...where distraction is the main attraction.

Friday, August 2, 2019

Springbank Gone Wild: Springbank 25 year old bottled for IAAS


Earlier this year the Facebook group (yes), It's All About Springbank, got themselves their own single cask of Campbeltown Candy. The spirit spent 16 years in a bourbon cask, then another NINE years in a Chateau Petrus cask. Whiskybroker.uk did the in-between stuff. And I don't remember the exact bottle price but it was reasonable, probably less than half of what it's going for on the secondary market.

As you can see from this pic lifted from whiskybase, the whisky's color is precisely the level of maroon that terrifies many a whisky blogger.


Distillery: Springbank
Brand: Springbank
Owner: Springbank Distillers Ltd.
Region: Campbeltown, on Well Close, just off of Longrow
Bottler: Whiskybroker.uk
Age: minimum 25 years
Maturation: 16yrs in a bourbon cask, 9yrs in a Chateau Petrus cask
Alcohol by Volume: 47.5%abv
Chillfiltered? No
Colorant Added? No
(thank you Doctor Springbank for the sample!)

NEAT
It smells of Carpano Antica, tawny port and grape jam. There are also notes of French's yellow mustard, ginger, metal, lemon, soil and a hint of sulfur. It actually tastes like a mix of sweet white wine and Madeira. There's also a plasticky side to it, and some black walnuts. It finishes very sweet and tangy. Dry cheese and that sulfuric bit.

DILUTED TO ~43%abv, or ⅔ tsp of water per 30mL whisky
Fewer sticky sugars in the nose, and lower doses of Carpano Antica and cherry lollipops. More mustard, minerals and metal. The ghost of sulfur haunts it throughout. The palate is outrageously sweet and bitter and tannic, with a big dose of black walnuts. The finish is tannic and cloying.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
3 for 3 this week: Where's the Springbank? I mean, this is a 25 year old Springer, something we don't get to experience much anymore. It would be great to glimpse the spirit at that age. One can appreciate the fact that this wasn't a quickie finish, but the resulting volumes of wine and oak have buried (berried!) the whisky part.

The black walnut notes are my favorite part, and the nose is a whole lotta fun, but it's too sweet for my palate and the finish gets hairy. The good news is it's far from a whisky fail like Wednesday's thingy. On the other hand it could be nearly any spirit beneath the cask's influence.

Availability - secondary market, if at all
Pricing - ???
Rating - 78