Tag Archives: Springbank

Springbank 18yo (46%, OB, 14/301)

Reviewing the utterly wonderful Glenfarclas 29yo I came across some notes and hints of coconut. Coconut is something I always found a lot of in old Springbanks, so Springbank stuck a bit in the back of mind, when I was tasting the Glenfarclas. Very conveniently, I have an open bottle of Springbank 18yo on my lectern, so lets see if this Springbank still has a hint of the old coconut up its sleeve. If I’m not mistaken, this Springbank is made from 80% Sherry casks and just 20% Bourbon. Lets hope the Springbank coconut is not (only) from the Bourbon casks.

Springbank 18yo (2014)Color: Gold.

Nose: Ferns and leafy. Garden bonfire (smoldering grass). Lots of forest floor aroma’s. Partly creamy. Sowing machine oil and slightly smoky. Sweet cold black tea. Give it some time and this actually is a beautiful nose. Red fruit juice and sweet red apples, but also some Golden Delicious, combined with hot metal. The smell of dead, old steam equipment. When given some more time to breathe some nice yellow fruits come through. Dried apricots combined with mint. Very fruity Sherry, almost a sweet white Sherry. It also reminds me a bit of Sauternes and sweet Moscato. Fabulous balance. Wonderful batch of Springbank 18yo. However, no coconut in the nose.

Taste: Sweet, oily and nutty. Fruity as well. Strange enough when the fruity part comes the sweetness hops into the back seat, so even though the fruity bit is highly aromatic, it isn’t sweet. So not a lot of fructose nor thick fruit, but a thin kind of yellow fruit. Slightly perfumy as well. Well balanced and everything stays in its place. Not a lot of development over time. Nice smoky note too and the sowing machine oil is present as well, but alas no coconut.

This is great stuff, but I still think this is not a Whisky for everybody. It’s not a lovely, fruity and soft Whisky. This is more a Whisky with muscles. A masculine dram with oil and smoke. Although almost three times distilled, it is miles apart from the typical triple distilled grassy and citrussy Lowlanders. Artisan Whisky from a lovely distillery.

Points: 88

Longrow 14yo 1990/2005 (56.9%, SMWS, 114.5, “Smoked Sausages and Curry”)

So how was your Christmas? Here at Master Quill we are getting ready for the end of the year. Christmas is hardly over and in a few days’ time we’re seeing off 2014 and welcoming 2015. But we’re not there yet. Lets have a look first at a very nice Longrow. Two firsts on these pages. After two and a half years of writing still hardly any ground covered! Here is the first Longrow, or “Distillery #114” and the first review of a bottling that was released by The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS).

Longrow 14yo 1990/2005 '114.5'(56.9%, SMWS, Smoked Sausages and Curry)Color: Full gold.

Nose: Nice fatty, sweet and truly perfect dirty peat, with malt shining through (if you let it breathe for a while). Oranges and animalesk. A breath of fresh air. Sherry, toffee and lots of clay. Does it smell meaty or is the title forcing me to smell it? Smoked sausages? I don’t know. I smell a lot of clay. Just died down bonfire, right before it gets cold. The sweet spiciness might as well be curry, hot (temperature) and mild (in spices, ginger foremost). Very high quality. Coastal with smoke, Sherry and clay. No wood. Wonderful!

Taste: Sweet and smoky, yes bonfire again, a hearth in a stately old house with mohogany furniture (without the wax, that is). Peppery, earthy peat and licorice, bordering on bitter licorice. Fruity, red and black fruits, with fruity sweetness under the hints of ashes and mint. Also sometimes a fruity acidity wanders through the spirit. Chewy smoked toffee and nutty. Highly aromatic, almost thick. Nice thick Sherry and caramel. Sometimes soapy. Nicely peated in the finish. Excellent and warming stuff this! A cracker. The finish is big and ashy, with tiny hints of red fruit sweets. The hard ones.

This bottle was used in the Campbeltown tasting I did with my Whisky club ‘Het Genietschap‘, together with the Kintra Glen Scotia I reviewed earlier. I really liked that one, but this one is much, much better! What a wonderful malt to share with friends. This really is a stunner. Excellent Longrow. For this review I’ve tasted this Malt two times. Once in the morning, before breakfast, and one time late in the evening. The difference is unmistakable. It is remarkable how much more tiny notes, or details, if you prefer, one can pick up in the morning. The score is from the morning session.

Points: 91

Springbank 10yo (46%, OB, 10/342)

Why not try another Springbank. This one does have an age statement. It’s 10 years old. Just like the “CV” I reviewed earlier, this one was bottled (late) in 2010.

Springbank 10yo (46%, OB)Color: Pale orange gold.

Nose: Clay and spicy. Fruity, creamy and nutty, almonds. Toasted wood. Smallest hint of coal and old dried orange peel. Compared with the CV this definitely has seen some ex-Sherry casks. Nice nose with lots more balance than the CV. Here we also have a papery note. Not only fruity, but also floral, more of everything and a lot extra. Floral part smells a bit like soap, and after that the fruitiness shines through. Lovely.

Taste: Clay, balanced and pretty sweet, with a small woody bite. Nutty again and definitely some peat. Good stuff this is, maybe a bit too heavy on the sugared fruits. Definitely sweeter than I expected. Toffee and cream, and where the nose and the CV have some rough edges, this 10yo if far more polished. Velvety. Good stuff, but I would have liked this even better if the taste matched the nose a bit more. Hints of petrol, we’re moving in the right direction again. Sweet and sweat. Lovely.

Unique stuff and there is nothing like Springbank. Yes this may not be for everybody, so if you are the regular hotel bar drinker or are only into Glenlivet, Glenfiddich, Glenmorangie and Balvenie, this may not be for you. You might not like this, but if you aren’t, this is something special. You must try Springbank. Maybe not the best expression, but for this price and with this heritage you can’t go wrong. Probably one of the best 10yo around (with the Benromach 10yo).

Points: 85

Springbank “CV” (46%, OB, 10/12)

What does 10/12 mean, you might ask? Well, usually there are codes printed on the back of the front label, which you can read it through the glass. I was told the digits before the “/” depict the year of bottling, and the digits after the “/” is an operation number for that year, which in this case is a bottling run. Here 10/12 stands for the 12th operation of 2010, probably in January. In this case a bottling run. But also a marriage of casks or re-racking of casks get an operation number, so it’s not only bottling runs that get an operation number. There was at least one other bottling done of the Springbank CV in 2010 and it’s code is 10/123, probably somewhere from march through may of 2010.

Springbank CV (46%, OB)Color: Pale gold

Nose: Funky, raw and oily with added citrus notes. Reminds me of Kilkerran. Clay and yellow fruits. When concentrated, peppermint. Nice fresh oak, tree sap. Lemon curd and overall very intense and young aroma’s. Hint of unripe pineapple with vanilla and distant smoke. The wood also gives a nice spiciness to it, given some time to breathe. Good nose.

Taste: Less oily and seems peaty. Young, not completely balanced yet. peppery, paprika attack. Again this reminds me of Kilkerran. Oily and hidden sweetness. Traces of cardboard and oaky bitterness. It’s youth comes through in the simpleness of the dram, meaning that it’s not very complex and I was quite surprised by the weakish finish.

The initial mouthfeel is nice, so is the body. The nose shows a nice potential. Good Whisky just too young. Whisky like this needs some age to make it to the finish. I like Springbank and even here a lot is working for me, just the finish, thin, paper and watery, and that from a Whisky that was bottled at 46% ABV. Quality stuff, just bottled to early.

Points: 84

Springbank 14yo 1991/2006 (53.9%, Cadenhead, Sherry Butt, 654 bottles)

Here an example of an independently bottled Springbank, well, not really, since the Springbank Distillery and Cadenhead (a Scottish poet) are owned by one and the same, J & A Mitchell. J & A Mitchell bought William Cadenhead Limited already in 1969. Obviously it’s easy this way to bottle some single cask Springbank. Let’s see if they have chosen a stellar Springbank for the occasion. I case you might wonder, it’s not unusual for this to happen, a lot of Springbank got bottled this way!

Color: Copper Gold

Nose: Sweet and floral. Very easy and likeable. A hint of soapy wood and even a hint of sowing machine oil. Hard raspberry candy. Lots of vanilla from the (toasted) wood. Old, almost dried out, lavender soap. Powdery and dusty. Lot’s of fresh air, but after that, the rest is light, but balanced.

Taste: A bit anonymous really. Initially a bit hot. Sweet and floral again, A little bit of toasted wood, woodspice. Also some fruity sourness (from the wood). Not your typical Springbank. Warm apple sauce and some acetone maybe. Diluted fruit salad syrup, from which the sweet pineapple sticks out. Initially a bit hot, but with a soothing, balmy and light finish, that is also rather short and is gone before you know it. Great contrast.

I’m very curious what kind of Sherry this cask held before. For me impossible to place. Refill Fino maybe? Not a very active cask, but nevertheless the whisky has a nice color. Do I like it? By itself it is and good whisky, but without a lot of Springbank character though. It’s very quiet and laid back. ‘nuf said.

Points: 83

Springbank 36yo 1970/2006 (53.1%, Signatory Vintage, First Fill Oloroso Sherry Butt #1629, 461 bottles)

After reviewing one of the most popular official releases by Springbank, the 10yo at Cask Strength, this time a Single cask bottled by Signatory Vintage in their heavy glass decanter series that are hard to handle (the Cask Strength Collection). The fourth already on these pages. Hard to handle maybe, but so pretty. This time it isn’t in one of those clumsy tins, but in a beautiful, probably fake mahogany box. Even if the whisky is mediocre, the packaging is stunning. Let’s hope the contents measures up, because that’s what you’re paying for.

Color: Radiant Orange Brown, with powdery sediment.

Nose: Wow. Buttery. Very old wood with lots of spices. Nutmeg and ginger. Dusty toffee. Sherry as in raisins. Deep sugary raisins, not fruity. After some breathing it gets some lovely spicyness to it. Toasted wood and warming. Really great nose, with a developement to it. So packaging great, nose great, high hopes for the taste now.

Taste: Woody and dry. But there is some chewy sweetness to it. Roundness is maybe a good word. Also some bitterness from the wood. Coffee (Espresso), Warming chocolate. It really is a hot brandy spiked cupa coco. Also some cough bonbons. Not especially as complex as the nose is. What you see is what you get. Later some mint and furniture wax. Nice throat coating finish.

This definitively got way better when the bottle got time to breathe. Both the nose and taste got better. It shifts its focus from the wood and nice bitterness to something more rounded out and lets you see more of what’s underneath. Not the best old Springbank around but still a very nice one if you give it time and an open mind. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Points: 91

Springbank 10yo ‘100 Proof’ (57%, OB, Circa 2004)

Springbank, the strongest survivor of Campbeltown, and one of the few family owned distilleries. Once a great center for whisky, and once a region of its own, it still is, but barely. The people behind Springbank do their utmost best to let Campbeltown survive as a region. Glen Scotia is intermittently operated by the crew of Springbank, and of course Springbank themselves are responsible for Longrow, Hazelburn and Kilkerran (Glengyle Distillery). All names from a distant Campbeltown past. Founded in 1828 by the Reid family, who were married into the Mitchells. In 1837 the Mitchell’s bought the distillery. In 1897 J. & A. Mitchell Company Ltd. is founded, the company that is still on the label today. Since 1969 J. & A. Mitchell is also owner of Cadenhead’s. Between 1979 and 1987, Springbank was closed. And since 1989, production is again as it should be. Almost nobody malts themselves these days, but Springbank take the remarkable step to reopen the maltings in 1992. Springbank is a cult malt has a great following, and is by far the most popular malt on Wall Street.

Color: Gold.

Nose: Strong, buttery, oily. Sparkling lemon curd. Clean and a bit closed at first. Grassy and smells of wet plants and earth. Cow dung in wet grass, and some “young” peat. Coastal fresh, malty and spicy, but not from wood. It has hints of popcorn and milk chocolate. Very rural, gritty and bold.

Taste: Sweet like toffee. Creamy and spicy, this time definitively from wood, and seems a bit winey, although no wine casks, even sherry, were used. It is supposed to be all Bourbon. Mocha, chocolate and peanuts. Yes it’s “Snickers” in a bottle. Slightly unbalanced by the soury woody, and peaty, finish. The finish also leaves a minty sensation on the tongue. Sweet mint as in “After Eight”.

Long live Springbank, very nice and drinkable, with a fine full body. This version is quite peaty and oily, when you think of it. Now I’m curious how a more recent bottle would taste like…

Points: 86