Glen Scotia 15 review

[@maltymission]

running horribly late on catching most vids on time, but here I am, strapped in and enjoying this video, almost as much as I enjoy a lot of Glen Scotia's these days. Great notes Jim! Cheers Jim!

[@rellorellin7544]

We have the same pallet. Everything that you have recommended and that you like I have thoroughly enjoyed. Cheers

[@Koby616]

Got one in my stock now. Looking forward trying it 🎉thanks for review!

[@peathead4450]

Thanks for shining a light on this lovely whisky, Jim. Not much to add this time from my side. You basically covered all there is to say.... except that I'm not familiar with the foamy thing / stuff you mentioned. I just keep it to: love this whisky. Slàinte mhath.

[@WhiskeyNovice]

I'd be surprised if you knew what Creamola Foam was Frank. Next time you're in Scotland buddy 😉 Slàinte mate.

[@peathead4450]

@@WhiskeyNovice Question for now is: do I want to know? ... 😇

[@WhiskeyNovice]

@@peathead4450 probably not mate 😄😄

[@elijahcox3880]

Tonight I compared it to an Old Pulteney. Only one I have right now is the Huddart, but it would probably be even more similar to an older one! Both have got a definitive coastal thing going on. Very nice 🤙

[@Nikolay_Nikolov]

Glen Scotia 15 is one of my favorite whiskies. Absolute treat :) I made my bottle last over an year but eventually it was over. I'm looking for a replacement since then, waiting for a special sale, because this stuff is priced quite steeply in Bulgaria. Right now there is a special offer at one of the big online retailers for 71 euros but it is still pricey. Oh, well... Cheers!

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers Nikolay. It is a bit pricey but, a treat nonetheless. There are also moves to go natural colour by Glen Scotia. That, for me, would be a big step in the right direction.

[@sorinsrn5442]

Hi Nikolay. Right now is on sale here in Romania for like 47 euros shipping included. I got one bottle. After couple of bottles of Victoriana dranked over the time i dont know what to aspect from the 15. What is the name of the big retailer there in Bulgaria? Maybe they shipped also to Romania. Cheers!!!

[@mikebennett3741]

Dramming along! A personal favorite. It does so many thing well. Truly a modern “great all rounder.”

[@bennyfriis601]

Awesome review of an awesome whisky, Jim. Gotta love the detailed information from Michael Henry once again. I keep being at a loss for words for his willingness to provide us with the information that we love so much as aficionados. His kindness and way of approaching (embracing) us, makes him one of industry professionals that I have the most respect for and admire most. I'm sorry, I've probably mentioned it before, and I definitely will mention it again. Regarding your suggestion for the "If you liked this...", you can suggest skimmed milk, and we will take it. With your mimicking and smirking going along with it, we will take it! Trust me 😅 I've only sipped the Orchard House once after uncorking (with the OWSA votings in mind (and yes, on a side note, it's great stuff too!)), so I will have your thoughts and comments in the back of my head, when tasting both the GS15 and the Orchard House next time. I would've thought it would be something "a bit darker" (taste... not E150a), but I can't honestly think of an obvious alternative in my collection either, well definitely not among my currently open bottles. Cheers buddy, loved the 30 mins I've spent with this review (yeah... watched it twice already) 🥃

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers Benny. I would agree there are darker notes in the GS over the Orchard House. As I said, it was a bit of a last minute "straw clutching" excersize. And yep...once again...can't thank Michael enough. He was telling me he showed this review to his wife and she approved so....phew 😓😉

[@moelassus]

My mouth started watering at the sight of that Glen Scotia bottle. The 15yo is such a wonderful whisky. I was initially surprised by your Orchard House comparison. It is certainly bound to be a controversial selection. Curious, I re-played the review and followed along. After tasting these two side-by-side, I totally get where you were coming from. I had never thought of Glen Scotia for it's fruity character but I've clearly not given GS15 enough credit for its fruitiness. Cheers to Michael Henry for being so willing to engage with this crazy, obsessed community. We have a shop near me that specializes in foods from the British Isles. They always have samples out and once they had bubble gum flavored Creamola Foam for sampling. Disgusting. As a kid I probably would have loved it. As an adult it's retching. Orange would likely be more palatable. As a kid I loved TANG mostly because it was pitched as the "drink of astronauts". 🧑‍🚀

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers Mike. In fairness, I've never liked Creamola Foam. My buddies all loved it when we were kids but I found it revolting. That's not to say that the smell was bad. Just the texture. It had a powdery, artificial thing going on. Once again, not that the GS 15 smells artificial but, it just invoked that memory for me. Glad you found some similarities with the two whiskys mate. As I've said to someone else in the comments, there are darker, more caramel notes in the GS but, that same fruitiness is apparent in both in my opinion. Thanks man.

[@richardagnew4959]

Orange Cremola Foam!!! Fruit Pavlova? Chasing this bottle now! I can see a Christmas bottle on my horizon. Might have to go to Toronto to get it though. God bless, St. Michael of Glen Scotia!😇

[@WhiskeyNovice]

😄😄 cheers Richard. Yeah I think if we had our way, Michael would at least ahow up on the King's honours list. Aye you've been a very good boy this year. That would definately warrant one of these for Christmas 😉 Thanks buddy.

[@richardagnew4959]

@@WhiskeyNovice Finally got one, Jim. :). It had to come from the USA though.

[@billyboy9810]

Sorry Jim, I've been a bit off the radar for a few weeks with strikes at work and what not, so I'm catching up on reviews. I absolutely love this whisky and I haven't been without a bottle since 'Alfy' or should that be Ralfy reviewed it three or four years ago. I think it's a great whisky to show guys that mainly buy supermarket whisky on deals that it's worth paying a bit more sometimes, and £60 or even less quite often, is a great price for 15 of this quality. Cheers Jim!

[@Donotwantanalias]

Great review, spot on. You just described why I love that one. Yes, Glen Scotia 15 yo is a cracker. Or has been since the recent price jump! I am really glad I added some to my stash before that. Greetings from Germany Frank

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers Frank.

[@Bansidhe]

Got 2 of these lads in the cupboard on the back of Ralfy's review a while back. Still to get into them. This is only more encouragement to get involved. I remember Creamola Foam from when I was wee in the mid to early 90s. It disappeared for years but you can get something very similar some places now. Think maybe someone managed to get or at least get close to the original recipe.

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers buddy. Get one opened. You'll not be disappointed 😉

[@jackthepickledhound]

If ever there was a quintessential single malt this does it for me. It's just whisky and if they didn't add e150 it would be great whisky. But as the price goes up there are more options to be had close to $100. As a dram it has it all going on. I would compare it to KK12 or Clynlish 14. Just a good solid scotch. The kind of thing I would offer to a novice as an introduction. A little funky compared to Glenmo10 or Tomatin Legacy but a better example of all the flavors malt has to offer.

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers Matt. Yeah, in hindsight, the KK12 would have been a better comparison. Natural colour in discussion at GS as far as I'm aware. 🤞

[@jackthepickledhound]

@@WhiskeyNovice KK12 is getting very pricey over here, it shows up at what we would expect the 16 to be at and the 16 is about $170. I'm sticking with the 8, if I see it. But I've got 2 back up bottles of KK12. My journey started with the Loch Lomond 12 and the Glengarry 12 ( also from LL and both really low$$$) They were both super sour and had so much else going on that my wife took a sip, was not happy and thought I was ranting like a crazy person. I still have those bottles and when I go back to them......nice.

[@SaltyCuban]

Thankyou like always for your in depth reviews. How does this compare to The Victoriana?

[@ryanmercer600]

Very competent malt, hard to think of anything that is similar though? I recently got a SMWS bottling of an 8 year old peated single cask that was a Revelation! I don’t understand why core range bottles are so far removed from the whisky that they actually produce, it’s up to the blender… I wish all the blenders would produce more bold expressions?

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers Ryan. I suppose, in fairness to all blenders, they are putting together whiskys aimed at the mass market. Indy bottlers are working with what they've got but, what they've got (especially when purchasing from top notch distilleries) is for us enthusiasts. It's good to know that there's somewhere we can go for absolute, pure, undiluted quality versions of these expressions.

[@WhiskeyStraightAl]

Fantastic tasting notes Jim. This is a lovely whisky - as Glen Scotia tends to be in general. Great watch all round. And I agree, Michael Henry is a top bloke. Now, as for what's going in in your head.....nah, hell no. I can't go there!🤣

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers Al. Yeah the inside of my head just gets more and more cluttered as each day passes mate 🙄. I think that's why I ramble on so much. I know the words...I'm just starting to struggle to put them into cognitive sentences 😂

[@davidowen2834]

Hi Jim, yes its an excellent 15 year old. Trouble is its now jumped up in price, still I’ve still got some left over. The next step for Glen Scotia is to drop adding the brown dye. Slàinte Jim, a damn good review 👍.

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers David. Watch this space. Natural colour is being discussed 😉

[@andbe8351]

Thanks for an interesting review! I remembered that the Glen Scotia 15 had a tasting note of something like a wooden box in the back ground A note that reminded me of the very first whisky I had almost 30 year ago.(that just tasted Wood and nothing else. By the way, I’ve seen Glen Scotia had changed the labels on the bottles. Any thoughts about that?

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers buddy. In fairness, I'd agree that GS15 is an old tasting whisky. It has a lot of that classic feel about it. No bad thing imo. Their labelling change almost bypassed me. I haven't bought one of their expressions for a while so I hadn't been looking. It actually took me to go look when you mentioned it 😄. I actually quite like the new look. It's stark but bold I think. Just me?

[@andbe8351]

First I have to say I realy llove the 15, to me it taste as the idea of ”whisky”, what whisky is all about. About the new labels, I like the Old ones better, the new ones look a bit cheap to me, as if the main purpose is to save money Cheers! 😊

[@cheesemeister66]

I did a blind comparison last year between this and the Double Cask and actually preferred the Double Cask which is good for me as it is almost half the price!! On the other hand it may make me a Philistine😂.

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Now don't be so hard on yourself Stephen. That doesn't make you a Philistine. It does make you an outcast though! 🤣🤣. We're all welcome to our own opinion mate and hey, when it's blind, the palate likes what the palate likes 🤷‍♂️ Cheers mate.

[@josephkiselica8923]

Oh........ To have such a difficult job. I would be glad to help you ease your "pain"! NAZDRAVYE

[@triktrak_1451]

Hi Jim, nice review. This GS15 is hands-down one of my favorite Scotches. Quick question - I'm fairly new to Scotch, but I've come to love all 3 Campbeltown distilleries best. I have some Irish heritage and I'd love to find an Irish whiskey that I'll really enjoy. Any suggestions? -Patrick

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Anything from Midleton Patrick. I'd recommend Powers John's Lane. Their 12 yr old. Lovely stuff. Cheers.

[@triktrak_1451]

@@WhiskeyNovice Thanks Jim! I was already looking at Powers Johns Lane. There's a couple great whiskey bars near me in Chicago. I might get lucky & get to try these first.

[@greigmartin4339]

I struggle to seperate this one from the Springbank 15. They are so similar. Price wise it’s getting past its value now (for me) but at least it’s obtainable.

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers Greig. It's a pitty those prices just keep creaping. Where will it end mate?!

[@jamiespeight7746]

Cheapest I’ve just found online is £56. I don’t think it’s too bad for a solid 15 year old whisky.

[@Boxer1250RT]

GS 15 is a Fantastic bottle at a reasonable price. Unlike many other bottles that are super hyped at exuberant prices.

[@rstar88105]

What year bottling is this one? I have a 2019 and a 2022 bottling.