DL Gauldrons v TBWC v Roger’s | 46.2%, 54.1% & 54% ABV

C is for Campbeltown

Having trouble finding those unobtainium Campbeltown whiskies at retail price? Try finding some blended malts instead and you might be pleasantly surprised! 

I was sorting through some books the other day, taking some basic early-reading books out of my eldest’s bookshelf and getting ready to pass them down to my youngest. Some of the books elicited fond memories of watching wonderment wash across his face at the description of fanciful tales, while others served more practical purposes. You know the ones, where picture-aided letter and word associations strive to develop the language skills of a young mind — A is for apple, B is for ball, C is for Campbeltown.

It is always a revelation what the human mind and subconscious can conjure up when left to wander during low-brainpower tasks. I wasn’t thinking of whisky, nor had I planned on writing a Campbeltown article, but there it was, C for Campbeltown, springing forth from my subconscious into the forefront of my mind by the simple tactile touch of a children’s book. Armed with a review title bouncing around my noggin, I surveyed my whisky collection. These bottles stood out from the rest, given the well-discussed bottle shortages from this region. 

The craze around Campbeltown malts and their notorious funk is making them hard to find. I’m not one to sit in a queue or enable flippers by purchasing recently released whiskies at absurd prices on auction. As I’m writing this, some local stores have been “lucky” to get their hands on a handful of Blanton’s over-hyped horse-stopper bourbons, a dozen Kilkerran Heavily Peated Batch whatever it is, trio of Pappy Van Winkles, a single Ardbeg 25yo (I don’t wanna know how much a cult member will shell out for that), a Longrow Red 15 yr Pinot Noir a Hazelburn 15 yr Oloroso, and two each of Springbank 10yo Local Barley – for an absurd CA$300/£195!! (That’s low by UK standards these days… – Ed.)

In order to stave off server crashes or internet flippers, most stores near me, and I’m certain near you as well, have resorted to in-person ballot-style systems. For me, I don’t have time with my busy family and work life to wait in line, hoping to get one of the 200 available tickets that will be drawn in a lottery for the privilege to be eligible to purchase a single bottle of the two dozen or so of rare, desirable, cult-chased whiskies at an exorbitant price. No thank you. I will take comfort in a different sort of chase, pouring my effort into the flavour chase rather than bottle or label chasing. Surely finding a flavoursome diamond in the rough or a hidden gem is a better way to spend time than chasing a label! 

I have been collecting whisky for some time now, and despite my modest and realistic chasing efforts, my official bottling selection of Campbeltowns is only comprised of a Glen Scotia Victoriana, a Kilkerran 12yo , and a Hazelburn 10yo. That’s it. No sequential releases of Springbanks, no mounds of Local Barley or Cask Strength releases, nor any Longrows or special-edition Hazelburns, just a humble collection that provides a small taste of Campbeltown.

What is easier to find and slower to clear the shelves is Campbeltown blended malts. Perhaps it’s the stigma of blended malts versus single malts, perhaps it’s the lack of attention from whisky reviewers or evangelists, or just maybe it comes down to location on your local store shelves. Blends are often sequestered to the sides and not displayed prominently, so unless you are searching for something in particular, they are unlikely to jump off the shelf and into your basket. That suits me just fine: all the more selection for my flavour chase! 

Of the three blends here, Douglas Laing’s Remarkable Regional Malts is the most well known and widely accessible. It’s a brilliant idea, presenting a wide array of blended malts from various distinct regions in a gotta catch ‘em all type of product line, from their Islay-sourced Big Peat to The Gauldrons from Campbeltown. While some in Europe have access to Campbeltown Loch, Roger’s Whisky Co. from the Netherlands and That Boutique-y Whisky Company are available in my region, so I snagged them up when I had the chance.

Review 1/3

The Gauldrons Campbeltown Blended Malt, 46.2% ABV
£55 and generally available

A batch-style release from Douglas Laing consisting of unknown malts from Campbeltown. While this review pertains to Batch 4, I believe they are currently releasing Batch 6, with each batch being around 3,000 bottles or so. Very little information is available regarding the casks used in this release or the distribution of ages but given the light colour of this whisky, a high proportion of ex-bourbon and refill casks are used.

Nose

Slight maritime salinity and ozone, and light refined honey that reminds me of dandelion flowers.

Palate

Velvety honey, tingle of white pepper, light oiliness that coats the mouth. At the back of the palate, oak and a nice subtle hint of licorice appear, accompanied by a charred vanilla that’s similar to a charred marshmallow. A touch of salinity appears accompanied with charred citrus notes. More sips brings forth additional cinnamon spiciness throughout the experience.

Score: 6/10 BB 

Review 2/3

Roger’s Whisky Hidden Treasures, second release, Campbeltown blended malt, 54% ABV
CAD$105 / £67 and limited availability (364 bottles)

A casual malt drinker for two decades turned whisky photographer on Instagram in 2019 and then independent bottler in 2020, Roger Tan in the Netherlands is releasing anything but boring whisky.

With only five bottlings to-date, his whisky is quite hard to find despite his colourful, artistic and unique label designs. So far, a 12yo sherried Caol Ila and two Ben Nevises have been released. For releases that cannot state the distillery of origin, Roger has created the Hidden Treasure release line, each with a unique and easily identifiable label featuring heavily raised gold lettering, depictions of times or cultures long gone, and a rough papyrus-like label paper providing an abundance of tactile feedback. The Hidden Treasure labels are very cool.

The first hidden treasure was an 8yo ‘Secret Speyside’, while the second Hidden Treasure release is this 6yo undisclosed Campbeltown. While these labels are beautiful and linked to Roger’s fascination with older cultures (the Hidden Treasure releases from the Campbeltown region are to be associated with the ancient Greeks), they are an absolute pain in the arse to read and photograph. I have quite sharp eyes still and still struggle deciphering some of the finer details on the label. The same struggles presented themselves when trying to photograph these labels; the gold lettering making the label very light sensitive and the similarly colored paper provides decreased contrast. I tried my best, Dramfacers!

Roger mildly reduced this whisky to 54% ABV as he found that to be the optimal level for it. Distilled in early 2015, filled into an ex-bourbon barrel and bottled summer 2021 – let’s dive into this hidden Campbeltowner.

Nose

A fruity sharpness accompanied with a freshly juiced cold red apple juice; the sharpness decreases as the whisky airs out in a glass. Honey drizzled on a malty cereal. The maltiness is present everywhere, underlying each individual note. Something lactic, like vanilla whipped cream that hasn’t been sweetened. Musty wooden-walled automotive shop from my youth as a mechanic’s son is present at the beginning but trails off with time in the glass. It is replaced with a touch of Ferrero Rocher chocolates; a pleasant surprise and something I did not believe I would find as I often don’t trust lofty official nosing and tasting notes but Roger nailed it here.

Palate

Malty. Peppery. Vanilla apple and pear custard. Background milk chocolate. The finish does drop off quite quickly but in an enjoyable manner, reaching a lower-bound asymptote flavour of cocoa and apple skins that appears unexpectedly and remains for a surprising length of time.

Score: 7/10 BB 

Review 3/3

That Boutique-y Whisky Company, Campbeltown Blended Malt, 51.9% ABV
CAD$58 / £38 and limited availability (363 bottles)

When it comes to shelf recognition, it’s hard to argue against That Boutique-y Whisky Company’s bright artistic labels and almost trademark-like 50cl bottles. The labels are works of art and often provide several clues as to the liquid inside, tempting you to bring the bottle close to your eyes to decipher undisclosed or blended releases, while named distillery releases receive artwork that closely relates to the distillery, geography, or history. While some may argue against the 50cl bottle size, I frankly don’t care. It allows more bottles to be brought to market all over the world, especially for their many single-cask or very small batch blended releases. And in my flavour chase, volume takes a backseat especially when the pricing is commensurate with the bottle size.

TBWC often allows a glimpse into distilleries or official bottlings of whiskies that otherwise wouldn’t be available in your market. Swedish? No problem. French? Got it. American or closed distillery? Yep, they have some. I’ve snagged some interesting releases from them in my chase for different flavours and each have been very good in their own right, providing a unique experience and consistent quality. 

Let’s dive into this Campbeltown blend and see if the clues on the label match the liquid inside.

Nose

Milk chocolate, honey, musty meaty scent of a hard-cured meat fridge, dried cranberries. With time, the nose becomes sweeter, morphing into a chocolate caramel candy bar.

Palate

Very viscous, oily, rich, and mouth coating. Honey drizzled roast nuts, dark and almost burnt caramel, with a hint of bitter orange pith. Long black pepper finish that plays between dark caramel and spice. Water dials down the pepper but also mutes the caramel slightly as well.

Score: 7/10 BB 

The Dregs

Seeing as I am lucky enough to have some official bottlings of some Campbeltown malts, I formed a mini tasting reference panel. The purpose was two-fold: did these blends taste like an authentic Campbeltowner, and could I identify the base malt that made up each of these blends? Based on my notes above, I’m sure you could guess that some nailed the unique regional profile while others were more elusive. 

The Gauldrons is objectively a very good whisky, but is it identifiably a Campbeltown malt? Put it in a blind taste test or compare it to other Campbeltown malts and it’s not identifiably a Campbeltown, something that has happened before. The oiliness, dirtiness, and industrial smoke notes are nowhere to be found. It’s a very enjoyable whisky and something that I won’t hesitate to have on my shelf at all times but I would be hard pressed to recommend this to anyone looking for an authentic Campbeltown whisky experience. I was not able to identify which distillery forms the base malt of this blend when compared to my panel of official-bottling Campbeltowners. Given the history of the region and the unwillingness of Glengyle (Kilkerran) and Springbank to sell to secondary owners, process of elimination lands this one as a Glen Scotia. Perhaps the choice of casking is part of the magic of official bottlings of Glen Scotia, defining their spirit in a way that only they can achieve and distinguishing themselves from independent bottlers. 

Roger’s Hidden Treasure is a very distillate-led experience after just 6 years in an ex-bourbon cask — by my estimation, a slower paced or water-rinsed cask at that. The nose is wonderful and complex while the palate is simpler but enjoyable. The finish seems to last forever, minutes after each sip. When whisky hunting, one key metric that I often heavily consider is the length and quality of the finish. Given the current economic pressures much of the world is under these days, the ability of a whisky to linger around directly influences my sipping rate, saving me from draining bottles too fast and keeping my consumption in check. Regarding the bottle design, I must say it is beautiful and glows on my LED-lit shelves. As mentioned, the downside of the gold lettering is the readability and the difficulty of photographing this label. My cameras were having downright fits trying to get a well-contrasted image with detail. If you’re optically challenged, good luck reading the label but, at the end of the day, whisky is meant to be opened and enjoyed rather than admired, and enjoy this whisky I shall. 

That Boutique-y Whisky Company’s Campbeltown blended malt nearly matches my Glen Scotia Victoriana’s nose. Only with them side by side can a very slight difference be found, with the Victoriana presenting a small decrease in caramel sweetness on the nose. On the taste, again the similarities abound, with the Glen Scotia being presented as more refined and less peppery. There is a hint of light oily rags and a puff of kerosene fumes from an oil burner furnace in the Glen Scotia that isn’t present in the Boutique-y blend, both on the smell and in the taste.

Couple the tasting notes with the clues in Boutique-y’s always colourful and artistic labels, and you get some additional insight into the source of this whisky. There are an abundance of disco cows found throughout, providing a throwback to the collectible hot ticket 2014 special release from Glen Scotia. Add the teaspoons found throughout the label, and it doesn’t take much imagination to think that this is a teaspooned Glen Scotia. For a 6-year-old blend, this comes very close to the very well-regarded Victoriana. Bravo!

So, how did my three blends stack up as identifiably from Campbeltown? The Gauldrons didn’t have the funk nor the smoke, Roger’s was malty, fruity and ever-changing, and Boutique-y’s blended malt was nearly a mirrored copy of the venerable Glen Scotia Victoriana. 

Go ahead; take a punt or two on a Campbeltown blend. You’ll be happy you did: the blends can be representative of this region, and even if they are not a perfect representation of Campbeltown official bottlings, the whisky coming out of this region is very good and these blended malts will be a worthwhile purchase!

Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. BB

Other opinions on this:

Gauldrons Batch 4
Whiskybase
No Nonsense Whisky (video)
Malt

Roger’s Whisky
Whiskybase
Words of Whisky

TBWC
Whiskybase

Got a link to a reliable review? Tell us.