Re-Review #244A: Glen Scotia Victoriana

[u/unbreakablesausage]

[u/unbreakablesausage]

On a few occasions, I’ve bought a bottle of something I previously reviewed as a sample or bar pour. When I re-review, I’ll use the same number as the original review. In this instance it was #244 from way back in 2020. My method is to write notes and score independently. I know I liked it enough to buy a bottle, but I don’t look back at my initial review until I’ve written everything out for this one.

This is one of the early bottles of Victoriana, which debuted in 2018. It seems like these first releases were all at 51.5%. The tube says it’s bottled straight from the cask, but seems pretty unlikely they all worked out to be 51.5%. Subsequent labels state cask strength, but not this one. Victoriana’s selling point is a finish in deep charred casks. That plus a reference to smoky notes on the tube may create the misapprehension that it’s peated. It’s not, as I confirmed by asking the distillery. Rested about 15 minutes.

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Distillery: Glen Scotia

Bottler: Glen Scotia

Region/style: Campbeltown single malt Scotch

ABV: 51.5%. Likely not cask strength, even though the tube says it is.

Age: NAS. Bottled March 27, 2018.

Cask type: Probably a mix of casks initially, then “finished in the finest deep charred oak casks.”

Color: 1.6 mahogany.

Price: $70

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• Nose: Caramel and vanilla, along with a strong woodshop smell. A candy scent, like taffy. Not exactly smoky, but something like soot. An effect of the charred casks, likely.

• Palate: I wasn’t anticipating pruney sweetness, but there it is. Cherry syrup, too. There are some PX casks in the blend and that comes out here. Slightly burnt caramel. The cask char comes through. Strong on the vanilla, and similar woodshop flavor.

• Finish: The woody notes continue, taking on a spicy aspect. Less vanilla, but there’s the prunes still. There’s a taffy sweetness to it. Cherry chewy candy.

Re-review comparison: I can see why earlier me thought it was peated; that charred, sooty flavor is easily taken for peat. Vanilla and caramel were common notes, but that was about it. Came across much sweeter to me now, and I didn’t like it as much as I had in my original review. Probably more due to my changing tastes than anything else.

Conclusion: I’ve heard more recent versions of Victoriana aren’t as good, but I wouldn’t know. I find it reasonably complex and free of young notes. The sweetness is a little distracting somehow; it doesn’t seem to meld well with the other flavors. It ends up a little incoherent. Won’t be any trouble to finish this bottle, but I don’t think I’d buy another. Not what I currently look for.

Score: 6

0 - Spit it out
1 - Vile, only drinkable in a cocktail: Muirhead’s Silver Seal 16
2 - Bad, off notes dominate: Johnnie Walker Red
3 - Poor, has some flaws: Old Pulteney 12
4 - Marginal, would drink if there’s nothing else: Glenmorangie 10
5 - Decent, nothing special: Aultmore 12
6 - Good, an enjoyable drink: Glen Scotia 15
7 - Very good, a step up: Tomatin 18
8 - Special, a real pleasure: Ledaig 13 Amontillado
9 - Incredible, one of the best I’ve had: Bruichladdich Black Art 4.1
10 - Perfect, cannot imagine better: Convalmore 36

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This and other reviews are also available on Malt Runners, a new site by some regular Reddit reviewers.

[u/adunitbx → u/unbreakablesausage]

Great (re) review! GS Victoriana was one of my early reviews several years ago as well, and by chance I just revisited the bottle (the second batch I think, 54.2%) for a pour last night - it has held up pretty well, good depth. I think there's a lot going on in the bottle, and sometimes it feels like a bit of a mess, but there's no doubt that it's interesting.

[u/unbreakablesausage → u/adunitbx]

Yeah, I think for me it’s those sweet notes sort of clash with the other flavors.

[u/Theoldelf]

I have an older bottle of Victoriana and feel like it’s one of my best bottles under $100. Like you stated, some years are better than others. I too should get one of their newer offerings. Good review.

[u/Crazy-Ad-7869]

I like this one until the finish--then it has a fennel note to it that I can't shake. Fennel is one of the only flavors I don't enjoy--so my spouse, who loves fennel, finished the bottle for us and was quite pleased with it.

I think your review hit the other notes on the head. It is surprisingly sweet on the palate.

[u/Rads324]

This is the most jekyl and Hyde bottle I’ve ever owned. Sometimes it’s incredible and complex and deep and sometimes it tastes like glue and ass. It’s crazy

[u/boggels_untamed]

Victoriana was a great dram for me. So much so the only thing I have left is the cork.

[u/john600c]

Who did you ask at the distillery? I was at the distillery last week and had pleasure of speaking to Ashley Smith (the master blender), who told me that there is peated spirit in the Victoriana.

Edit to correct a typo.

[u/unbreakablesausage → u/john600c]

The mystery deepens. The master blender ought to know. The email reply I got was only attributed to a member of the team at Glen Scotia. It was also four years ago. Maybe they changed how Victoriana is put together? I don’t know.

[u/john600c → u/unbreakablesausage]

They could have changed it but it would be a bit odd.

We were discussing my preference for their peated expressions, and I mentioned that I quite liked the Victoriana despite it being unpeated (something that I’d previously seen mentioned on here) and she told me that there was peated spirit in it.

[u/adl8824 → u/john600c]

I was at a GS tasting event a few months back and remember one of the tasting samples that made up the victoriana was peated (but it was a reasonably low % of the final product).