Glen Scotia Campbeltown Malts Festival 2025 Edition 9 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 750ml

Campbeltown once called itself the Victorian Whisky Capital of the World, and for a stretch in the 19th century it genuinely earned the title — nearly thirty distilleries crowded onto Scotland's Kintyre peninsula, all producing whisky for a demand that seemed like it would never end. It did end, eventually, and today only three distilleries remain standing in what was once the country's most concentrated whisky-producing town. Glen Scotia, established in 1832, is one of the survivors — and every year, to mark the town's annual Campbeltown Malts Festival, the distillery releases a single limited-edition bottling built specifically to surprise its most devoted fans.

The 2025 edition is a genuine departure even by the festival series' own unpredictable standards: a heavily peated 9-year-old single malt, at a distillery that produces peated spirit for only a handful of weeks each year — making this expression a scarcity within a scarcity. The whisky begins its life fully matured in first-fill bourbon barrels, building the creamy vanilla and rich peat smoke that define Glen Scotia's distinctive maritime character, before a five-month finishing period in Ribera del Duero red wine casks imported from Spain's most prestigious wine region. That finish does something genuinely unexpected to the spirit — the once-tropical fruit notes built up in bourbon wood transform into ripe red fruit and juicy blackberry, with a whisper of liquorice threading underneath the smoke.

Master Distiller and Distillery Manager Iain McAlister put it directly: "this year's Festival Release promises a unique experience that will transport you straight to Campbeltown with your first sip. As well as delivering the maritime and salinity notes synonymous with Glen Scotia, this whisky also provides an element of surprise as it develops on the palate. The finish brings a bold burst of vibrant flavour from the Ribera del Duero red wine casks which is a distinctive pairing with the heavy peat." Bottled non-chill filtered, at natural colour and full cask strength — 54.3% ABV — this is Glen Scotia's own team fully unleashed on a genuinely uncommon combination: heavy Campbeltown peat, Spanish red wine wood, and only a few precious weeks of production each year to make it happen at all.

Origins & Craftsmanship

Glen Scotia Distillery was established in 1832 in Campbeltown, on Scotland's west coast Kintyre peninsula — a town that, during the 19th century, was home to nearly thirty separate distilleries and earned itself the nickname "the Victorian Whisky Capital of the World." Today, Glen Scotia stands as one of only three distilleries still operating in Campbeltown, a genuine survivor of an industry that once dominated the town's economy. Much of the distillery's original 1830s architecture and equipment remains in use, including the fermenter, dunnage warehouse, and stillroom. Glen Scotia was named Scotland's Distillery of the Year at the 2021 Scotch Whisky Awards, and produces both peated and unpeated styles across its broader portfolio under Master Distiller and Distillery Manager Iain McAlister, alongside Master Blender Ashley Smith.

Peated spirit is a genuine rarity at Glen Scotia — the distillery produces it for only a few weeks each year, making any peated release from the house inherently limited by production capacity alone. For the 2025 Campbeltown Malts Festival, the distillery selected a 9-year-old heavily peated single malt, matured in its entirety in first-fill bourbon barrels before undergoing a five-month finishing period in Ribera del Duero red wine casks sourced directly from Spain's celebrated wine region. This wine-cask finish is specifically credited with transforming the spirit's character, converting the tropical fruit notes typical of bourbon-cask peated whisky into riper, darker red fruit and blackberry, layered with a whisper of liquorice against the underlying peat smoke. The finished whisky was bottled on January 20-21, 2025, non-chill filtered and at natural colour, at full cask strength of 54.3% ABV / 108.6 proof, to mark the festival's May 20-21, 2025 celebration.

Critics Reviews

Iain McAlister, Master Distiller & Distillery Manager, Glen Scotia:
"This year's Festival Release promises a unique experience that will transport you straight to Campbeltown with your first sip. As well as delivering the maritime and salinity notes synonymous with Glen Scotia, this whisky also provides an element of surprise as it develops on the palate. The finish brings a bold burst of vibrant flavour from the Ribera del Duero red wine casks which is a distinctive pairing with the heavy peat."

Whisky Advocate 92 Points (Jonny McCormick):
"Initially matured in first-fill bourbon barrels, this was finished in Spanish wine casks for 5-6 months. A mingling of smoke, dark fruits, maraschino cherry, juicy red berries, vanilla wafer, peppercorn, and chocolaty peat smoke invade the nostrils. Beautiful expression of apple and raspberry fruit, the smoke more apparent after the alcohol peaks, retaining the smoke, then bold spices, creaminess, and fruit into the finish. Preferable with a dash of water."

Tasting Profile

Nose
Swirling peat smoke and coastal salinity open immediately, joined by creamy vanilla from the first-fill bourbon maturation. Red fruits and a whisper of liquorice emerge as the Ribera del Duero finish makes itself known, with a distinct, savory graininess and a faint tart plum character adding complexity.

Palate
Vibrant, juicy blackberries and red fruits carry the entry with genuine intensity, layered against luscious oils and rich peat smoke. The interplay between the wine cask's ripe fruit character and the heavy peat is the whisky's defining feature — a distinctive, deliberately unexpected pairing that Glen Scotia's own team specifically built this release around.

Finish
Long, with soft smoke and a velvet mouthfeel closing things out. Liquorice and red fruit linger alongside the peat, in a finish that develops and surprises as it unfolds — precisely the "element of surprise" Iain McAlister promised for this year's release.

Quick Overview

Food Pairings

• Smoked salmon or smoked mackerel
• Grilled lamb or venison
• Dark chocolate with sea salt
• Aged hard cheeses — Manchego (a nod to the Ribera del Duero connection)