Glen Scotia 10 yo 2008/2019 (58.0%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, #93.108 ‘Earthy and masculine’ for Campbeltown Malts Festival 2019, 1st fill bourbon barrel, 222 bottles)
I was unhappy at myself for not including a Glen Scotia in my Campbeltown report last Saturday so let’s try to correct that wee oversight here. This is one of several casks the SMWS have released for the assorted regional whisky festivals in Scotland this year. Colour: straw. Nose: esters, diesel fumes and funk! We’re certainly in the weird and wonderful world of ‘medium peated’ Glen Scotia. Lots of strange ointments, brake fluid, bicycle chains, pencil erasers, tar, seawater and fish stock. There’s really nothing else like these funny peaty Scotias - they can be almost dundery and rum like in some ways. This one gets farmier with time, almost towards cow pats and silage. In a good way, I promise. With water: a little more traditional now. Earthy, salty, peppery, some rather fat notes of smoked barley, peat embers and starched linen. Mouth: pure antiseptic and medicine. Raw oysters doused in petrol and germoline. A huge spoonful of paraffin and high ester rum. Mental whisky. Fish sauce, sardine paste, anchovies and the sourest young Belgian Gueuze beer. I can’t help but really like this style, even if you couldn’t perhaps drink too many drams in one sitting. With water: again it’s a tad less extreme now. But also much oilier. More mechanical, sooty, lime skins, WD40, briny and with a kind of sharp salad vinaigrette note as well. Finish: long and very ashy, briny, sooty, mechanical, estery, fatty and smoky. Comments: I suspect some people will just hate this style. But I think it is probably amongst the most uncompromisingly characterful makes in Scotland today. Wish Glen Scotia would bottle more things like this themselves.
SGP: 485 - 87 points.

All Islay Batch 1 Blended Malt (47.5%, That Boutique-y Whisky Company)
This isn’t really a bottling for the festival, but the good folks from Master Of Malt were handing them out on Caol Ila pier so why not...? Colour: pale white wine. Nose: preserved lemons, whelks on a BBQ, sea water, lemon juice, oysters. The epitome of fresh, blustery, clean and rather precise modern Islay malt whisky. There’s also a rather yeasty and autolytic side which hints at the general youthfulness of the overall profile. Mouth: salted lemon juice, gravel, mineral salts, seaweed crackers and some gloopy spoonfuls of medicine. Something like pine resin and roof pitch as well. Good! Finish: medium and quite ashy with lots of lemon juice and a little brine and hessian. Comments: easy, quaffable and rather feisty Islay malt. Although I think the bottling strength was smart as it kind of tames the rougher edges well but still gives a good sense of body.
SGP: 355 - 83 points.

Bunnahabhain 13 yo 2005/2019 (61.8%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, #10.168 ‘Cuquillo black olives’ for Feis Ile 2019, 2nd fill barrel, 205 bottles)
Sadly I couldn’t try Bunnahabhain’s official festival bottling this year (sorry also to Kilchoman on that front) but thankfully this wee SMWS offering was available. Colour: white wine. Nose: sea breezes and freshly laundered linen at first. Then sea salt, lemon rind, freshly rolled oats, miso broth and hints of various breads and toasted seeds. It’s a fitting bottling for a festival with this very evocative ‘Atlantic’ profile. Hints of mustard powder and cornflakes too along with green olive studded pitta breads and light hessian and bandage notes. With water: crab claws, taramasalata, olive oil, sunflower seeds, gorse and heather ale. Extremely pure, fresh and rather uncompromising with this austere quality. Mouth: big, rather textural and fatty delivery. Lots of raw barley, grist, vegetable broth, white asparagus, lemon pith, raw cereals, white flowers, chalk and limestone. We’re very close to the distillate here, which is good news as the distillate is excellent - if a tad intense and punchy at full strength. With water: really works well now! Wonderfully oily, getting more mineral, citrusy, flinty and with a big, textural cereal heart. Finish: good length and with lots of dry, wholesome and savoury cereal notes. Lots of oatmeal, brown bread, raw barley, toasted seeds and some lightly earthy notes. Comments: Not the easiest dram, but a great example of a naked, unpeated Bunnahabhain in full, no-nonsense swing. One to sip contemplatively on piers while wearing a dark overcoat.
SGP: 362 - 87 points.

Bowmore 1997/2019 ‘Distillery Manager’s Selection’ (51.7%, OB, first fill oloroso sherry casks, 3000 bottles)
This isn’t a festival release. It’s a recent bottling which had sold out by the time we got to the distillery, so we were able to taste it but unable to buy bottles sadly. Colour: reddish coffee. Nose: Modern Bowmore and sherry can be a bit of a funny combination sometimes but this one works well so far with big initial notes of salted walnuts, coffee liqueur, tar, toasted raisins, fruit loaf and various smoked meats. There’s a nice damp earthiness and notes of old leather. Lots of dunnage, hessian, coal dust and touches of lambic ales. With water: earthier, more hessian, plenty dark chocolate, more tar, black pepper and cola syrup. A wee hint of good quality root beer as well and with time there’s also things like ink and dried herbs coming to the fore. Mouth: Big bitter chocolate notes, espresso, strawberry infused pipe tobacco, game meats, walnut wine and tar liqueur. Black pepper, wood spices, jasmine, strong black tea and mushroom powder. Very good! With water: now there’s some fruit emerging too. Red fruit jams, orange cordial, peaches and dried apricot. That rather meaty aspect has started to balance out nicely. There’s more cola sweetness, more coffee and big spicy notes of star anise and five spice. BBQ sauce as well. Finish: long and prickling with heat. Spicy hot sauce, camphor, iodine, salted meats and old balsamic. Comments: This was a sherry and peat combo which danced rather than fought. Some may well find it a bit too much and indeed the sherry is a tad intense at times. Bit I find it a big, gutsy and very excellent wee Bowmore.
SGP: 575 - 89 points.

Bowmore 15 yo (51.7%, OB Feis Ile Collection 2019, first fill bourbon casks, 3000 bottles)
While we could taste but not buy the 1997, we could buy but not taste this bottling which was done for the festival. Apparently it was being ‘launched’ at a dinner the next night. I wasn’t aware ‘launched’ now means ‘we’ll sell it but we won’t pour it’. Thankfully I managed to find some open behind the Bowmore hotel bar. Interestingly this one is the same strength and outturn as the 1997, I wonder why they chose this bottling strength? Colour: white wine. Nose: very saline and sharply coastal at first. Lots of raw lemon juice, pink sea salt, pears, sheep wool, oysters, petrol, lime juice, coal dust and a slightly fragrant heathery aspect. There are a few classical Bowmore fruit notes as well but they’re really buried under this ocean of seashell, minerals, brine and pin-sharp freshness. Very ‘millimetric’ as Serge would say. With water: super medicinal now. Lots of embrocations, bandages, ointments and starchy notes. Cornflour, putty, rock pools and wet seaweed. Mouth: superb! Lemon oils, scented waxes, citronella, sandalwood, seaweed, beach pebbles, squid ink and even a sprig of mint. The fruits are pronounced as well. Still a fair bit of oily sheep wool but also lots of raw barley, kiln smoke and sourdough. With water: still sharp and pure but with an added layer of fruits such as tangerine and melon with a fuller thickness to the texture. Finish: long, full of raw barley, smoke, peat embers, lemon peel, yeast, wood ash and brine. Comments: ‘Dear Bowmore. Please do more stuff like this!’ 3000 bottles at £85 apiece. For me that’s the epitome of what a good festival bottling should be. Top notch, distillery character forward whisky that everyone there can get and enjoy.
SGP: 465 - 90 points.

Laphroaig Càirdeas Triple Wood Cask Strength (59.5%, OB, Feis Ile 2019, 36,000 bottles)
Another NAS expression from Laphroaig. So long as it was aged for as many years as there are words in the title then we should be ok... Colour: gold. Nose: lots of dense, polished oak. Very sweet smokiness, tar, pine resin, workshops full of sawdust and graphite oil. A funny mix of sweet soot, salted butter, mercurochrome, pink peppercorns and diesel. With water: pencil shavings, cumin, hot buttered toast, dried kelp, rubber fishing wellies and salty Bovril. Also odd notes of powdered foundation, old rope and peppered mackerel. Mouth: Punchy! Sweet peat, ashes, icing sugar, brake fluid, mechanical oils, green pepper, black olives, turpentine and paraffin. Big peat and big wood in a head on collision. It just about works. Just... With water: medical, oily, sweet, ashy, petroly and with plenty of lemons, waxes, raw paraffin, crayons, turmeric, hessian and new leather. Finish: long, very peaty, iodine, gravel, miso broth, black olive and sweetened brine. Comments: There’s undeniably too much wood for my taste. But this is some very silly, very powerful and very fun Laphroaig. And shouldn’t a festival be about fun? Maybe next year the Feis Ile committee could do t-shirts that say ‘Feis Ile 2020: Fun not flipping’? Maybe not...
SGP: 777 - 84 points.

Laphroaig 19 yo 1999/2019 (56.9%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society #29.260 ‘A visceral, elemental experience’ for Feis Ile 2019, American oak oloroso butt / Spanish oak oloroso butt, 507 bottles)
This one was re-racked from American oak sherry into Spanish oak sherry at 16 years old, an interesting type of finish I suppose. Colour: deep brownish amber. Nose: as we often note on Whiskyfun, modern peat and sherry don’t often tango well. However, there are exceptions and it seems that this is one of them. A deep, syrupy and intense mix of cola cubes, strawberry wine, black olive paste, paprika, smoked meats, herbal peat smoke and ancient tar liqueurs. If you marinated old leather-bound library books in brine and espresso you might get something like this. Also some very salty Dutch liquorice, aged cigars, Marmite and smoked prunes. Pretty fantastic I have to say. With water: cola syrup, root beer, raspberry jam, cloves, star anise, fir liqueur and smoked teas. Beautifully fragrant and complex with water. Mouth: the sherry is huge, as is the peat, but somehow they work together rather than do battle. There’s more of these deeply meaty and oily salami notes. Lots of camphor, fruity black coffee, mustard powder, tar, old rope, waxes, pot pourri, jasmine tea, sods of damp earth, old wine cellars and many old school syrupy cough medicines. Pretty great stuff. With water: as on the nose everything evens out and becomes more gentle and complex. Lots more sooty, oily and peaty qualities. Big notes of boiler smoke, tar and liquorice. Strong black tea, bitter chocolate, juniper and coal smoke. Also a hint of blueberry as well. Finish: long, deeply earthy, tarry and full of bitter herbal extracts, old ointments, medical tinctures, cured game meats, cocoa and sarsaparilla. Comments: I couldn’t tell you what the finish lent this one but something along the way, about both casks, has really worked a treat. It doesn’t feel like a finish and the richness, depth, complexity and concentration of the sherry and peat into a big, gloopy, earthy, fruity, peaty morass has just worked brilliantly.
SGP: 576 - 92 points.

Octomore 12 yo ‘Event Horizon’ (55.7%, OB Feis Ile 2019)
A tribute to that cult film starring Sam Neil and Laurence Fishburne... or perhaps not. It’s certainly the oldest Octomore released to date and the first full term sherry matured expression. Colour: light amber. Nose: quite gentle initially with lots of wafting smoky bacon crisps, hessian and marmite on brown toast. Then it’s moving more towards bouillon stock, miso broth, green olives in brine and antiseptic. There wee notes of salted brown butter, bitter herbal oils, lemon rind and pure seawater. It’s a very salty one with the sherry slightly more on the subdued side. It’s the sea salt, minerals and a dry, slightly grubby coastal smokiness that dominate. With water: still very salty but also more tarry now. Rare green pepper, black olive and lashings of brine. Touches of fruity black coffee in the background. Mouth: soot and salt in abundance. Salted almonds, raw bonfire smoke, wet leaves, liquid seasonings, cocktail bitters, celery salt, carbon paper and industrial floor cleaner. More bacon notes like frying pancetta and black pepper. Gets increasingly meaty and stocky. With water: big notes of smoked meats, marzipan, waxed paper, engine oil, tarry rope and some salty old madeira. I’m not certain the sherry and peat are dancing to the same tune. Finish: long, super saline, meaty, lemony, tarry and still lots of hessian and various seasonings. Comments: Did I mention salt? I wouldn’t say it’s as balanced or as integrated as it could be. But the raw, unbridled singular power can’t fail to impress. Octomore fanatics will be joyfully gooey over this one I’m sure.
SGP: 378 - 85 points.

Caol Ila 22 yo (58.4%, OB Feis Ile 2019, sherry-treated American oak casks, 3000 bottles)
Colour: deep gold. Nose: Surprisingly soft. A beautifully fragrant coastal character of sea salt, lemons in brine and beach pebbles. Sandalwood, heather honey, coal smoke and a lovely mix of beach sand and crushed sea shells. There’s a familiar and syrupy herbal quality that gets increasingly prominent as well. Things like mint syrup, herbal ointments and old style cough mixture sweets. I find it extremely aromatic and fragrant. Wonderfully approachable despite the strength. With water: citronella, hessian and a big dial up on the seashore notes. Seaweed, rock pools, pebbles, chalk, bracken and hospital corridors. More medical aspects such as disinfectant and bandages. Mouth: much bigger on arrival than the nose might suggest. Prickling with seashore freshness, minerals, citrus infused oils, gentle tar liqueur notes, old Benedictine and lapsang souchong. Underneath there’s green tea, dried wildflowers, tangerine, eucalyptus sweets and green olive. With water: perfect! Totally salty, mineral, medical, syrupy and with this wonderful fatness to the peat. You can add black olives, petrol, iodine and this persistent and terrific coastal character. Finish: very long. All on brine, both shares of olive, tar, parsley, ointments, sea salt and smoked shellfish. Comments: We’re not quite in the same ballpark as the early 80s casks which are pleasingly ubiquitous these days. But nor are we quite at the latter 90s style either. Rather, we’re somewhere between the two that’s very much its own style. The sherry aspect was very quiet but the overall impression was of an evocative, punchy, complex, elegant and brilliant Caol Ila. Along with the SMWS Laphroaig it’s my joint favourite of this year’s Feis bottlings.
SGP: 466 - 92 points.

Lagavulin 19 yo (53.8%, OB Feis Ile 2019, sherry-treated American oak casks, 6000 bottles)
This one seems to have played a game of musical casks according to the press release. Let’s see how obvious that is. Colour: gold. Nose: rather clean and full of rope, hessian, petrol and mineral oil at first. No great sherry influence up front but a sense of earthiness and some rather rooty peat notes. Hints of salted pistachio, Iberico ham, dried herbs, celery salt and cough medicine. Pretty good so far. With water: sea greens, white flowers, soot, smoked meats, pollens and black olive. Getting towards a rather classical Lagavulin style I’d say. Mouth: rather hot and full of toasted seeds and brown bread. Old rope, leather, hessian, ointments, cooking oils, scotch broth, iodine, lambic ales and heather smoke. There’s a kind of gingery sherry quality but it’s rather quiet and well-integrated - which is good news. Still very earthy and rather peppery as well. With water: some root vegetable notes amidst all the earthy tones, drying, herbal style peat, kelp, rope, ointments, dried apple rings and mushroom powder. Increasingly herbal, medical and drying with a lingering saltiness. Finish: long, lots of peat embers, cured meats, salt baked fish, tar liqueur, ointments, herbal extracts and cough syrup. Comments: A very good whisky, although, considering the pedigree, you could almost argue it’s also a mild disappointment. Now, let’s remember we’re splitting hairs here to a pretty big degree. It’s just we’ve come to expect pretty serious things from these Feis Lagas.
SGP: 466 - 90 points.