Glen Garioch Coilltean 15 Year Old Samaroli / Handwritten Label

This Coilltean is a Highland malt that has been very likely to be a Glen Garioch, bottled for Silvano Samaroli by R.W Duthie and Co. Samaroli admitted that he bought too much Glen Garioch of the 1975 vintage, and the Coilltean brand was an easy way to give him greater diversity of labels.

Glen Garioch is one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland. For most of the 20th century it was self-sufficient, malting its own barley using peat from Pitsligo, giving it a unique smoky character. In fact, in 1968 it was short-listed by then-owners DCL, to convert to heavily peated production in order to make up for a shortfall on Islay caused by a drought. In an odd twist of fate, the decision was instead made to re-open Brora for the job, and close Glen Garioch down. Morrison Bowmore then sprang to its rescue, restarting production in 1973. The maltings and distillery were shut down again by Beam Suntory in 1995, and only the latter resumed operations two years later, with contemporary Glen Garioch becoming an un-peated single malt. These pre-1995 vintages are worth investigating while you can.

Samaroli is perhaps Italy's most revered independent bottler of Scotch whisky. With an impeccable taste in single cask whiskies, and an eye for aesthetics (if not English spelling at times!), he is regarded by many as a visionary. Many of his bottles now occupy deserved sports on the pantheon of whisky greats.

Bottled for Samaroli by R.W. Duthie in 1991, it is part of the Handwritten Labels series. While Samaroli was famed for his keen eye for aesthetic in designing his own labels, this series simply features his own elegant calligraphy reproduced on them. This may be one of the earliest examples of his controversial use of the phrase "refined inside the bottle" on the label.

Bottle 590.