Glen Scotia Single Cask Edition For Israel 2023 Cask #1622

 Glen Scotia Single Cask Edition For Israel 2023 #1622

Single Cask Edition For Israel	Data Sheet
Owner:	Loch Lomond Group
Barcode:	5016840313519
Price:	NIS 450-600
Alcohol:	53.9% abv
Age	7 Years
Single Cask No.:	#1622
Cask Type:	First-Fill Bourbon Barrel
Number of Bottles	269
Distillation Year:	2015
Bottling Year:	2023
Chill-Filtered:	No
Natural Colour:	Yes
Israeli Importer:	Eurostandart Ltd. ירוסטנדרט בע"מ
Kashrus Issues:	None
Kosher Certification:	No

 

Introduction

Please Note: For an in-depth introduction to Glen Scotia Distillery and the Campbeltown region, please see my review on The Glen Scotia 10, here.

I first became aware of this Single Cask Special Edition for Israel when someone sent me a WhatsApp of a photo taken from a wine store in Mamilla in Yerushalayim. The person was very impressed with the large Israeli flag proudly displayed on the front label of the cardboard tube of this Scotch Whisky and made some comment which went something like…

“If you thought that the Scots were a bunch of Anti-Semites, look at this! It seems that we still have friends in Scotland who support us”.

I was intrigued (despite the high price of NIS 599 stuck to the tube) and wondered what the story behind this bottling was. Then throughout the day, I started getting more WhatsApps from Jewish Whisky enthusiasts all around the world, sending me the same photo with similar commentary to the first message, but each one becoming more bombastic than the last.

I sent an email off to my contact at the Loch Lomond Group (owners of Glen Scotia distillery), Cask Expert, Master Distiller and all round Mensch, Michael Henry. I asked my good friend what he knew about this Glen Scotia with the Israeli flag on the front label.

Meanwhile, I discussed this bottle on WhatsApp with another good whisky friend of mine, Michael Stuart from the Inverurie Whisky shop.

Michael Stuart was also intrigued. It was certainly unusual. He immediately sent off a WhatsApp to Iain McAlister, the distillery manager at Glen Scotia, whose signature appears on the bottom righthand side of the label. I’d asked Michael to ask what the story was behind this bottling. Iain, logically assumed that I was asking about the cask provenance (which admittedly is my usual enquiry), so replied within a few minutes and wrote that the bottling was a Single Cask First-Fill Bourbon Barrel special release for Israel, which he commented was very unusual for Glen Scotia, whose regular practice was to release various types of Finishes (such as Rum Cask or PX Cask) for their special Small Batch editions. Releasing a bottling that had been fully matured in a single cask for the entire aging duration was quite rare for Glen Scotia. He seemed to be quite proud of it.

(For an explanation as to why a single cask which is then finished in another single cask before bottling, cannot be called a “Single Cask bottling”, please see my article where I review the Glasgow 1770 Tequila Finish Small Batch).

Iain McAlister even revealed that the Bourbon Barrel had either come from Jim Bam or Heaven Hill Bourbon distillery in Kentucky. He ended the WhatsApp with a “full” review of this Single Cask Single Malt by commenting that it was– “Great Stuff”.

Meanwhile, I had received a reply from Michael Henry of Loch Lomond. I particularly wanted to know what the story behind that huge Israeli flag on the front label of the tube was all about.

He explained to me that first of all, there was nothing particularly significant about this 2023 special edition for Israel as it was standard practice to produce a Special Edition for each of their overseas importer clients. In this case, it was “Eurostandart” Israel who distributes both Loch Lomond and Glen Scotia products here within Israel. It wasn’t actually, as many had assumed, a one-off edition for 2023/24 to show solidarity with Israel after the October 7^th massacre and the subsequent war we found ourselves fighting in Gaza, Judea & Shomron, Lebanon, Syria, Iran and even Yemen.

However, he did go on to say that they don’t, as a rule, print a huge national flag on the front label of the tube. That was something quite unique and special for Israel and was produced at the request of EuroStandart. He went on to express his personal support for Israel in our plight, and I thanked him for his empathy with our situation.

So, despite the bottling not actually having been released directly in support of Israel, in the context of many council buildings in the southern part of Scotland flying the Palestinian flag, frankly, in solidarity with terrorists, in this hostile and toxic environment, for the Loch Lomond Group to agree to print that huge Israeli flag on one of their official bottlings, means to me, that the sentiment was actually there.

It wasn't just Glen Scotia. Loch Lomond distillery also produced a special Edition for Israel in 2023 but unfortunately, it was matured full-term in a Sauternes Wine Hogshead and is therefore not suitable for the strictly kosher whisky consumer.

Sauternes Wine

FYI. Sauternes Wine is a sweet type of white wine from the French region of Sauternes in the Bordeaux area. Sauternes wine is made from Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Muscadelle grapes that have gone through a special process where they have been intentionally infected with a fungus called “Botrytis Cinerea”, known in the wine industry as “Noble Rot”. Having been infected with this fungus, the grapes go through a complex chemical process that effectively increases the concentration of natural sugars, adding intense raisins, apricots, ripe peaches, honey and nutty flavour notes to the wine.

The Search for This Glen Scotia

Getting back to the “Glen Scotia Single Cask For Israel 2023”, I did a Google search for this bottle and after scrolling down for a while, eventually found the online site Mashkaot Mendelsohn who were selling it for NIS 449, considerably cheaper than the wine shop in Mamilla, Yerushalayim. As it happened, I had already purchased two bottles of M&H Apex Peated Kosher Oloroso Sherry from the same company and had been impressed with their efficient service. So, I did not hesitate to order two bottles online of this Glen Scotia in accordance with my minhag (custom) to open one to drink and enjoy and put the other bottle away for posterity (either as an investment or as a talking piece).

I was quite surprised when they called me to confirm my order and to inform me that I was actually buying the last two bottles they had. (Hence the “Out of Stock” statement on their website now). True to form, the bottles arrived at my door within two days. Great service!

Out of curiosity, I tried searching online again for this special edition but haven’t managed to find anywhere else selling them, so possibly I’d just bought the last two bottles of a total of 269 in the country.

Anyway, without further ado, here is my review of the Glen Scotia Single Cask For Israel 2023 Cask #1622.

Packaging

This  Special Edition comes in Glen Scotia’s standard packaging of a sturdy cardboard tube and long bottle design. The bottle has the Glen Scotia emblem embossed on both the top and bottom.

The label design has that clean, minimalist and premium look to it. I particularly like the clear two-column table of Integrity Whisky specs on the front label.

A few years ago, I started designing the bottle label for a new kosher Whisky project which in the end, never materialised. I also integrated a table of whisky specs, similar to this. I remember that the project manager for the distillery we were working with, didn’t like the idea at the time. I argued that when the same person who is trying to choose which bottle of whisky to spend his hard-earned money on, wants to purchase a premium set of headphones, a new laptop or mobile phone, they inevitably check the “specs” which usually comes in the form of a two-column table.

In my opinion, the most important thing that punters look for in an  authentic “Integrity” Single Malt Whisky (rather than those who are looking for a luxury, premium priced name like Macallan, Dalmore, Johnny Walker Blue Label or a Royal Salute that comes with romantic stories of stags, rolling mountain streams and tartan clad Highlanders printed on the label, created in a marketing office in a grey concrete building in central London), are the Integrity Bottling credentials that tick their boxes.

They are scanning the label for a high abv, a stated cask type, a distillation and bottling date, as well as the obligatory “Natural Colour” and “Non-Chill Filtered” statements. Giving that data to them in the form of an easy to read format, rather than integrating the same information into a rambling text at the back of the bottle, makes their job easier. I don’t think I’m alone when I say that searching for and finding everything I’m looking for on the front label, is what raises my whisky passion.

Well, dear readers. What do you think of my draft front label design? It’s only an initial mock-up but does it have potential? I’d appreciate any feedback in the comments section below.

The cork-stopper is of a premium quality with a wood top and a snuggly fitting cork composite for the stopper.

Tasting Notes

Appearance

It has the colour of a heavily oaked buttery Chardonnay. Strangely though, for a whisky which is bottled at Cask Strength 53.9% abv and is Non-Chill-Filtered, I would have expected it to have been slightly thicker and more viscous than this. I’m not saying that it looks watery but I would have expected it to have had a bit more body as I swirled this around the glass. Nevertheless, tears looked good with multiple strands slowly edging down the inside of the glass.

Aroma

In order to assess this Single Cask Single Malt I thought that the Gen Scotia 10 which is also Bourbon Barrel Matured (reviewed here), would be a good point of reference. This did not turn out to be the case as the Glen Scotia 10 (like almost all Glen Scotias), is slightly peated. This Special Edition on the other hand, is completely unpeated!

So, unlike the Glen Scotia 10, there is no coastal influence, no seaweed vegetable, no brininess and not a hint of that funkiness you associate with other Campbeltown Whiskies including Springbank, Longrow, Hazelburn, Glengyle and of course Glen Scotia.

Instead, what you get is an utterly wonderfully complex almost Highlands style heavily Bourbon Barrel influenced and well matured Single Malt.

Even without water, it has an impressive nose but with water added, it becomes an absolute stunner of a whisky. You know, after spending the last few weeks drinking M&H Single Malts matured in Kosher Ex-Sherry casks, I thought that going back to an Ex-Bourbon Barrel matured Single Malt would be a huge let-down, a bit of a damp squib. How wrong I was!

If I had to summarise the nose in one sentence, I’d say that this Glen Scotia is extremely complex, highly elegant and oh so sophisticated.

The first thing that strikes you when you put the glass to your nose is that utterly delightful smell of old mahogany polished wood cocktail cabinet which I so love in a good Ex-Bourbon Barrel Single Malt. Lashings of rich hardened white honey and a beeswax aroma in the background. Milk Caramel fudge. Stewed Apples and Yellow Custard.

The heavy aroma of yellow flowers in a garden. A fruit salad of yellow fruits including honeydew melon, yellow apples, toffee apples, caramelised pineapple chunks in natural juice and tangerines. The grain notes reminded me of baked flaky pastry made with unsalted butter. Creamy porridge with loads of white sugar and milk added, mixed with vanilla essence, clove, mild anise, cinnamon, nutmeg.

This is some top-top quality Bourbon Barrel! It’s difficult to believe that this whisky has received just seven years of cask maturation.  Yes, I know that it’s First-Fill and Non-Chill-Filtered but this is ridiculously rich and, in my opinion, has the nose of an 18–21-Year-Old Single Malt Whisky matured in First-Fill casks.

Mouth Feel

The texture in the mouth is significantly more impressive than the initial appearance would suggest when I had been swirling the golden yellow liquid around in the glass. It’s full bodied and covers the entire tongue, buttery and oaky. Again, the palate reminds me of a heavily oaked Chardonnay.

Tasting

Tangy yellow fruits. Golden Sultanas, Apples, melon, pineapple and orange. White Honey with beeswax. Custard desert. Coconut Pyramids. Sugared Vanilla Lady Fingers. Apple pie with a sprinkling of sugar on top. Sweet toasted oak.

Finish

Rich yellow fruits and custard, honey, glazed coconut, Sugared vanilla Lady Fingers and soft spices on the deliciously long finish.

Conclusions

It’s only seven years old? It’s amazing. Had I spent over a NIS 1,000 on a 25-Year-Old Bourbon Barrel Matured Single Malt (which I absolutely wouldn’t do, especially as I know that my Aishes Chayil, my dear kenegdo, often reads my reviews), and it tasted like this, I would not be disappointed in the slightest. It only goes to show that with the properly selected quality cask, you don’t need to wait 20 years to get utterly superb results from a Single Cask Single Malt Whisky. Kol Hakavod to the Glen Scotia Distillery Manager, Iain McAlister. You really know how to pick-em and thank you for selecting this gem for us here in Israel. We appreciate it and thank you for your friendship.