Campbeltown 7 yo Blended Malt (57.4%, Watt Whisky, 66 bottles)
An exclusive local bottling for local people - so I'm told. Quite curious to see how these batches are evolving as they age, assuming not all casks were bottled at 5yo? Colour: straw. Nose: familiar! Sheep wool, wet rope, rigging, lanolin, linen cloth, chalk and aspirin. Pure, clean, young, feisty and invigorating with a yeasty kick up the arse! With water: white flowers, flints, hessian, sun lotion and olive oil. Mouth: again this is all on wet wool, lemon juice, chalk, pebbles, cod liver oil, hessian, cooking oils and wee camphor and medical touches. With water: gets impressively oily and fatty in texture with dilution. Many more cooking and industrial oily vibes. Camphor, lanolin, ointments and a little seawater. Finish: long, salty, oily, more fatty cooking oil vibes, roasted peanuts out of nowhere and asparagus. Comments: fun and rather boisterous whisky that probably should be consumed shoreside in C-town between the hours of 2 and 5 am.
SGP: 462 - 85 points.

Springbank 8 yo (80 proof, OB, 1960s)
I've tried this already on these pages (WF92) however, that was the 43% Sutti import version. Not sure whether this is really an 80 proof version or not, I think I only saw these 60s tall 8 year olds at 43%? Anyway, for the record… Colour: gold. Nose: extremely focussed on medical vapour rubs such as tiger balm, also medical embrocations, bandages, gauze, iodine and eucalyptus oils. Immensely fatty and full of many herbal extracts, mineral oils, animal fats, suet and mustard oil. Hugely charismatic distillate - if perhaps slightly lopsided towards these very precise medical aspects. Mouth: pin sharp medicines, mineral oils, waxed canvass, seawater, pickling juices, natural tar, salted liquorice and some pretty heavy umami paste flavours. Very savoury, herbal and medicinal. Finish: long, salty, peaty, oily and with a lot of herbal bitters, soot and smoked olive oil. Comments: huge whisky, and definitely a different batch from the last bottle I tried. This is seriously medicinal and peaty old style whisky. Probably not totally balanced but the sheer force of personality is unequivocally mighty.
SGP: 464 - 91 points.

Springbank 10 yo 2009/2019 'Local Barley' (56.2%, OB, 9000 bottles)
Composed of 77% bourbon, 20% sherry and 3% port casks apparently. Colour: pale gold. Nose: perhaps a more gentle profile of Springbank. Initially I find olive oil, light camphor notes, freshly milled grist, hints of bandages and sheep wool. Over time it starts to evolve some very lovely notes of sea air and grapefruit. Gaining complexity and some very typical distillery character along the way. With water: becomes quite pointedly salty, brine and citric with lemons and limes galore. Waxes, mineral salts and beach pebbles. Mouth: here we go! Big coastal and seawater notes, more grapefruit - pink this time - lemon oils, bergamot, lime, waxes, fir wood resins, mineral oils, ointments and smoked olive oil. Big personality whisky. With water: eases into a pretty classical Springbank mix of waxes, olive oil, seawater and various citrus fruits with their rinds intact. Superb texture and mouthfeel. Finish: long, peppery, mineral, salty, waxy and with a nicely delicate peat smoke thread. Comments: started quiet, but unfolded pretty quickly into some Grade A modern Springbank. The palate is really superb!
SGP: 463 - 90 points.

Springbank 10 yo 2010/2020 'Local Barley' (55.6%, OB, oloroso sherry, 8500 bottles)
Colour: deep amber. Nose: cherries and some other assorted red fruits strike first, also rather a lot of polished and quite scented hardwoods, resins, black tea and pipe tobacco. Dark chocolate with sea salt and dark fruits stewed with spices. impressively clean sherry so far. With water: focused on jams, wood spices, dark fruit cordials, lapsing souchong tea and cheng pi aged orange peels. Mouth: the Springbank certainly comes through loud and clear, which is good news, although I think the peat and medicine of the distillate maybe jar slightly with the sherry cask. Some more hardwood resins, jasmine, black tea, tobacco, herbal toothpaste and salted liquorice. There's also something like peated cola syrup going on - root beer maybe more accurate. With water: rather tarry, peppery, on creosote, ointments, TCP, bergamot and smoked black beers. Smoked paprika, game meats, anchovy paste and eucalyptus again. Powerful stuff that's probably not perfectly balanced but a lot of fun. Finish: long, very herbal and medical, medicated toothpaste, mouthwash, bitter blood orange marmalade, hessian, black pepper and more cured meats. Comments: great distillate and very good 'modern' sherry casks don't necessarily equal terrific whisky, especially when you introduce peat into the mix. Now, I'm probably being a bit nit-picky here - this is still an excellent and very fun whisky. You just have to like these rather pointed and syrupy medical vibes.
SGP: 663 - 87 points.

Springbank 19 yo 2001/2021 (50.1%, Cadenhead Authentic Collection, bourbon barrel, 204 bottles)
Colour: pale gold. Nose: soft medicines, heather smoke, herbal infusions, Scotch broth, bandages, wet beach pebbles, white flowers… these batches are just totally brilliant I'm afraid. A feathery, crystalline peat smoke with chalk, lanolin, lemon rind and seawater. Also some crystallised exotic fruits, lemon barley water and drops of smoked olive oil. The kind of nose you could just spend ages picking apart in detail. With water: a tad more floral, a few more pollens, slightly drier, slightly more crisp and coastal. Some more citrus rinds and more subtle things like smoked teas and fruit syrups. Mouth: perfect smokiness, peatiness, coastal freshness, waxes, minerals, citrons, chalk, menthol tobacco, medical embrocations, salted honey, heather beer, ointments. Totally superb and feels like it was captured at a perfect age. With water: perfectly sooty, waxy, mineral and oily. A wonderfully thick but not too assertive peat smoke flavour, white pepper, lanolin, mineral oils, shoe polish and more waxy lemon rind vibes. Finish: long, lightly smoky, sooty, resinous, still full of coastal freshness, dried flowers and peppery waxy flavours. Comments: hard to beat. These vintages at this age are just outstanding. A great cask that's alive from start to finish with distillery character.
SGP: 563 - 91 points.

Springbank 28 yo 1992/2021 (50.9%, Milroy's Of Soho, cask #185, hogshead)
Colour: gold. Nose: there's something rather funny and '1992ish' about this one, things like cheese rind and curds, something slightly lactic anyway, but that's not intended negatively. This is still quite oily, syrupy sweet delicate peat, fragrant waxes, Barbour jacket, wax paper, tea tree oil, wintergreen and herbal liqueurs. Feels very concentrated and delicate, with a strong degree of complexity. With water: gets more complex and still very oily, mechanical oils, cooking oils, camphor, natural tar, metal polish, sooty coal scuttles, coins, peat embers and Scotch broth. Really quite a lot going on. Mouth: great arrival, very oily and fatty. Lots of camphor, suet, waxes, fir wood resins, herbal ointments, embrocations, mineral oils, beeswax polish and oily rags. An impression of sweetened olive oil, tiny briny inflections and dried seaweed. Excellent and beautifully balanced. With water: perfectly drying and a notch more saline now, mineral salts, putty, lemon rind, seawater and a dry, herbal waxiness. Some ancient herbal liqueur with shades of honey. Finish: long, becoming a little heathery, warming peppery vibes, more nicely drying waxiness, dried herbs, teas, mineral oils and umami. Comments: some of these early 90s batches can be pretty unlikely, but this one really sings. Same quality as the 2001.
562 - 91 points.