Writing a series of reviews on Cask finished whiskies in 2025, I cannot skip the one distillery that arguably gives us some of the most interesting uses of non-traditional casks. And does so at an incredible value point (at least in the UK). A distillery that just released its first 10 year old: Glasgow 1770. I tasted some of the Small Batch series previously, but today I review the Glasgow 1770 Peated Marsala Cask.
TL:DR: Another great peat+sweet wine cask showing from Glasgow
Score*: 7, Very good stuff
I may be slightly cheating…
Or, to be honest, I very much am. I am cheating because this whisky is not a cask finished whisky. The Glasgow 1770 Peated Marsala cask in today’s review is made up of whisky fully aged in Marsala casks for over 7 years. But I hope you can pardon the indiscretion, as it still fits into the wider topic of “non-traditional casks”. Plus, I really wanted to review another Glasgow 1770 whisky in this series, and this is the only one I had available that I had not reviewed previously.
Marsala and whiskey
The other reason why I crowbarred this in is that, being Italian, I wanted to include a Marsala cask Finish. Marsala is a bit of an odd choice. Among wine drinkers, it holds the non-enviable position of being famous but not for its quality. Rather, for its terrible reputation. I am providing more detail below in my usual infographic, but let’s just say that for most people, Marsala has fallen to the status of a wine only fit for cooking. Industrial production is very much to blame for this, and luckily, some producers (most notably De Bartoli) are working to revive this once popular wine.
A bit like Sherry, Marsala’s use in whisky ageing has helped bring back some spark to this wine. I would not be surprised if some Marsala casks ended up for whisky ageing in the 19th century. After all this was a wine created specifically for the British market, but that is, nonetheless, my personal conjecture. What is well documented is that Marsala cask finish or ageing exploded in the early 2000s. Two distilleries in particular, Arran and Edradour, used Marsala finishes extensively back then for special releases.
While Edradour occasionally still releases Marsala finished and aged whiskies, Arran predominantly limits the use of these casks to one-off distillery exclusives nowadays. Other distilleries like Kilchoman, GlenAllachie, Aultmore, Tomatin have released Marsala cask-aged or finished whiskies in the past 3-4 years. Marsala, it seems, is more appreciated by whisky drinkers than wine drinkers nowadays.
Marsala wine 101
As with all the other posts in this Cask Finishing series, below you will find an introductory infographic to Marsala, the cask finish used for the Glasgow 1770 I am about to review. If you prefer jumping to the review directly, click here.
Glasgow 1770 Small Batch Marsala Cask Peated
Specs
Price paid: £59.50
Lot: Batch 1 (860 bottles)
ABV: 60.2%
Natural colour: Yes
Non-chill filtered: Yes
Casks Used: A vatting of 3 casks matured fully in Marsala wine casks for over 7 years
Tasting Notes
Colour: A lovely light coppery amber.
Nose: There is a ton of complexity: Savoury, fruit & peat, meatiness, some spice and something slightly refreshing and balsamic to round things off. The Initial impression is ripe and stewed fruit, apples, plums, peaches, brambles and woody peat. Immediately behind those notes is smoky jerky, some spice, white pepper, laurel and a touch of aniseed. In the background, there is something balsamic and refreshing, like freshly cut cypress leaves. Once it opens up some more the peat smoke becomes more evident and there is some dried fruit (dates, carob) and some nuttiness, like toasted almonds.
With water, it becomes a bit more austere. It reminds me a bit of the much-loved Manzanilla cask Glasgow 1770, but with a strong floral hit.The peat is evident, a bit more medicinal, and at the same time a strong floral heather and orange blossom note. there is a little tobacco, orange peel, toasted almonds, still some fruitiness and meatyness (more like bacon now) but more as a background hint and a lot of dark spice.
Taste and Finish: I am positively impressed by the first sip, even at 60%+ ABV, this does not feel hot. Sure, the alcohol is noticeable, but integrated. The texture is velvety and mouth coating. The peat really pops on the palate, charred wood, slightly medicinal and floral. Then fruity notes, more baked apple and pear now, with a touch of brambles. Malt and caramel notes lead the mid palate, then marzipan, candied lemon peel and a slight bitterness.
With water, as on the nose, the fruity component fades more in the background. The peat is slightly toned down, more woody than anything else, and again there is more nutty notes, marzipan but also hazelnuts, spice and a hint of tobacco,
The finish is medium long, smoky and meaty, then baked fruit finishing on more citrusy notes and a slight salinity.
Score*: 7, Very good stuff
I have yet to be disappointed by a Glasgow 1770 whisky, and this Peated Marsala Cask in today’s review is no different. This is a fun and, at the same time, complex dram, that, even at 7 years old, packs a punch. And while it may not be able to compete with 10-15+ year aged whiskies for refinement, it does not come across as young. The only real hint is the high ABV remaining in the casks vatted for this one.
I have to admit that I would be tempted to score this higher. But in the end, I decided not to. This is a fun and engaging sipper, yet it does not fully come together as a cohesive taste expression like the Manzanilla cask or the Ruby Port & Red Wine releases did. It gets closer with the addition of some water, but it also loses some of its complexity through the extra dilution. But I am splitting hairs: Glasgow 1770 knows how to do peated whisky aged in sweet wine casks well, and this is another proof… not that we needed one!
* Scores are based on the scoring scale used by Dramface, slightly modified to allow half-points
Interested in my take on a specific whisky style? Check the full Journey here and jump to the relevant Chapter.
After writing my tasting notes, I always find it interesting to look at other opinions. Here are a few other reviews of the Glasgow 1770 Marsala Cask I enjoyed:
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