ralfy review 968 - Glen Scotia Victoriana @54.2%vol: (OSWA winner 2022)
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Hey Ralfy! I'm a Manxie who lives in Kyiv. Currently sheltering in a bomb shelter. The sight of you reviewing a NAS whisky has completely taken my mind of everything. Can't believe it!
. . . my sympathies and regards to you.
🥶 That ship has sailed already 😆
@@Shane4Bass how the hell do I read this? Is that a joke or are you seriously crapping on the original comment?
@@maritimeus there's always 1 twatbag on every comment thread mate, I wouldn't worry.....
@@Shane4Basshuh what?
That's exactly what it did to me. It grow on me, I love Victoriana It was debate between three AnCnoc 18,Ledaig 18 and Victoriana . I chose Glenn Scotia. It has a soft spot in my heart , I purchased seven bottles so far over years they did not disappoint. I have to admit Bach was the beast. All six bottles are absolute bonkers for a value. I am lucky to try them all. Thank you, Ralfy and Roy for OSWA and EVERYBODY WHO PARTICIPATE IN IT, IT IS HONEST representation what we really love as a whiskey society and enthusiasts.
Finally saw this for sale last weekend after not seeing any for a few years and decided to splurge a bit and pick up my first bottle. This really is excellent whisky. It's very aromatic and full of deeper, darker flavor notes. As Ralfy points out, this has some bitter notes, but the addition of a little water brings that into balance. For a non-age statement whisky, this is very, very rich indeed.
Yet another quality review. Before I found this channel mine was a scattergun approach to whisky appreciation. I naively thought that adding whisky was for girls or desperately poor blends. I now realise that its a constantly moving target and that the perfect dram this year is not neccesarily the same next year. Thank you Ralfy for educating me over the years.
Great review! My wife bought this for me for Christmas (it was bottled 02.08.2019 L2 214.18, and did not disappoint; lovely dram). She did her homework and looked at the OSWAs list! I'm so proud of her. She doesn't drink alcohol, but she knows I'm an enthusiast, and revels in buying me quality bottles. When she goes into a liquor shop, and the staff ask if she needs help, she gives them either a confident "no thanks," or asks if they can recommend any non chill-filtered, uncolored scotch whisky. The raised eyebrows or confused looks give her a chuckle. 9 times out of 10 she knows more than they do about buying a quality bottling.
Any hoo, great review, Ralfy...very informative and entertaining. Looking forward to the Extras episode to follow.
The biggest problem with Glen Scotia Victoriana is that it doesn't fit in my "Industry Standard" IKEA cube storage shelves (well, standard for vinyl record collectors anyway...). This is the first bottle of whisky I've bought that's too tall, and that's from a very big sample set. Can we please have a bookshelf-compatibility rating for all future reviews? The only way I can afford custom furniture is to stop drinking whisky.
Perspective is everything, and yours is most welcome.
Another superb OSWA winner review here, surely. This whole vlog is rich with insight, and distinctively candid. Well crafted and honest, this one is.
Interesting! I have both the 51,5% and 54,2% and I much prefer the 54,2%. After doing some research, there seem to be batches within the batches. In fact, the 51,5% version is not batch #1. It is the original 2015 release. Batch #1 came in 2018 at 54,8% and the 54,2% version is called Cask Strength and came in 2019. Of this Cask Strength there are several batches. I dont know about the consistency of Cask Strength version but I guess that there are some variations.
I am with you! I prefer 54.2% to 51.5% I tried several times but my 54.2 is a 2019 version!!
Nothing but compliments to share about my July 2023 marked bottle at 54.2%. Glen Scotia seem to be doing a good job of insuring the quality of this whisky.
Where’d you the idea to use commas instead of periods when dealing with decimals? Is that a european thing?
New batch just arrived here in Chicagoland (2024). Always excellent, some years outstanding!
Thanks as ever for this review Ralfy! I ordered my second bottle of Victoriana just a couple of weeks ago - it’s not always in stock - and as you say didn’t quite love it as much as I had done the last bottle (the first time I tried it was in a pub some years ago and I absolutely loved it). But I thought it was just me, so really good to know that my palette was on to something. Also really helpful to have the extra tasting advice. We are off to Campbeltown in a few weeks, excited to visit Glen Scotia as it was closed to visitors last time we were there. 😊
I just picked up a bottle here Canada it is 54.2% a\v looking forward to trying this, I love the reviews Ralfy .
Greetings again, Mr Ralfy, I placed the order for this and Bunnahabhain 12 cask strength. Happy times 😂 Next pay day will do 2 of the others, yay.
15:22: _"Don't go on a flavor chase. Let the flavors in the whisky come to you."_
Great advise. Thanks Ralfy. I think that's been a problem for me.
Glen Scotia along with Springbank and Aaron are my favourite distilleries. The Glen Scotia 15 is blinding… I love the Victoriana and currently half way through a bottle… brilliant distillery!
Accidentally found 2015 Victoriana batch in Barcelona last year (it was covered in dust, lol). Grabbed it without hesitation, based on your review, love this bottle.
Always love the black and white dogs in your background...🙏
Thanks and best regards!
It's a grand experience when I can share the same dram with my malt mate Ralfy. Water really brings out the sweetness on the nose, more in line with an Irish whiskey. The tannin bitterness hits like a white pepper. Cheers!
Just opened my second bottle, both are 51.5% and the second bottle looks to be March 2018. Loving this stuff. So many varied deep flavors and good viscosity. CHEERS!
Great timing Ralfy, a bottle showed up Saturday. I hadn't plan to open it for some time but now I'll pop it and taste a neck pour along with you. Stay paused while I prepare. OK, I'm back. Carry on please.👨🔬 Another note: Your mention of the bottling date sent me scurrying back to the bottle. April of 2018.
Hahaha same! Mine is February 2019. Cheers!
Your review of the 2022 bottling sent me scurrying for my 13/11/2019 bottle that clocks in at @54.2% ABV. Sadly, it was the last dram in the bottle (but I think I have another one in my stash). I think this batch is closer in profile to the "ambassador" batch you describe. Thanks for reminding me that I had this!
The 2022 cambletown malt festival release Peated 8 PX from Glen scotia is the best bottle they've released. It's the most tropical dram I've ever had
All six of this category are on my to do list. Bunnahabhain is the only one locally available. Makes for a great motorcycle ride looking in nooks and crannies.
I am an Islay man ...but this really did make me look up! what a dram! 🏴
Yes! I made a remark on your other Victoriana-vid, about not beeing too impressed by this version.
I tried it lots of different ways and was not pleased.
It ende up in the cupboard for at least a month before I returned to it. It was great
Ich freue mich sehr die Flasche Victoriana zu öffnen welche seit geraumer Zeit auf mich wartet, wenn ihre Zeit gekommen ist.
Danke für deine heutige Predigt Ralfy 😉👍
Underrated malt for years because of its NAS.
This malt has always been a favorite of mine. In fact all the Glen Scotia whisky’s are exceptional.
Last week Kilkerran unexpectedly appeared in a store in my Eastern European country) And also Springbank. So not everything is so bad, you just need to carefully monitor local offers)
2 years ago you could buy this in Australian retail stores. Not anymore. I'm glad I have a couple in the collection. I really enjoyed it when I last had a pour.
Where I live, this whisky costs 100 EUR - regular price, I bought it for 70 EUR - promotional price. On Black Friday, it was even reduced to 50 EUR, but was sold out too quickly. Nevertheless, it's a great whisky, I love it, and I don't quite agree with the 84 mark, simply because in a recent review of Johnie Waler Black Label, you gave it, as far as I can remember 77 or 79. Bearing in mind the price range JWBL - 20 EUR regular price and Victoriana at 100 EUR regular price, the mark should be at least 87 or 88, I would give it 90. As far as the suggestion purchasing all the 6 category nominees for 400 GBP, hey, this is my monthly salary, and it is hard earned money. I could afford a bottle like Victoriana only once per year, but there are some very good alternatives, both AS and NAS expressions. Anyway, thanks for this review.
I almost bought a bottle of this yesterday. I ended up buying Tomatin 14 Port Cask for the sake of saving 25 bucks. But this is still on my list to buy in the future. Ancnoc 18 was on the shelf too.
Tomatin 18 is excellent if you’re a fan of the 14, however the 18 is far far better
beautiful dram
poetry, so glad I found your bothy
Great drop. Unfortunately it's now been priced out of my budget.
I always was a fan of Campbeltown’whiskies. I remember the 14 yo ob 25 years ago, was a regular of me at that time.
Thanks Ralfy - I will now go away and see how the batch numbers tally with my past purchases 😁
Indeed the first batch was better. I also really enjoy the GS 15 which is a fair price and a delicious expression. Thanks dear Ralfy ciao 👋 S.
My favorite drink is Lagavulin 16, neet ,in a rocks glass. :-) I woluld love to try Springbank, but have not been able to find it. Peat vs. non-peated '-) Amen to the age statement observation!! It's Long overdue.
Superb review by the one and only Ralfy. I almost got this one just a few weeks back. I will look for an older batch now.
I agree on abv. On the whole I avoid, and always have 40% whiskies. However, there are some excellent whiskies at that strength. Probably the best whisky I own, and I have some decent stuff, is the Middleton very rare. That’s 40% and delicious.
As someone into this style of whisky i must admit, the first bottling was outstanding. Yes, the latest bottling whilst, not quite there, is still brilliant. I really am glad, for Glen Scotia, it has been recognised, just not that happy for me :)
One of my favourite discoveries in recent years, I only ever use to buy Japanese whisky or islay whisky, but I gave a miniature of this a chance and ended up buying two full-size
Thank you Ralfy for continuing to do the Good Work! I'll be keeping an eye out in the local bottle shops.
Speaking of plums... I recently bought a bottle of "Gold Cock Peated" and it's truly fun young whisky.
It's only 4 y/o, but the moment you open the bottle you know the distillery's main product is slivovitz. And the casks are kept side by side.
If nothing, it's something different and worth a try.
Me too, I also opened a bottle of tat Gold Cock, a few days ago. It is no stunner, but I agree, it is fun :D and an interesting change on the palate; and it is an integrity bottling.
Great review Ralphy. I have yet to try this one. Ive had the Glen Scotia 15 and that is easily one of my favourites so Im very curious about this, however, I hope for me that it doesn't become a victim to the hype. Ive been let down before by drams such as Ardbeg 10, Laphroaig Lore and a few others. Not that I didnt like them but I had heard so much about them by the time I tried them that it was a bit of a disappointment. Not as good as I had hoped.
Hello my new buddy malt!
There is one refetence better in the middle bottle for effect of oxidation.
Jura Journey 🎉🎉
One note but the better note 😂
Found a liter in PP for $59usd no added tax...so hard to find anything from this region in Cambodia...travel exclusives show up in shops years after release...stoked to have it on my shelf...
Enjoying watching this while sipping on an Ardbeg 10 as well as a BenRiach Curiousitas 10. Keep up the good work Ralfy!
Great video! Thank you for sharing with us! 😊
i went to edinburgh without any information of scotch whisky
saw this green whisky in shop
love the word "classic campeltown malt" which i don't know the meaning
came back home in south korea
and wow
this blow my mind, nose, and tongue
sold in 110 GBP in south korea
Great review and malt moment. Excellent conversation. Thanks Ralfy 💯🥃
I keep harping on this: the first bottle of Victoriana I had was in 2017, it had a gin-like floral, cucumber water quality that was simply stunning; never came across those notes again on other bottles or bottlings....did anyone one of you malsters out there had the same experience?
Didn’t Compass Box have a blend that gave the different ages of all the whiskies involved and then got flak from the Scotch Whisky Association? I remember that some years back.
Hi , amazing how much of water this gem takes, it’s my favourite till now. Will we keep getting this glenscotia version Ralfy ? Maybe a silly question as you not the distillery 😅
Michael Henry is a genius at Glen Scotia and Loch Lomond. Glen Scotia outperforming even Springbank at the moment.
Greeting Mr Ralfy, and thank you for this review. Please excuse my ignorance but what was the second whisky you mentioned which is from the West Coast ? NM, found it in one the previous reviews that I had missed 😁 Have a great one.
Now I’ve tried this a few times now… gotta say I still prefer the Glen Scotia 15 and it seems to my palette more consistent as well. YMMV.
Great review Ralfy! I haven't properly dug into a 54.2% but its interesting information around the 51.5%. Ill have to look out for a 2nd spare 51.5% bottle. I believe I have either a 2015 or 2017 version of the 51.5% still. Plus a 54.8% batch 001 to get through also. Will be a fun comparison between them all. Cheers!
Edit: Do you remember what batch your old bottle was? I believe i've got L2/298/17
I waited untill I had the bottle at home and the moment has arrived. Let's go!
The nose reminded me of my long gone grandads tool shed. Old motor oil, sawdust, a bit metallic - how do you put a price on that?
Omg I passed this one up years ago…all gone now!
I've never had anything else like Victoriana. For me that makes it special along with it being extremely morish.
I personally would like to see all cask types in the vatting stated either on the label or on the website, with percentages and ages of all those casks used.
Can someone please explain to me why the SWA bans such cask information on the label?
I can understand why the distillery would not want to divulge so much information but what if they do want?
Why would the SWA object? What's their concern?
😂😂😂😂, clearly you don’t run a business.
@@125ctg OK Cliff. Instead of just laughing, why don't you try and answer my question? It can't be that hard.
I’m probably inexperienced but this Victoriana is my favourite whisky to date. Been tasting a few now , had the GD 18 yesterday and I still come back to this dram . Wonder what’s age statements are really in it
i love this whisky, i dont have a reference to make with the initial bottling and living in australia i probably won't anyway nonetheless i think this will win again , beautiful and thanks Ralfy
I never bought Vitoriana cause its more than 100 € in a specialized whisky store in Lisbon. For me, too much for a NAS.
A fan of this distillery for sure.
I opened mine last week. But Wait 20 minutes before drinking?! I’ll have to pour my Cutty Sark pro as well to keep me going.
just opened a 2022 version ....
Good Lad. i will look out for this one.
Hi Ralfy do you consider the 15 to be better?
Unfortunately, there's such a limited supply of such great bottles like Glenn Scotia
Did you know that GS Victorian bottled back in 2015 with 51,5% ABV was artificially colored….😮
I have two different bottles:
1) Bottled 2015 at 51,5% ABV - not on bottle, nor box it does not say “Natural Color” - and on bottle it says - E150a added
2) Bottled 2017 at 51.5% ABV - this one states both on bottle and box: Natural color
That means - not only the ABV is a variation in Victoriana bottlings, but that early bottlings had a added artificoal color to it also.
Wonder if anybody has compared these two versions side by side?
Hi ralfy! I'm somewhere in the beginning of my malt journey, and want to go a bit deeper. Which whiskys would you recommend to try to understand the difference between a spirit-driven whisky vs. a cask-driven one (you mention these terms in your videos every now and then)?
PS I've almost through the first of your books and quite enjoy it! thanks for what you're doing!
Not sure if I can help you, I'm a beginner as well, but I can give you a couple suggestions: for a spirit driven whisky you should try Bruichladdich, they make very malt forward whisky, I've had a bere barley and it felt like chewing boiled barley. Any bottle of their barley provenance range should do, the classic laddie as well. For a cask driven one try something heavily sherried, like Glenallachie 15, or even an indipendent bottling. Alistair Walker, for example, focuses a lot on wine cask fineshes, don't know if you can find any.
. . . thanks for buying my book. I recommend you follow comments attached to reviews then see what you have available locally, at a reasonable price. The OSWA.co.uk nominations are a good reference.
Hi Ralfy,
Regarding the high prices of whisky atm do you recommend a buying reduction? I mean a lot of us whisky fans have quite a collection so we can still enjoy great whisky while we wait for better whisky-buying-days :-)
. . . best just to choose carefully !
new whisky buyers are lucky they have the OSWA's to be able to get the best, and not waste any money on lesser products.
Never had as much of a snifter of this but that will change thanks to yet another classic review by yours sincerely.
Ralfy, have you tried the Bushmills Prohibition recipe? I would love hear your experience. It's bottled at 46% non-chill filtered and has an age statement of 3yrs. Slante!
. . . not on my list for now.
Big fan of the 15, I'm yet to open my bottle of Victoriana.
This is a huge step up from the 15 imho, more than worth the slight extra price, sometimes it can be cheaper.
Quality aside, I can't support the ridiculous price hike Glen Scotia has gone through on the trail of "the other Campeltown" distillery's reputation (and price policy). I've tried four different Glen Scotias and the house style isn't for me. I have the old 18 year which I bought for €60 (it's now about twice the price in Germany) and found it underwhelming.
The price in Poland is hilarious now... greetings
i am sticking my tongue out at you, ralfy. you are too right. disclosure naow!!! what ralfy says.
Wait, so im reading conflicting info here. Ralfy and some are saying the newer nottling at 54.2 isnt as good as the earlier ones. But then some people are saying the 54.2 is better than the 51.5%.
Most i can find are the newer 54.2%, but i did find a 51.5% bottling, which should i go for?
I have bought it online and have received the 51.5%abv, do you mean that one as the first batch?
CS, natural colour, Unchilled filter-AMEN
Tax on spirits likley to be increased in tomorrows budget. Be aware.
I do think they should not be allowed to just say "x to y years old", they should list the age and percentage by volume of each age statement in the blend. But yes, they're not allowed to do that, and it's absolutely criminal that they're not allowed to give us more information.
Fantastic review - while watching it occurred to me that you are an “integrity” TH-camr -your videos aren’t interrupted every few minutes by adverts and there is no ‘sponsor of todays video’ nonsense
Never seen this bottle here in the DC area. I can find a Springbank, but not this one.
Another DC local. We can find lots of Ardnamurchan, too. :-) I'm happier about that than I am about the random Springbank sightings.
Judge's Bench pub in Ellicott City has 5 out of 6 nominees on their shelf. The only one they don't have is the specific Ardnamurchan AD/02.22 CS... but I found two stores with that bottle, too. We do all right in this corner of the world.
@@timkempisty258 Never tried the specific bottle of 02.22 either. DC stores have much better selection. VA ABC or Mont Co. state owned stores have terrible selections.
@@Boxer1250RT MacArthur Beverages in the district has it. According to the QR code on the bottle, only 1200 made it to the US. If you're curious, and if you like the light-moderate peat Campbeltown style, go pick it up. You won't be disappointed. There's a reason it gets compared to Springbank. The other bottlings are very good, too, but the finish is just a little short. 02.22 finds that missing piece.
Yeah, MoCo used to be better. It wasn't that long ago either. Anything they had on sale was a very good price. Well, the sales are gone, and selection is more limited... meh. There are other places to shop.
@@timkempisty258 Thank you neighbor :)
First?
Ralfys 1st review was in an extras as I recall - he gave no explicit mark though.
What was your reason for getting into whisky? Mine was the birth of my son 20 months ago.
84? This new score, old score curveball is highly confusing to me. There’s no chart for equating no the two, it’s jarring.
I thought it was ok, nothing special but a good dram, have you ever tried the Bruichladdich x4?
. . .no, not tried that one.
Ralfy, tell us about West Cork cask strength Irish whiskey.
. . . on my buy List !
Personally me, I never buy whiskies without age statement! Just in principle! I wanna be aware of an age statement!
Out of the shortlist you mentioned - which would YOU have selected as the winner?
. . . Good question. Ledaig 18
What the hell is going on with the ratings lol
Do you spend overnight at the both ever??
i said 85 ,, not bad eh ....
I don’t like the new rating shift. Why didn’t you shift your ratings up and use the 90’s more instead of down to use the lower 80’s more? It leaves me with a perceived lesser quality of whisky from you when I know that’s not necessarily true. Is it taboo to rate a whisky highly in the 90’s? Can you please review a whisky that you would honestly put in the mid 90’s so we know that your actually willing to acknowledge such highly rated whiskies? And so we have some sort of reference as to what the high end of your gauge is?
There's already a problem with Ralfy's 90-pointers getting an instant 20 (£€$ whatever) surcharge as soon as the video comes out. It triggers Fear Of Missing Out in a lot of people. The number has become less helpful to us, and more helpful to distributors and retailers who want to squeeze you for as much as they can. (This is exactly why everyone in the wine business uses James Suckling. He won't score under a 90, and everyone gets to plaster that big number all over their promotional materials.)
I would advise folks to pay less mind to the number, and instead rely on the commentary. Don't just skip ahead to the malt mark. Stick around, have a malt moment. ;-) He'll tell you if he thinks you'll be happy with it. There is no ambiguity about that.
@@timkempisty258 You are totally right, Tim. We should keep out the flippers. Cheers from Germany
@@timkempisty258 Well said Tim. Too many distilleries out there can’t wait to get a 90 plus from Ol Ralfy so they can run to their sales people and crank up the prices. It’s already bad enough that 15 yr old single malts today are going at 18 and 21 yr old prices of 5 yrs ago. I think the rating system is overrated and broken to begin with. It should be enough to describe the experience and go with the knowledge of that particular review, rather than a mark that frankly if you’ve been at this long enough, changes day to day depending on many factors.