Four little Springbank


December 26, 2018

Four little Springbank

Always a joy to taste a few Springbanks. Clearly one of the #1s, or perhaps the #1 today. And one of the distilleries that haven’t become ‘just a brand’ yet, which I find very refreshing.

Springbank 23 yo 1995/2018 (48%, WhiskyNerds, fresh sherry hogshead, cask #63, 243 bottles)

Springbank 23 yo 1995/2018 (48%, WhiskyNerds, fresh sherry hogshead, cask #63, 243 bottles)
High hopes here. Colour: deep amber. Nose: it’s a heavy one, with high cask extraction, this very typical sulphury side, roasted chestnuts, notes of new tyres, old chestnuts, heavy pipe tobacco, fresh moist pumpernickel, and simply loud bone-dry oloroso. Right, perhaps half a prune. Mouth: indeed, this is pretty extreme, now mentholy, tarry, with loads of marmalade, prunes, old Armagnac, fruitcake, chalk, some slightly sulphury kind of paraffin, plasticine (remember when we used to eat some at kindergarten?) Some espresso too. Whether the distillate is still detectable is not very obvious, but we’ll say ‘yes’. Black Corinthian currants, some lovage. Finish: long, rather dry, thick, extremely oloroso-y. Comments: perhaps not exactly my favourite style because of the heavy extractiveness but it’s some kind of wrestler! Imagine this at 60% vol.! Also, it’s not got the immaculate complexity of the most famous sherry-monstrous Springbanks (such as Samaroli’s old 12) but it insatiably roars and kicks with much gusto. It was probably a good idea to bring it down to 48% vol.*
SGP:362 - 89 points.
(*) Actually, it was bottled at cask strength.

Springbank 25 yo 1993/2018 (55.2%, OB private for Feinkost Reifferscheid, refill bourbon hogshead, cask #596, 120 bottles)

Springbank 24 yo 1993/2018 (55.2%, OB private for Feinkost Reifferscheid, refill bourbon hogshead, cask #596, 120 bottles)

I have a feeling… Colour: straw. Nose: naturally. Chalk, fresh concrete, lemon, bandages, soot, camphor, cigarettes, aspirin tablets, kelp, gentian eau-de-vie. There. With water: more of all that, plus dry riesling and chenin blanc. Bandages and that typical mustiness that almost only works in Springbank. There. Mouth (neat): amazing pepper, clay, lime juice, paraffin, linseed oil, rhubarb, kippers, smoke. With water: even more on lemons and chalk. Superb medicinal development – this will cure just anything and make any other medicine as useless as Apple’s touch bar on new MacBooks (what a nuisance!) Finish: long, very mineral, chalky, wonderful. Lemon’s back in, the aftertaste. Comments: not all 1993s have been stellar, and could be that you wouldn’t love this one every day, but today I do (okay, S.).
SGP:462 - 90 points.

Springbank 22 yo 1996/2018 (54.9%, Archives, bourbon hogshead, cask #55, 259 bottles)

Springbank 22 yo 1996/2018 (54.9%, Archives, bourbon hogshead, cask #55, 259 bottles)
From a series named ‘Shells from the Bay of Caraccas’. I’m asking you, don’t they have any shells around Campbeltown? Colour: straw. Nose: it’s a more buttery Springbank, I would say, with more cask influence (here coconut oil and papaya), but it tends to become sharper and better while it remains a rather cleaner one, less dirty/greasy than the 1993. With water: indeed it is a fruitier one. Some lemonade, kiwi juice, and only then a little more Springbanky dirtiness. Mouth (neat): a rather perfect lemony one. Imagine someone would have smoked lemons and then made some limoncello out of those. With water: a little more earth, while that fruity American-oak character remains. Finish: medium, fruitier than most Springbanks from that era – which may come from the cask. Comments: this one’s a notch lighter than others, I think, but it’s excellent.
SGP:652 - 88 points.

Springbank 22 yo 1996/2018 (55.8%, Archives, bourbon hogshead, cask #56, 277 bottles)

Springbank 22 yo 1996/2018 (55.8%, Archives, bourbon hogshead, cask #56, 277 bottles)
That’s right, a sister cask (well spotted, Sherlock). Colour: straw. Nose: yeah well, we have our drier, earthier, more medicinal and mineral none. Less papaya, more damp chalk, more Springbankness. And there, seashells (which is very fitting indeed.) With water: perfectly pure, almost immaculate Springbank goodness. Mouth (neat): indeed, same comment, this is more mineral, more mentholy, earthier, with more raw wool as well than in the sister cask. Wonderful sharp lemon, also. With water: as on the nose, perfectly pure, almost immaculate Springbank goodness. Finish: rather long and very chalky. Just a tad sweet in the aftertaste. Comments: clearly my favourite among the two casks, but both are wonderful.
SGP:452 - 91 points.

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