The Gauldrons: Glen Scotia and a spoonful?

We have to use the question mark, because for sure we do not know if the headline is true. We tasted The Gauldrons, a blended malt in the Regional Series. The series are released for some years now by Douglas Laing, and seem to be quite popular. They are now venturing even into couplings with chocolate and cheese. The Gauldrons represents the Campbeltown whisky region. We honour this region with its own day on Whisky Odyssey; the Campbeltown Wednesday.

The Gauldrons smells like a Glen Scotia and tastes like a Glen Scotia, so our guess would be this is indeed a Glen Scotia in disguise. All fine by us anyway, with name or not. We love Glen Scotia as much as the next distillery, inside and outside of Campbeltown. Let’s try this blended malt today, and see what we think of it.

The Gauldrons Campbeltown Blended Malt, bottled at 53,4 % abv

Makeup: This cask strength edition came in a batch of 3120 bottles and was bottled in 2022. And is has a glow in the dark label. Yes, we live in that age now. We tested and yes, it glows. The bottle reminds of the Silver Seal bottles by Max Righi.

General impressions: Straw yellow colour, of which I hope it indicates a very pure and straightforward malt whisky. The nosing definitely seems to prove that feeling right. It is bright and all yellow on the fruit, with hints of apples, banana, delicate vanilla, and slight citrus influences. A malt suited for spring, for sure. With water, more mineral notes.

The first sip stays exactly in the same lane. Lots of bright vanilla and an undeniable memory of banana mousse. It's very clean and fresh, even though the alcohol does come off a bit hot, but just a tad. Actually, it is a nice hit against the head. I guess the elephant in the room here is that we are drinking predominantly Glen Scotia. If any whisky from the other side of town was added, it cannot have been more than a teaspoon. This is Glen Scotia at its best anyway. The finish reveals a lingering smoke, to make the whole experience complete. With water, sweet ‘n sour. Delicious.

Conclusion: Really impressive. I admit that I don't turn often towards the Blended Malt series that Douglas Laing puts on the market, besides the occasional Big Peat. But this Campbeltown expression is without flaw. Straightforward delight with a slightly mineral and dirty edge. Just like it should be.

Score: 87 points
Disclaimer: a sample of this bottle was kindly shared with my by Slijterij Le Chateau in Hedel, The Netherlands. (I later bought the whole bottle, do you need better proof of how good this stuff is?)

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