November 5, 2014

Only two Springbank

Springbank. Young. Official. Cask Strength. New. Hurray.

Springbank 12 yo 'Cask Strength' (54.3%, OB, batch #9, 2014)

The latest I tried had been bottled at 50.3% last year. WF 88. Colour: gold. Nose: typical, starting with burnt matches, soot and plasticine, then these very ‘funny’ and no less typical notes of lemon-scented washing powder and gravel, then many oils and some cinchona. Schweppes Lemon? What did you expect? (oh, no!) With water: perfect dirty concrete after a warm rain, old garage, ashes and maybe just a little too much chalk. Lemon-flavoured yogurt. Mouth (neat): oh this is strong! Peated lemons? Softened wasabi? Then paraffin? Cigar ashes? Smoked tea? Love. With water: more love. Bitter oranges, mandarins, curry, ginger, lemon, peat, liquorice. Finish: long, tart, ashy, sooty, spicy. Pickled ginger and oranges in the aftertaste. Comments: the flipside is that this is what I had expected. Full glorious raw Springbankness – a spirit that’s got something to tell you. Err, I’m afraid I’m starting to sound like a… brochure. SGP:462 - 90 points.

We could very well stop here, but as I’m not into one-whisky line-ups (good one), we’ll try to find an old one for a change. Rummage rummage… Good, I found this:

Springbank 25 yo 1969/1995 (52%, Wilson & Morgan, Barrel Selection, sherry butt, cask #95164-3, 420 bottles)

Springbank plus 1969 plus sherry, a combination that rings a bell indeed. Colour: deep gold. Nose: instant memories of some of the Local Barleys or West Highlands Malts bottlings. It’s a whole, but I could try to dissect it. Say wet wool, marmalade-filled chocolate, prunes, raisins, some kind of high-end arak, beach sand, quinces, and chocolate croissant. Plus thousands of tinier aromas. Not-too-big sherry on a big spirit. With water: the mineral/chalky side is coming out more. Some leather and some walnuts too, which gives it a rather fino-ish style. Mouth: irrefutable and invading. And a bit challenging at times, because the sooty spirit would not bow to the sherry. It’s an interplay, as they say. Marmalade, pepper, prunes, raisins, camphor, lozenges, a touch of rancio, then more and more earthy/mushroomy notes. And a touch of honey. With water: it’s a nectar for the gods. Ambrosia? Please call the anti-maltoporn brigade, please… Finish: long, maybe a notch too grassy/bitter at this point. And a little too earthy, perhaps. There, loses one point. Comments: I think there were even grander ones, but this is very grand indeed. Whisky History. What’s also to be noted is that 1969s that have been bottled later on, at 35+, had become a little too oaky in my opinion. I’d say 25 (+20 in glass) is the perfect age for this style. SGP:562 - 93 points.

Check the index of all Springbank I've tasted so far

Pete McPeat and Jack Washback