2003 Glen Scotia "Malts Festival 2019 Limited Edition" Rum Cask Finish Peated Campbeltown Single Malt Scotch Whisky (750ml) (Elsewhere $109)

The nose has sweet smoke and more prominent aromas of banana, vanilla, guava, papaya, jasmine, hibiscus, and citrus oil, with some salinity and chalky minerality. The palate is consistent: intense tropical fruit—guava, mango, coconut—plus hazelnut, smoked almonds, milk chocolate, and salty kelp. It finishes with smoked nuts, toasted tobacco, chalky minerality, dry oak, and persistent fruitiness. Lots to unpack here, and it develops beautifully with water—take your time. (SSB, Fall 2019)

Once hailed as the whisky capital of the world, Campbeltown has seen its number of distilleries reduced to just three. All three make peated and unpeated whisky in a unique style that gives credence to Campbeltown's designation as a unique whisky producing region in Scotland. This 2019 limited release for Campbeltown's Malts Festival spent 15 years in American oak hogsheads and then an additional eight months in demerara Guyana rum barrels. The results are stupendous—sweet peat jives with malty goodness loaded with orange peel and sweet baking spices. The mellow smoke goes perfectly with the caramel and brown sugar notes of the American hoggies. Bottled at cask strength and unchillfiltered with no coloration, this is a pure celebration of Campbeltown from Glen Scotia.