Campbeltown in all its grey glory is a strange place. Renowned as a difficult place, not only to get to but also to live, like an island on the mainland, it is plugged into civilization by the endless winding vein of tarmac known as the A83. A quiet town that still bears worn patches of its past in the form of weather drenched shop fronts and early 20th century architecture. Like so many places in Scotland it carries a duality of mood that is fused to the activity of the sun. In high summer, and the dazzling brightness of the better days of winter, it can be a serene place carved between the borders of quivering blue atlantic waters, endless skies and rich green hills, a place where the lungs of the land seem to exhale life. The brickwork and sandstone shine out in rusty, autumnal tones and the town seems to come alive with people seeking birdlife, fishing, sailing, hillwalking and, of course, whisky. But Scotland’s weather is a fickle force and this mood can so easily be undone. On grey days Campbeltown can feel like a ghost town, a derelict outpost on the edge of a grumbling and lonely Atlantic, rain seems to wash any sense of colour from the buildings and what remains is a desaturated townscape populated by hurried figures and struggling lights. With this polarity of mood in mind it is possible to understand the character of the whiskies produced here and the resilience and quiet humour of its people.
Campbeltown’s whisky history is well documented by now so I won’t regurgitate too much save to say that it was once home to over thirty distilleries up until the 1920′s, now there are three, Glen Scotia, Glengyle and, famously, Springbank. No one is certain of the reasons for the collapse of Campbeltown as the distilling capital of west coast Scotland, an obsession with careless quality control and mass production are cited, as is the economic strains of the depression and, most interestingly, the changing tastes of consumers, away from heavier flavours towards lighter style blends. Campbeltown’s malts used to be infamously peaty, so much so that they were considered the heaviest components in blends, even more so than the Islay malts, this fact alone has helped maintain a deep fascination in the historical Campbeltown malts. It is difficult to characterise the decline of a whole regional industry in such sweeping terms when in all probability it was an amalgamative effect of all these pressures and more that sounded the death knell on so many distilleries. What’s left is an often chilling distillery graveyard if you wander the streets of Campbeltown and know what to look for. You can stroll beneath the carcasses of old pagoda roofs, dunnage warehouse walls and all manner of distillery buildings, long since occupied by new people and business or simply left to rot in the coastal air. This decline has lessened Campbeltown’s claim to whisky region status in recent times, many modern whisky maps simply lump it in with the rest of the highlands. This is a crying shame because the malts of Campbeltown, though few these days, carry such a keen edge of distinction that they seem to shout from the rim of the glass that they are of their own place and origin. They have the muscle of old style highlanders and Islay spirits but with more emphasis on blustery coastal complexity over peat. When you sit in a hotel bar in Campbeltown or, better still, stand in one of the ancient dunnage warehouses at a distillery on one of those grey days, only then do you really get what these malts are about. They are coastal driven, isolationist spirits, malts of vigorous personality that feel elemental and angered, Campbeltown whiskies can seethe in the glass with an old school salty grumble like no others can. They are designed to be drunk by the warmth of a fire or late at night with friends round the kitchen table, sheltered against the cold, high winds that tear up the world outside. That is what the best of them speak of to me, I always loved the stubborn individuality of the Campbeltown whiskies, nothing else in the world of spirits tastes quite like them. This week we’ll do a few tastings of different Campbeltown malts, partly in celebration of this great whisky region but mainly because that is what I got in my latest package of samples from home. First up is a pair of eighteen year olds…
Springbank will admittedly dominate these tastings, it’s a shame that I don’t have a wider spread of Hazelburns, Longrows, Kilkerrans and Glen Scotias to broaden the week’s olfactory investigations but then travelers can’t be choosers.
Springabank 18yo. OB. Bottled 2010. 46%. 70cl.
Colour: Amber
Nose: A soft and elegant Springbank at first with lots of mingling notes of oranges, honeydew, sherry, resinous notes, some coastal zing and dried mint leaf. There are some gentle flecks of peat underneath with further notes of coal, black tea, some nice garden fruitiness, gentle bonfire smokiness and more orangey notes including Grand Marnier and marmalade. Quite gentle but very classical in style, there are bold Springbank qualities all over the place only tamed somewhat by the encroaching age. After time a very nice waxiness comes through with beeswax and furniture polish followed by some slightly odd winey notes and red fruit characteristics.
Palate: Much bigger on the palate on first delivery, gristy and oily with some interesting notes of graphite and ink followed by sharp white pepper and a big coastal spiciness, quite fresh and invigorating, something of a slap in the face after the nose. Bitingly aggressive so far but not too intense with some very nice gingery notes and hints of mixed spice, mead, pine sap, subtle minerality and camphor. This seems to be all about the spirit which is very good news in my opinion, the wood seems to have done a very good job here and stays mostly in the background. Greengages, some stinky guava notes and a peppery watercress aspect come through in time along with more citrus and coastal power.
Finish: Quite sharp and intense, hangs around the gums for quite a long time with a saline drying quality. Good stuff.
Comments: This is very good whisky but I feel like a Springbank 18yo should be somewhat more… majestic maybe? I have high expectations from Springbank these days considering the quality of the majority of their current releases. I suspect this comes from early nineties stock, distilled just before there was a big quality overhaul at Springbank. Seriously, I think several batches of the 10yo in recent years have been better than this. But it’s still lovely.
Score: 83/100
Glen Scotia 18yo. 1992. Douglas Laing OMC:1913. 50%. 70cl.
Normally I’d expect a Springbank to smash a Glen Scotia at any age but who knows, lets see what happens here. Glen Scotia has had a life seemingly devoid of much love from the whisky community, probably due to the fact that it has never been as much of a ballsy powerhouse of a spirit as neighboring Springbank. Some people seem to actively hate it but I’ve found several expressions to be very much to my liking, the best seem to be honied, delicately coastal drams that show the elegant face of Campbeltown malts. Anyway lets find out what this one has in store…
Colour: Yellow Straw
Nose: A lovely honied richness at first with notes of the finest meads, honeycomb, vanilla pods, a little minerality, some sheeps wool farmy qualities and a coastal freshness that balances the whole out really well. This nose just keeps improving, it slowly becomes more citrusy and coastal with wet pebbles, seashore aromas and fresh oysters, very clean and really vibrant aromas. Some notes of lemongrass and fresh herbs like sorrel and thyme with a slight creaminess beginning to develop. Lets see how this one swims: water reveals some very nice notes of freshly cut grass, chives, fresh milk, muesli and a soft green fruitiness.
Palate: Juicy and very big delivery with some immediately odd notes of cactus and tequila which quickly morphs into a massive, fat oiliness. Still wonderfully rich and creamy with more elegant vanilla notes and very pleasing streak of sweetness in the shape of creme caramel. Very focused flavours here, intense, big and wonderfully fat with a nice balance between sweeter, more modern aspects and some lovely, classically old style Campbeltownesque qualities. Still quite coastal and refreshing with some more mixed seashore aspects. With water some of the oiliness has gone but it’s even bigger now, full on notes of vaseline, camphor, a little hessian, coal, soot, some candle wax, minerals and a nice ashiness.
Finish: Long, buttery, minty, herbaceous and quite complex.
Comments: This is dangerously quaffable stuff, it really goes down very easily and the flavours are resoundingly delicious. I’d love to have a whole bottle of this out here in Pisco. It’s one of those whiskies that is very evocative of Scotland, particularly Campbeltown in this case.
Score: 85/100
So there we have it, Glen Scotia triumphs after all, admittedly not what I was expecting. Before we finish lets have one of these fun vatting experiments…
As usual with these things it seems to combine the best of both drams. The Springbank dominates as expected but its more extreme aspects are beautifully tamed by the Glen Scotia. What remains is a big, extremely fresh and lively dram full of coastal, citrusy and fruity qualities. I love these little experiments, they’re great fun and it feels a little less like sacrilege when you’re doing it with more ‘obtainable’ whiskies.
Anyway, next time Hazelburn. Have a zen sunday.
