Campbeltown 7 Year Old 2014 Cask 88 The Barrel Baron

Recently, The Barrel Baron – Dutch independent bottler Marcel Kip – surprised us with two sister casks from Campbeltown, Cask 88 and Cask 88A. The spirit was distilled in 2014 at an unnamed Campbeltown distillery and re-racked into an oloroso cask for a finish in 2019. But before that happened, the malt was first transformed into a blended malt by the principle of teaspooning, as you can also deduce from the label. We start with Cask 88 at 55% ABV. Clear fruit as in a compote with some apples, apricots and a hint of mango, but soaked in caramel. Hint of slate, caraway, vanilla, honey and rye. Coffee in the background. Very pleasant and less funky than expected. A lovely dash of smoke on top. That's a good nose, I must say. Oily and mouth-filling, nice and sweet and softly seasoned. Again that fruit marmalade, figs and apricots, but also woodsmoke and a lot of cloves. Nutmeg. Gets nice and warm, but at the same time remains nice and sweet. Great balance. Blissfully long, nice and sweet and softly seasoned finish. This is a gem from Campbeltown. And I’m willing to bet a crate of beer that it's Glen Scotia.