Two Single Casks | Various ABV

Fashionably Late

The Campbeltown Whisky Festival had more or less finished by the time I got there. This may not sound like the ideal way to do it, but it turned out to be a great one nonetheless.

I didn’t arrive until late on the Friday evening, by which point most of the big set-piece events had wrapped up and a fair few of the whisky die-hards were already making tracks north, lining themselves up for ferries and the start of Feis Ile. Campbeltown was easing out of one crowd and, almost immediately, into another, with the town also preparing for the Mull of Kintyre half marathon on the Sunday. The whisky folk were thinning out, the runners were limbering up, and the place had an odd in-between feeling.

To be clear, I wasn’t actually there for the festival, certainly not in the committed, ticket-confirmation sense of it. We’re in Campbeltown reasonably often anyway, usually just because it is a lovely place to be, so the whisky side of things tends to be an absurd bonus rather than the central reason for a trip. Many may consider that to be a ridiculous sentence to write about Campbeltown, obviously, but it is true. Still, when a visit happens to overlap with the closing embers of the Campbeltown Malts Festival, it would have been irresponsible not to take advantage of that.

Thankfully, Mrs Campbell was entirely agreeable to me vanishing for a few hours on the Saturday afternoon and into evening to make the most of those final hours. My plan was simple enough: catch the last couple of festival-adjacent events, try a few interesting things and, ideally, avoid doing anything too daft before the evening tasting.

First up was the Watt Whisky & Friends event, which had the feel of a compact independent spirits festival dropped into Campbeltown sunshine. Those are usually the best kind: relaxed, sociable, and just small enough that you can actually speak to people rather than shuffle past them holding a glass and pretending you are taking everything in. There was a very good energy about it, the sort of thing that comes from folk who genuinely like what they bottle and are happy to pour it without too much theatre.

I had some excellent drams there, including a particularly strong showing from Decadent Drinks, and it was also just good to spend time around people whose enthusiasm has not yet been polished into marketing language. Mark and Kate Watt were there, of course, and the whole thing felt properly convivial rather than performative. Events like that are a reminder that whisky festivals are often at their best when they are a little bit scruffy around the edges and a lot more interested in conversation than spectacle.

It also always feels faintly rude to accept pours from people, enjoy their wares, nod thoughtfully, say thank you, and then drift off empty-handed. Or at least that is the story I continue to tell myself whenever I acquire another bottle I had not intended to buy. It is not a flawless system, but it has a certain internal logic. Festival discounts and a sunny Campbeltown afternoon are not a combination designed to encourage restraint.

After Watt Whisky & Friends I had enough time to wander over to Springbank’s Washback Bar, which I must say was almost empty. There, I managed to get a pour of the special Springbank 8-Year-Old released to commemorate the opening of the new bottling hall in May 2026. It was a handy little bonus dram to wedge into the afternoon, and very welcome indeed. Bottles of this one were long gone, and I’ve since noticed they’re going for £160-plus on the auctions.

Then came the final tasting of the day, billed as the “Festival Finale Tasting (aka The Big Whisky Roast)”: billed as “six personalities from six different whisky companies, each presenting a dram in a ‘lively’, unscripted manner”. It kicked off at 6.30pm, carrying all the obvious risks that come from scheduling a seated line-up immediately after four hours of day drinking in the sun. The only sensible expectation at that point is that it will either be chaos or great fun, and ideally a useful balance of both. Thankfully it lived up to expectations.

The tasting itself was theatre-style, with six drams poured by hand as you sat facing the presenters. This had the minor and amusing consequence that poured measures varied massively depending on where you were sitting, who was pouring, and possibly the general drift of the room. I am not presenting this as a complaint, you understand; merely an observation in the interests of documentary accuracy. It was particularly noted that those pouring the Filey Bay drams had a full bottle plus left over after pouring, perhaps proving the stereotype of Yorkshiremen being tight. Along with Spirit of Yorkshire the presenters included Watt Whisky, Boutiquey Whisky Company, Elixir Distillers and Little Brown Dog.

By that point the day had developed into exactly the sort of festival experience I tend to prefer: not a mad dash to tick off everything possible, but a smaller run of genuinely enjoyable moments stitched together by luck, decent weather, good whisky and the pleasant sense that the whole town was winding down together. I may only have caught the tail end of the 2026 Campbeltown Malts Festival, but tails can still wag dogs quite effectively.

What follows, then, is really an excuse to look at a couple of the bottles and drams that crossed my path during those final hours: some bought, some sampled, some opportunistically added to a basket under the flimsy but enduring justification that it would have been rude not to.

Review 1/2

Little Brown Dog Caol Ila 12yo, Refill bourbon barrel, unpeated ‘Highland style’ spirit, 57.3% ABV
£115 rrp, £81 paid with festival discount

Apparently I was the first person to buy a bottle of this from Little Brown Dog. It would have been rude not to. I am a big fan of Caol Ila, leaving aside the views on Diageo, Caol Ila is absolutely in my top 10 distillery list, perhaps top 5 on the right day.

I’d never even considered that unpeated Caol Ila might be a thing, but then I don’t think I had considered that peated Dalmore existed until recently either. Having looked into this it does seem that unpeated Caol Ila releases are relatively uncommon though there does seem to have been some official releases, something I will definitely be looking out for on secondary in future.

I also love that they forgot to mention on the label that this was unpeated and had to add a little round sticker as an afterthought.

Distilled in 2013, this is a 12 year old Caol Ila bottled by Little Brown Dog. This was a geekily fascinating chance for me, giving an opportunity to consider a different side to one of Islay’s most prominent distilleries.

Score: 8/10

**Something special.**
***TL;DR***
*The most special dram of 2026, so far*

Nose

This is an incredibly bright nose, my notes actually had “Bright AF” noted, which I shall leave you to interpret. There is a salty sweetness around the nose with vanilla, pineapple and cream. Definitely a nose that invites you in.

Palate

This is a lovely, clean, bright, sweet bourbon cask dram that you can taste the malt from along with immediate notes of ginger, there are notes of apple, pear and some well balanced saltiness, which I would almost describe as salty custard. There are notes of honey with a bit of citrus, there is an oakiness to it and a savoury almost meatiness.

It’s a thick mouthfeel, towards oily. The legs last a long, long time – it’s clean, warming and pleasant.

The Dregs

This was right up my street, I think I’m relatively good at recognising Caol Ila even blind but I don’t think I would have with this one. The ABV tastes well below the actual. It's an easy sipper (but temper that with the knowledge of the high ABV), but with a ton of complexity. I think this could be my favourite dram of 2026 so far.

Score: 8/10

Review 2/2

Little Brown Dog Longmorn 11yo, first-fill bourbon barrel, 252 bottles, 58.9% ABV
£105 paid now mostly sold out

This is an 11 year First Fill Bourbon cask with only 252 bottles. Longmorn isn’t something I have tried much of, but there have been some good reviews previously like Murdo’s piece from 2024 - Longmorn 16yo Then & Now — Dramface. Having tried a version of the Longmorn 16 Official Bottling I don’t think it quite reached the heights of Murdo’s 9/10.

The colour of this is so, so pale, you couldn’t even refer to it as gold or straw, it is heading towards clear, it is the absolute antithesis of a caramel colouring added whisky.

And it’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Score: 8/10

**Something special.**
***TL;DR***
*A wolf in sheep’s clothing*

Nose

The nose is bursting with character. Loads of pineapple, soft apple, fresh cut grass and vanilla with a bit of peach and almost a creamy note to it. It is an inviting and complex nose but not overpowering in any way.

Palate

It is a deliciously fresh, clean taste that hits you, massively buttery with a smooth, creamy, almost velvet like texture. It’s a stereotypical bourbon cask but a really good one. The vanilla, apple and grass from the nose definitely carry through into the palate in a well-rounded, classy manner. There is some lemon, a bit of caramel with notes of fresh pastry with a small touch of cinnamon and white pepper.

The finish is a long one which does become a bit drying on the palate.

The Dregs

This does not taste at the nearly 60% abv that it actually is, I think you could knock 10% off of the assumption you’d have if you tasted it blind. There is a tremendous amount of complexity lurking in this dram which you certainly wouldn’t even guess from the pale colour.

I was tempted to score it a 9, it almost is. If I could track down another of these I would buy it on the spot. As you can see from the pictures mine is now down to the final dram.

Score: 8/10

The Final Dregs

The small number of events I experienced at Campbeltown Malts Festival were great and the fact it had significantly quietened down was a good thing, for me anyway.

The two Little Brown Dog releases are both such brilliant bottlings but the release numbers on them are really small. These two deserve some high praise in my opinion.

Yes, I have come away from Campbeltown with two whiskies that are unconnected to there, or even Islay. I dare say if I had been there on Springbank day I would have had a decent shot at getting hold of a bottle of the Springbank 8. I enjoyed trying it, and it was fairly priced on the day, but it’s not something I’m going to be paying £160+ for on secondary.

Independent bottlers encourage you to try things that aren’t readily available or those that you may choose not to try in Official Bottling form whether because of the ABV, the colouring, or any other number of reasons. And the fact these Independent Bottlers turn up at festivals and tastings to let you try these is a real credit to them.

I may have arrived at the last minute, but it was a terrific way to end any festival week.

Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. CC

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