Last month Douglas Laing has released the last missing piece of their Remarkable Regional Malt series, The Gauldrons, representing the Campbeltown region.

The Gauldrons in Gaelic means “bay of storms” and this is the bay located west to Campbeltown. The legend says that Robert the Bruce was inspired there by a spider rebuilding his net to keep fighting, hence the golden web on the bottle label and tube.

Since there are only three distilleries in the region, I think we can quite safely assume that 99% (if not 100%) of this blend comes from Glen Scotia and Springbank due to the limited supply from Glengyle which is kept for internal usage. Let’s check just how Campbeltown-y is it.

The Gauldrons (46.2%, £49.99/€54,49)

Nose: Hits the nose with Campbeltown dirtiness with a big infusion of Springbank character, peat and oils but on the other hand is missing most of the greenery and the damp earthy peat (thanks to the Glen Scotia malt in this whisky). Malty with big dose of pastry dough, honey and lemon and a sprinkle of salt. After a few minutes, some of that missing greenery comes up (can’t stop that Springbank!).

Palate: Heavy earthy and dry peat, cereals, salt, lemon and honey, white pepper and greenery towards the end.

Finish: Short medium length with lingering pepper and lemon supported by peat in the background.

Thoughts: Lovely blended malt with peat, big sweet flavors balanced by salt and lemon. It’s easily one of the best and complex expressions in the Remarkable Regional Malts series. Since stock is limited due to small batch size, if you want a bottle, best to hurry up and order one.