
February 15, 2021

Long time no Springbank

Well, quite, but still, I'd say it's time to remedy the situation. Let's see what we have in the box that sits on the shelves at Château WF…

Springbank 18 yo (46%, OB, 2020)

This is the latest edition, ex-sherry and ex-bourbon. Always with this wonderful purple colour that Janis Joplin herself would have just adored. And Jimi Hendrix too, naturally… Colour: straw. Nose: I believe it was no first fill sherry and it's just better like this. Having said that I find it pretty gentle, especially after the 10 that I like so much and that I sipped a few cls of just yesterday. These wee metallic touches, this damps chalk, these touches of used engine oil, these sour herbs (tarragon), these rusty old tools, these clear notes of fino sherry, with seawater, curry, mustard and green walnuts, perhaps suet, surely soot (nice, S.!) … Just everything is to be cherished here and I find this nose vastly superior to those of earlier batches (circa 2015 and such). Now… Mouth: not quite the same class I would say, with more dry bitterness, this feeling of eating charcoal ashes or clay, and fewer coastal, waxy and smoky notes than in younger expressions. But don't get me wrong, it still beautiful whisky, it's just curiously thin – although I wouldn't say it is thin whisky as such, of course. Are you following me? Finish: rather long, a tad bitter, acrid, but the saltier aftertaste is most pleasant. Comments: excellent whisky, it's just that there are Springbanks, including contemporary ones, that I like much better. Starting with the 10…
SGP:462 - 86 points.

Springbank 21 yo (46%, OB, Open Day 2018, 534 bottles)

From the Campbeltown Festival, naturally. It's a blend of ex-Madeira and ex-sherry hogsheads, married together in a first fill Madeira butt. So, careful now… Colour: gold with orange hues. Nose: rather typical of the early 1990s juices, with these obvious sulphury smells at first, then loads of roasted walnuts, bags of 'curious raisins', five kilograms of Jaffa cakes, bags of dried goji berries, and just litres of sweet malmsey/Malvasia. A little burnt mint. This is very fine at this point, but these noses may lead to very unbalanced palates, in my short experience. Only one way to find out… Mouth: wah! Smoked walnut wine, salted brandy, blueberry mustard, ashes, cloves, chocolate sauce (mole), roasted sesame oil (love that), then a growing tarry bitterness. Over-infused lapsang souchong. Loads of cardamom seeds too. Well I wouldn't call this baby 'Mr Balance'. Finish: long, bitter, peppery and all on very bitter chocolate then. Like 99% cocoa. Comments: I'd say it's a devilishly chocolaty Springbank for crazy Springbank fans who've already got all the others, including the various versions of the 1919. Quite. But there, it's still Springbank and whats more, the sulphur pulled back very politely.
SGP:462 - 84 points.

Springbank 23 yo 1997/2020 (54.6%, The Whisky Baron, fresh sherry butt, cask #289, 553 bottles)

We've already tried some beautiful malts by The Whisky Baron, so expectations are high here. Colour: reddish amber. Nose: amazing, and what contrast! It's difficult to explain but this is probably as thick and even heady at times as the 'Open Day', but this time there is no faulty notes, no sulphur, rather this majestic engine-y fruit combo, with all oils and waxes any human beings could think of, plus anything you could find in an old English garage. With a lot of engine oil on the floor ;-). Cements, paraffin, touch of grilled garlic perhaps, glutamate, miso, walnuts… So, this is beautiful. With water: rusty tools and old copper coins. Touch of camphor and eucalyptus. As expected. Mouth (neat): absolutely fantastic, if a little on cheese and sour old wines. Balsamico, gruyere, manzanilla, green walnuts and bitter almonds, crazy extreme manzanilla, miso soup, many fermented things… Well this is some rather bacterial, I mean funky whisky! With water: swims like a champ while getting greener, mossy, with some artichokes and eggplants. Old digestive herbal liqueur. Finish: very long and mostly on green walnuts, with a leathery touch in the aftertaste and a lot of dryness. Comments: bone-dry, like a very old oloroso from a good house.
SGP:372 - 90 points.

Springbank 1994/2020 (48.5%, North Star, refill hogshead, 270 bottles)

Angus already tried it so we're a little late. Let's focus on the highlights… Colour: white wine (great news!) Nose: oh, pure carrot juice! I am not joking, carrot juice! Rooty, herbal, earthy, slightly spicy, fresh, lively… No, really, this is carrot juice! Made out of the best carrots on this planet, naturally. Adorable nose. Mouth: oh. Marrow, paraffin, almond oil, sunflower oil, salt, winkles (I swear to Vishnu), sesame, salt, caviar, lemon… Finish: rather the same for a rather a long time. Grapefruits rather than lemons. Very coastal aftertaste. Salt and peppered winkles. Comments: yeah, sure, obviously. This is like watching an uninjured Roger Federer play, there's something 'obvious'. Have I mentioned caviar?
SGP:463 - 93 points.

Bonus: just a few drops remaining from an high-end online tasting session we did with Whisky Live Paris and the Golden Promise whisky bar last year…

Springbank 12 yo (100 proof / 57.1%, OB for Samaroli, early 1980s, 2400 bottles)

The last time I wrote some proper tasting note for this one that was in… 2004. My God, sixteen years. But I've tried it several times since back then, naturally. Top Five whisky. We'll try to keep this short and sweet… Colour: amber. Nose: starts with anything from a beehive. This always floors you. We're talking around ten various honeys (chestnut, lavender, lime tree, orange blossom, fir, thyme…) plus some sublime beeswax, pollens, this very waxy substance called propolis that bees harvest from resinous trees, plus a very wide assortment of dried fruits (figs and dates first), plus myriads of mentholy and lemony herbs. We could go on for hours and hours but I suppose you've got better things to do. No water needed, for once – how could it become any more complex? Mouth (neat): incredible. Tars, waxes, honeys, herbs, medicinal substances, dried fruits (longans are very obvious), and things only known to gods, including minerals, herbs, and various organic substances, some not even identified and recorded by Man yet. Yeah yeah. Finish: sadly. Comments: after all, we don't change, do we? Huge whisky that needs time and patience. Sixteen years. Top five indeed.
SGP:562 - 98 points.

(Merci François, Ryan)

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