year
From the Scotch Malt Whisky Society's 'Oily & Coastal' flavor profile, we have this 8 year old Glen Scotia. It was aged in a first fill ex-bourbon barrel for all of those 8 years, and it was bottled at a cask strength of an even 60% ABV. This single cask, named "Salty Waterslide," was a cask picked exclusively for the United States by actor Neil Patrick Harris.
While a lot of Glen Scotia spirit is peated, this single cask uses unpeated distillate, meaning we could get a better glimpse into how their spirit really tastes. It's relatively young, too, meaning the cask is unlikely to have overwhelmed the distillate character.
SMWS 93.193 'Salty Waterslide' - Glen Scotia 8 Year
Scotland/Campbeltown - Single Malt
Price: USD 115 (2022)
Age Statement: 8 Years
Strength: 60% ABV
Cask Makeup: First fill ex-bourbon barrel
Details: Not chill filtered, no color added; distilled October 1, 2013; 227 bottles
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 2 times (once blind) over 14 months from a sample. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes
Nose: Salty, sawdust, lemon, and raw white onion; buttery chardonnay, brine, malt, and a bit of orange peel come next. We get brown sugar and honey, some graham cracker, and then a bit of sweet heather; behind that, it's interesting notes of coffee or tiramisu, mint, and caramelized onion.
Palate: Hot and tannic, very oily, good texture - a medium-thick mouthfeel. Cane sugar, orange citrus, and malt bring sweeter notes, while pineapple and floral flavors bring some brightness. Menthol and hot honey are accents.
Finish: Warm and oaky, salty, malty, very oily. Buttered rum and pineapple bring a soft tropical complexion, and we get floral notes, vanilla, and a bit of starch in the oak. It's a medium-long finish, still quite spirity.
Final Note: An interesting single cask of Glen Scotia - this definitely showed off the character of the distillate, and while it's quite interesting, it's also a bit hot and spicy at times, quite spirity. There are a number of different facets to this whisky: savory cooking flavors, sweet baking spices, some oak, a bit of fruit. It's always providing new flavors, but for us, it's more of a mood dram. Pretty good whisky, one that we would spend some time with, but wouldn't always be reaching for.
Value here is just a little below average; the price on this bottle is actually quite fair, at least in the realm of SMWS pricing, but since it wasn't our favorite single cask, we can't score the value too high.
Our Rating: 6.9 / 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: 5.66
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.
