
December 23, 2019

This month’s Springbank session

Because we said we’d do at least one Springbank session a month. We’ll first have a pretty new one, then an older one from the good old days of Duncan Taylor.

Springbank 18 yo 2000/2019 (47.9%, Sansibar, The Clans, sherry, 310 bottles)

Springbank 18 yo 2000/2019 (47.9%, Sansibar, The Clans, sherry, 310 bottles)
This baby came with the picture of a circa 2010 hipster on the label, isn’t that lovely? Colour: gold. Nose: sulphury, no doubt, but it’s the kind of sulphur that just goes wonderfully with Springbank. It’s ‘mineral’ sulphur, nothing cabbage-y or eggy. Also bitter oranges, old books, engine oil, shoe polish, chalk, lemons, fermented soy (not quite natto, no worries), peat smoke, mercurochrome and beach sand. No dull raisins. Perfect. Mouth: it is one of those pretty smoky Springbanks, which could suggest this could actually be Longrow if you ask me. But shh, only the papers are right. A wonderful walnut cake, a few raisins indeed this time, pipe tobacco, very old malmsey, soy sauce, oysters, mint, lemon, bitter oranges, salty manzanilla, smoked haddock, flints and chalk, paraffin… Indeed, everything from Springbank Distillery. It tends to get drier over time, all for the better. Finish: rather long, a little more vegetal. Leather and tobacco, with this sulphury touch in the background. Comments: echt Klasse, even if I tend to like the bourbon or refill casks even better. Perfect full-bodied whisky like no other.
SGP:363 - 90 points.

Springbank 35 yo 1967/2002 (40.5%, Duncan Taylor, Peerless, cask #1943, 214 bottles)

Springbank 35 yo 1967/2002 (40.5%, Duncan Taylor, Peerless, cask #1943, 214 bottles)
This old glory pre-dates the Rare Auld series. These whiskies took whiskydom by storm when they came out, they were all coming from the Abe Rosenberg collection of casks. There were also wonderful Glen Grants, Glenlivets, Caperdonichs, Bowmores and many others. Sadly, there’s no more, or only a few that end-up in decanters. Ha, decanters. Colour: pale gold. Nose: sweet Vishnu, save us! Almond paste, honeydew, beeswax, pistachio halva, petroly riesling, peach and quince jellies, spearmint, old-style medicinal potions, gentian cordial (Suze), a touch of cinchona… This is just stunning, ad not far from some the early official ‘West Highland Malts’. I just hope it’ll have survived on the palate as well… Mouth: it may well have lost a bit of lustre, but it’s still kicking a bit if not screaming. Overripe apples, proper cider, paraffin and pollen, marzipan, something reminiscent of putty and even paint… It tends to fade away but I wouldn’t say it nosedives. What’s sure is that it reminds us that +/-40% vol. are not always enough to warrant the durability of a malt whisky. Finish: short and rather dry, but clean. It’s not exactly oaky, just a little cardboardy. Nice notes of pear and plum liqueurs, plus honeydew. Comments: an old one that now whispers rather than shouts, but the nose was absolutely magnificent. An old lady.
SGP:451 - 89 points.

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