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Glen Scotia creates whisky for Maclean Foundation
Campbeltown distillery Glen Scotia has created an Alice in Wonderland-inspired whisky that aims to provide clean water for life to people in Madagascar.
Glen Scotia has donated a specially selected first-fill Bourbon cask to support the work of The Maclean Foundation (TMF), a charity that raises funds for clean water projects through adventures and collaboration with the whisky industry.
The charity, which was founded by Scotch whisky expert Charles Maclean MBE and his three sons, Ewan, Jamie, and Lachlan, has already provided clean water for life to nearly 2,000 Madagascans.
Glen Scotia’s donation has resulted in 210 bottles of eight-year-old whisky, which rests at 59.1% ABV. The sale of each £115 (US$152) bottle has the potential to provide someone with clean water for life.
“Access to clean water is a basic human need, yet for many communities in rural Madagascar, it remains a luxury,” explained Lachlan Maclean.
“It costs £6,000 (US$7,934) to build and maintain a clean water borehole that can serve 200 people for up to 100 years. With each bottle sold, we’ll give people clean water for life by funding the drilling and construction of boreholes, creating long-term positive change for communities.”
Literary inspiration
The charity bottling has been inspired by Lewis Carroll’s classic novel, Alice in Wonderland.
The bottle was designed by Scottish creative agency Contagious, and features a narration by Charles Maclean, who helped select the cask.
He tells the story of the liquid through the window of Alice in Wonderland, as he believes it shares the same call to ‘drink me’ that enticed Alice into a world of wonder in the novel.
Maclean described the whisky as a triumph, noting it has “a lovely golden colour, completely clean and remarkably mature for its age.”
Maclean detected fruity top notes, with a slightly mineralic note, too. “It somewhat reminds me of aromatherapy oil,” he remarked, adding that “it starts sweet, then becomes distinctly salty with some white pepper and peppery-spice in the mid-palate. It’s very pleasant and very easy to drink. I’m also detecting a vanilla and toffee note, which you would expect from American oak.”
Glen Scotia’s master distiller and distillery manager, Iain McAlister, credits the site’s traditional dunnage warehouse in Campbeltown for the ‘amazing complexities’ in the whisky’s flavour. “This young, unpeated, first-fill Bourbon liquid is a real sweet spot for Glen Scotia, demonstrating our signature distillery style – a whisky full of tropical fruit, oiliness, and that distinct hint of the sea. It’s unmistakably Campbeltown and we’re so pleased Charles went with this selection for such an important project.”
McAlister and his team said they are ‘in awe’ of the work done by Charles Maclean, describing the Foundation and his sons in helping those less fortunate than themselves, as his ‘legacy’.
He added: “Charles has become a wonderful friend to us over the years and I’ve loved spending many an afternoon with him at the distillery, sharing stories and talking whisky, life and, of course, family. Family is important to us both and I’m in awe of all the adventures his boys have been on and the impact of the project – incredible stuff.
“Having an opportunity to repay his support by donating this cask to TMF is a complete pleasure, especially knowing the impact it will have for so many in Madagascar.”
TMF’s first charity whisky, an Ardnamurchan 2017 aged in American oak first-fill barrels, sold out within weeks, providing 700 people with clean water for life.
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