Scotland, Campbeltown, Mull of Kintyre. Distillery operational. Owner: Loch Lomond Group

It is almost a miracle that Glen Scotia survived the crises of the 20th century and the periods of restructuring that were to hit the Scotch whisky industry. And yet, along with Springbank, it was for a long time one of only two survivors of the long and inexorable decline of Campbeltown, once a veritable whisky metropolis. Glen Scotia boasts a handful of bottlings, all now extremely rare, dating from the 60s and 70s and aged between 5 and 12 years old.From the late 1980s, its bottlings were similar to those of Littlemill, as the distilleries both belonged to the same owners. Since 2015, the Loch Lomond group has completely redefined the distillery's range and released a plethora of exclusive bottlings.

A Glen Scotia 26 year old distilled in 1992 and bottled in 2018, matured in a bourbon hogshead. Cadenhead was founded in 1842 by George Duncan, who was quickly joined by William Cadenhead who renamed the business after Duncan’’s death in 1858. When Cadenhead in turn passed away in 1904, his nephew Robert Duthie took over and turned the business into the independent bottler it is today. After Duthie, it was managed by one of his employees, Ann Olivier, whose stubborn approach to running the business led to much of the stock having to be sold at auction by Christie’’s (London) in 1972 to feed the kitty and save the business. It was then sold to J. & A. Mitchell and Co, who also owned Springbank, and moved to Campbeltown. Launched in the 1990s, the Authentic Collection marked the end of the previous two decades of bottlings at 46%, instead favouring cask strength releases. It became Cadenhead’’s main range. A limited edition of 228 bottles.