Ending the whisky year with a bang (Part I)

TL; DR: Just before Christmas, we planned a relaxing long weekend in Campbeltown, where we did a few tastings. First off: Glen Scotia and Kilkerran, followed by a great walk on the hills behind the toon! It might become a fixed appointment…

Happy new year! To all our readers, we hope your 2026 started in the best way possible. Ours did. As we write, we are back to work after a very relaxing 3-week break from the blog. That was needed, as the months preceding Christmas were particularly challenging, with work deadlines, etc. In that busy period, we only managed to fit a few quick escapes, nothing more than a weekend. This was until mid-December, when we set a few days aside for a proper long weekend away, and where better to go if not the Wee Toon itself, Campbeltown?

While Gianluigi visited the town last April with his pal Roberto, Teresa hadn’t been there since early July 2024…And even then, we only spent half a day there, leaving right after a cheeky Cadenhead’s tasting and lunch. So, a trip back was definitely due, at this point! We prepared Mr Vantastic a day or two in advance, and on the Thursday morning we left early, aiming to get there after lunch after the 4-and-a-half hours drive. This was to give us enough time to park the van and check in at our accommodation: being December, we didn’t want to take chances to stay in the van only to find terrible weather, so we got ourselves a small flat for the weekend. And besides, the two nearest campsites are about 4.5 miles from the town, one in Machrihanish and one in Peninver, too far to walk the distance after a tasting (or two). Along the way, we only had a break in Inveraray to get the usual morning roll at the George Hotel (this time not as good as usual), and to meet our pal Ivan: because of the wind, his seafood shack was closed, but we found him helping out a local stalker to process some venison. There we bought mince, fillets and square sausages that we ate back in Leith a few days later: everything was delicious! Back on the road, we arrived just past 2pm, in time to settle in the rented flat and go to our first tasting of the weekend. The flat was in a great location, right in between Cadenhead’s shop and Springbank, what could we ask more? Other than being a tad damp, it was perfect for our needs.

Ready to start the long weekend.

Our first tasting was at Glen Scotia distillery, and was the Warehouse Selection Tasting (but not in the warehouse, which at first we found odd). As we checked in, Greg told us we were the only ones attending, and the table was almost ready for us: the good thing of not doing the tasting in the warehouse is that we had one glass per dram, so we could take our time. After a cheeky browse of the shop, the tasting started. Greg took out the bottles one by one, so we couldn’t even guess “with our eyes” what was going to come. It was a great exploration of what Glen Scotia can do: from a purely ex-bourbon cask (10y, tropical bomb!) to a young Oloroso cask finished dram (6y), and another finish but in a refill PX cask (9y). We then moved on to a Port cask matured whisky (11y) and finished (you might guess) with a peated Glen Scotia, again matured only in an ex-bourbon cask (and again 11y): while the first dram was from a Heaven Hill barrel, this one was from a Jim Beam’s one. Overall, it was an excellent tasting, the drams were one better than the other, but the ex-bourbon cask duo won it for us. You can only buy one 20cl bottle per person, and we got one of these two (both £33, not cheap).

Our weekend started strong, great tasting!

Greg was a great host, very knowledgeable and nice: as we told him that we had visited the distillery all the way back in 2018, he briefly walked us in the distillery to show us the new mash tun. And we also met Archie, the distiller who had given us a super geeky tour in 2018.

The new mashtun!

Back from the tasting, we briefly stopped at the Springbank distillery shop: we needed to buy two cage bottles to complete the lineup of our next Edinburgh Whisky Group online tasting (6 bottles, all from the cage!). Cage bottles can be considered an equivalent of the “bottle-your-own” or “distillery cask” at other distilleries (without the crazy pricing of some), but they come up more randomly and you can only buy one per week (per person, so two in our case). For some reason (and the reason is “auctions”), the Springbank bottles tend to disappear quite quickly from the cage, while Hazelburn, Longrow (both produced at Springbank!) and Kilkerran (from Glengyle distillery) tend to stick around a bit more. Usually we don’t care, we like them all, but in this case we wanted to get a Springbank for the tasting. We weren’t lucky that day, but we got the other bottle at least. We stopped at the Washback bar for a cheeky dram before it closed (at 6pm), and we found Aly, always great to chat with. Next, we got something to eat (a very bad take-away on Longrow…the street) and went back to the flat for an early night. We woke up well rested, and after a big breakfast, we went to the Springbank shop again to get the second cage bottle: we got the last one available after queueing just before the shop opened: crazy! However, we were happy with the outcome, and now we cannot wait to share these drams with our pals!

After accomplishing this mission, we took advantage of the sunny morning to go on a hike. We went up to the hill behind the town, first to the Crosshill reserve, and then to a panoramic view, before getting lost in the woodland, but somehow managing to get back in time for lunch at the flat. We also prepared a sauce for the next day meal: pisarei e fasö, typical from Gianluigi’s hometown, which he brought back after a recent trip to Italy. We properly did it by preparing the sauce a day in advance to let it simmer.

Davaar island over there.

Almost at the top of the hill, before we got a bit lost in the woods.

We then went back to attend the Kilkerran Warehouse tasting, this time in the warehouse. It was the two of us and two younger German guys, other than the host Joyce, whom Gianluigi knew from his tasting with Roberto in April. We started with a 2006 vintage triple distilled followed by a 2005 (respectively from refill ex-bourbon barrel and hogshead) and a 2010 from a 1^st fill barrel. The second half of the tasting consisted of two 2013 vintage drams, one from a Port pipe and one from a sherry hogshead, and a heavily peated expression, 2015 again from a 1^st fill ex-bourbon barrel.

Beauties in the warehouse.

The type of lineup was exactly the same as the one in April (even if some of the casks changed in the meantime), which was a tad boring. Nonetheless, the drams were all very tasty, and it is always great to explore one of our favourite distilleries in such depth. The winner for us was the triple distilled, a tropical bomb! Just a shame they increased the price from £60 to £80 for a half-bottle (35cl), which is a bit pricey. After the tasting, we went back to the Washback bar for an extra dram, and then back to the flat. We got ready for our dinner at the Ardshiel Hotel: not only a great whisky bar, they do amazing food as well. We got ourselves a two courses festive menu (plus a cheeky dessert for Gianluigi) and then called it a night.

Stay tuned for the second part of our whisky trip in Campbeltown, coming next week. Until then, slàinte!

Glen Scotia Warehouse Selection Tasting

Price: £40.00 pp + £2 fee (December 2025)

Duration: 1hr

Tasting: 5 Glen Scotia cask samples drams, 2015 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel Jim Beam (10y, 58.7%), 2019 Oloroso sherry finish (6y, 56.5%), 2016 refill PX sherry (9y, 59.9%), 2014 Ruby port finish (11y, 57.1%), 2014 Heavily peated 1st fill ex-bourbon Heaven Hill (11y, 57.6%)

Target: whisky enthusiasts

Value for money: very good

Highlights: the drams and the cosy shop/tasting room

Recommended: yes

Link: https://www.glenscotia.com/

Kilkerran Warehouse Tasting

Price: £40.00 pp (December 2025)

Duration: 1hr

Tasting: 6 Kilkerran drams from the cask, 2006 triple distilled refill ex-bou brl (56.3), 2005 refill ex-bou hhd (54.4%), 2010 1st fill ex-bou brl (57.5%), 2013 Port pipe (55.8%), 2013 refill sherry hhd (58.5%), 2015 heavily peated 1st fill ex-bou brl (58.1%)

Target: whisky enthusiasts

Value for money: great

Highlights: the drams

Recommended: yes, but do it once

Link: https://kilkerran.scot/

Dramming Around moves to Scotland

Our first whisky trip in Scotland: couldn’t have been anywhere else!

(For a more in depth Campbeltown experience go here: Cadenhead’s Warehouse tasting, Kintyre Gin and Watt Whisky tastings, Springbank/Glengyle visits and Glen Scotia tasting)

September 2018, still the beginning of our life in Scotland: Gianluigi had moved about a year earlier, Teresa not even 4 months. We were coming out our first Fringe as Edinburghers (although someone would use another term), festival that we appreciated but despised at the same time, as the city can become very hard to live in August.

We wanted to have a weekend break somewhere, but for a few weeks we were stuck exploring options, undecided. Then a thought crossed our minds: why don’t we go to that place…the one that is a whisky region by itself…what’s its name…Campbeltown!

As we used to do for our weekends away back in Illinois, we rented a car, and booked a random accommodation on Booking.com (at the time we were not aware of the Ardshiel Hotel), and the holiday was set! The program was very easy: travelling on Friday, Saturday in Campbeltown, and on Sunday we’d visit Oban and travel back to Edinburgh. We had no idea what was expecting us! At the time we hadn’t visited any distillery in Scotland…together: Gianluigi had visited Glengoyne as a side event of a conference he had attended a couple of months before in Glasgow. Unfortunately, the experience was far from great: too many people and one tiny dram.

So, when the day came, Teresa went to work in Glasgow as usual, while Gianluigi picked up the rental car and picked her up for lunch. We followed Teresa’s colleagues suggestions and drove westward instead of north. So, we crossed the sea on ferries twice: first from Gourock to Dunoon, and after crossing the Argyll, from Portavadie to Tarbert, to finally drive down the Kintyre peninsula.

Even if this is not the most popular part of the West Coast, we found most landscapes truly beautiful, and particularly peaceful. We arrived at our hotel quite late, and Gianluigi had to finish off a bit of work. We hadn’t realised how early restaurants were closing in Campbeltown, so we almost missed dinner time. Fortunately, a nearby restaurant allowed us in, at the condition we ordered quickly, which we did, as we were super-hungry (unfortunately, when we were back in 2021 we saw that it’s closed). The night ended with a pint at the hotel’s bar.

After a generous breakfast, we left the hotel to check out Campbeltown. The day wasn’t great (overcast but not rainy), and we just walked around. Someone would describe the town as a bit run down, but to us the atmosphere was relaxing and cosy, almost intimate and melancholic, one that you can only find in far-away villages like this.

The first appointment of the morning was at Glen Scotia Distillery, but when we arrived, everything was closed. We waited a bit puzzled, checking emails and times meanwhile. Suddenly, a man came out of the production gate, asking if one of us was Gianluigi. He was one of the distillers, Archie, who told us that the designed guide was sick and couldn’t give us the tour. However, if that was OK with us, Archie would be the guide for the two of us, although sometimes he would have needed to go check the stills. Moreover, the tour was free as an apology for the inconvenient. We couldn’t believe our ears, of course it was OK with us!!! The tour was really in depth, and the fact that a distiller was our guide made it really invaluable. Even the tasting was very generous: a wee taste of the new-make spirit, then the Double Cask, the 15y, the Campbeltown Festival 2018 (finished in Ruby Port casks), and the Victoriana. Unfortunately, the shop was closed as well (the sick tour guide was running the shop too), so we bought something later at Cadenhead’s.

After the tour, we had a quick but tasty bite at Café Bluebell, and we then proceeded to the afternoon activity: the Cadenhead’s Warehouse Tasting. At the time we weren’t as nerdy as we are today, so we decided to skip the Springbank or Glengyle distillery tours in favour of a tasting: we weren’t even aware of all the frenzy around Springbank yet. Moreover, at first, the concept of an independent bottler was not the easiest to grasp: why should a distillery sell its product to an intermediary? Now it is so obvious, and we are grateful for that: the variety of whisky that some independent bottlers can offer is truly astonishing, and without them we wouldn’t be able to get our Miltonduff’s, Glen Elgin’s, Glentauchers’, Glen Spey’s, Mannochmore’s, and all the other ones that are rarely bottled by their owners.

As a matter of fact, it didn’t take long to appreciate the great work that Cadenhead’s do. In the warehouse, a sizeable line-up of casks was waiting for us. We don’t remember much, but in the bunch there were a Strathclyde grain (there are pictures), a Longrow 11y, a Paul John, definitely a speysider, someone said a Lagavulin (probably a Caol Ila) and a 10y rum from Darsa distillery, in Guatemala. We ended up taking the rum and the Longrow, but all the drams were truly delicious. Not surprisingly, we’re in the Cadenhead’s club now!

At the end of the tasting we were kind of tipsy (ehm…), so we decided to leave the bottles at the hotel and have dinner in the most far-away restaurant we could reach walking, on the other side of the harbour (which is now closed too…are we bringing bad luck??). We went back to the hotel, not before having an extra dram, the last one in Campbeltown…for now.

The Sunday morning was again overcast turning to rain, so we checked out and started driving south, towards the Mull of Kintyre (“Oh mist rolling in from the sea, my desire is always to be here”…), to finish our exploration of the peninsula.

Slightly better weather on the way from Campbeltown to Oban!

Then we drove north, towards Oban, the last stop in our trip. Although the sun came out while driving, it started pouring rain as soon as we parked in Oban (experiencing the 4-season in day). Oban is a nice village but looked a bit too touristy for us (and indeed we haven’t been back yet, unlike Campbeltown). The tour at the distillery was nice but a bit dull, probably it suffered in comparison to the previous day experiences. Still, it was interesting to see how this distillery, unlike many others, is nestled in the village, with no space for potential expansions. At the end of the tour we were given a dram of the flagship, the Oban 14y, and one of the Oban Little Bay. We ended up not buying anything, as even then we were aware that distillery prices sometimes are not competitive. We would have bought a bottle a few months later.

Oban right in the middle of the flavour map.

As a baptism into scotch distillery visiting, we couldn’t ask for more: a magic place, and magic whisky. With the pandemic and all we weren’t able to go back to Campbeltown for a while, so when we managed to do it in 2021, it was a very welcome return, with more whisky knowledge and experience in the pocket! Now it’s time to plan our third trip… 2023?

Links

Glen Scotia Distillery: https://www.glenscotia.com/
Cadenhead’s: https://experience.cadenhead.scot/
Oban Distillery: https://www.malts.com/en-gb/distilleries/oban

Tag: glen scotia distillery

#70.1 A weekend in Campbeltown

Ending the whisky year with a bang (Part I)

#14 A taste of Campbeltown

Dramming Around moves to Scotland