The Springbank Distillery Tour

My plan to get us from Islay to Campbeltown in time for the Springbank tour was risky to the point of being stupid, a fact I downplayed when sharing the trip schedule with my wife.  We had to get from Port Ellen to Springbank Distillery by 1pm; and we had all of a 30-45 minute buffer.  Dozens of elements could have gone awry and made us miss our Springbank tour (and the other two connected tours for that day).  The Islay ferry -- the vessel which delivers us to our hopes and dreams as per its whims -- could have arrived late, departed late, or taken too long. There could have been a problem loading or unloading the boat with its dozens of dopey tourists and their cars. One of a multitude of tractor trailers, which pin in the cars, could have stalled out.  There could have been Scottish weather.  The A83 could have had construction, car traffic, bike traffic, sheep traffic, or boulder traffic.  And as I planned this trip three months in advance, I was unaware of a bonus factor: the impressively crap GPS that came with our rental car; worse than useless, it had gotten us lost plenty of times each day.  So I was leaving a lot to chance.

You know who else leaves a lot to chance?

SPRINGBANK!

As you can tell by the photo above, we made it to Springbank.  We arrived in Campbeltown in time, though the GPS led us in loops around town until we had to spot the Grammar Lodge B&B by eye.  The lodge was in fact a grammar school many decades ago, and is now a very nice modern bed & breakfast.  The friendly helpful owners were there to meet us and chatted us up a bit to the point that the little boy in my brain was hopping around like he had to pee saying "Springbank, Springbank, Springbank, Springbank, Springbank, Springbank".

The tour started at Cadenhead Whisky Shop, a quick three blocks away from the B&B.  I made brief eye contact with the single cask bottlings that lined the walls, but elected to play hard to get because I had a date.  His name was Mitch, and he was our tour guide.  I say "our" because this was the day that Kristen was also attending all the tours.  Which was awesome.

MALTINGS

Springbank has two malting floors.  One has a 12 ton capacity, the other 10 tons.  The floors are slanted, not for any technical advantages, rather because the building is old.  All the barley turning is done by hand, not by machine, so it's only as precise as an overworked man hauling a heavy-ass shovel can make it.  The malting takes place for six or seven days (judged by eye, not by math) at temperatures ranging from 16ºC-20ºC (61ºF-68ºF).  The light is not controlled by lamps or timers, but by some dude (or dudette) opening the windows.

All of their barley comes from Scotland, usually the Highlands, usually the Concerto strain.  When they do unpeated drying, they use hot oil.  When doing peated drying, they first use dry peat from the Tomintoul region for heat and wet peat from Inverness for smoke.

Dry peat from Tomintoul

Wet peat from Inverness

Useful data

NO computers, just lists and notepads

MILL, MASH, AND WASH

Another one of these super sturdy mills from post-WWII

While most distilleries use closed mash tuns to prevent stuff from floating down into their wort, Springbank uses an open mash tun which does allow for native yeast and other airborne microflora to enter the mix.

They do 3.5 ton batches in the tun using four different rounds of water, ranging from 63.5ºC-82ºC (146ºF-180ºF).

Their washbacks are over 50 years old, but not without some recent servicing.

Mitch told us they actually will do up to 110 hours of fermentation if necessary.  This sort of length results in a very low ABV wash, lower than at most other distilleries.  Apparently once Springbank's fermentation goes over 48 hours, the alcohol content begins decreasing rather than increasing.

DISTILLATION

I believe I was told that in actuality the distillery is doing more like 100K-120K litres per year right now.

Firstly, I apologize for the crap photo of their stills.  Secondly, I don't remember if Mitch mentioned if Springbank still does partial direct firing.  If they do, that's yet another element of potential inconsistency.  Thirdly, here are the photos diagramming the distillation of the Springbank, Hazelburn, and Longrow spirits.  I'll be danged if I can explain Springbank's 2.5x in a concise fashion:

Longrow 2x (click to embiggen)

Springbank 2.5x (click to embiggen)

Hazelburn 3x (click to embiggen)

THE WOOD

Your eyes aren't deceiving you. This is not wood. It's the spirit receiver
from which the spirit is poured into the casks.

Mitch was excellent.  I harassed him with questions throughout and he answered everything.  There is no fear at the distillery that one of us is going to take this information and start fashioning Springbank in a bathtub.  He told me the majority of their bourbon barrels come from Jim Beam and Jack Daniels.  And they do not use virgin oak casks.  They also rarely re-char their barrels, thus a refill is a refill.

THE BOTTLING

Their regular range bottlings are married in a big vat for 6 months at a starting strength of 50%abv.  Meanwhile, their bottling facility, manned (and womynned) by locals, was located right on site near the vats:

We were encouraged to not enter the bottling area out of concern for someone getting a finger or other appendage lodged in the foil mechanism.

THE END, FOR TODAY

This distillery tour ended right here because another distillery tour was to immediately follow.  The one theme I'd noticed throughout the tour is the one I keep coming back to in this post.  Springbank, like an anti-Diageo or anti-Macallan, leaves a lot up to chance and thus embraces inconsistency (from the malting, to the wort, to the fermentation, to letting refill casks be refill casks).  This results in a whisky that is never exactly the same from bottle to bottle, but is of a quality without compare in the industry.  Now about that next tour...

Birthday Booze: Rosebank 7 year old 1989 Signatory, cask 1739

It is done.  We closed on our new house!  As you read this we're (hopefully) moving all of our boxes and furniture into an actual permanent residence.  We've lived in temporary housing for two months.  And we're tired.  Really tired.  On a related note, we'll be without home internet for five days, so I might have to go to the *gasp* library to do any further posts.

And yes, I have also reached the end of my birthday boozes, and the end of my Signatory set of six minis, all of which were bottled in June/July of 1997.  I'm growing weary of the mediocrity of most of this set.  I mean, it's still batting .400 as of this typing, but those three outs never even made it out of the infield.  Baseball.  The Cleveland Americans are looking really good this year.  I've already jumped on their bandwagon and have securely fastened my seatbelt.  Man, I remember when Brook Jacoby played for Cleveland.  But I refuse to drink Cleveland Whiskey.  Whisky.  I'm reviewing a Rosebank today and I've been looking forward to this one ever since I bought the set.  I'm really hoping the group winds up going 50/50, and since it's old whisky wouldn't a free throw percentage be a more apt comparison?  Basketball.  This one guy plays basketball in Cleveland.  He often sports an ugly beard and a receding hairline like me.  We're so much alike.  I'm weary.  Fathers, they do get weary.

Distillery: Rosebank
Ownership: A cadre of buttholes
Independent Bottler: Signatory
Age: 7 years (October 4, 1989 - July 1997)
Maturation: probably a refill ex-bourbon cask
Cask#: 1739
Alcohol by Volume: 43%

NEAT
It's the color of sauvignon blanc.  The pretty pretty nose is malty with LOADS of lemons and a few limes and some cucumber water.  It's a little green and grassy.  Morning dew on a field of wildflowers (No, it's not going to be one of those reviews, probably).  Peach skin and orange blossom honey (that one's for Tom K., if he's reading).  The palate is soft, but bright, fresh, and lemony.  A mild dryness later gives way to a subtle sweetness.  Malt, chili oil, tangerines, and sweet limes.  The lightly sweet finish has lemons, peppercorns, as well as toasted and creamy notes.  The lemons remain for a long time.

Going to go gentle on the water.

WITH WATER (~40%abv)
The nose gets grassier, more herbal.  Maybe even a little phenolic.  Still plenty of lemons and honey.  Hints of dijon mustard and floral tea.  The palate is sweeter, going from a aperitif to a digestif.  Malt, lemon candy, and a green herbal grassy note that peeks out here and there.  It finishes with limoncello and chili powser.

COMMENTS:
Soft, pretty, herbal, and utterly lemony.  A little tenderness, if you'll allow.  This is without a doubt my favorite Rosebank (out of 4!) I've tried.  It can't be accused of complexity but it nails the simple style with grace.  And Kristen likes it too.  So it must be good.  I want recommend this whisky, especially to fans of dry white wine, but this stuff is loooooong gone.  Don't worry, I'll be easing my reviews back into relevance next week.  In the meantime, let's all have something nice to drink.  We're home.

Availability - ?
Pricing - ?
Rating - 87

For Jim

Birthday Booze: Bladnoch 16 year old Signatory, cask 89/591/20

Ah, the oldest of the Signatory mini set's six whiskies: Bladnoch.  Almost 17 years old!  I've had split luck with my Bladnoch experiences.  Either they're pretty good or pretty mediocre.  Its United Distillers era seems to have produced the good ones.  But this particular cask was pre-UD, back when Inver House owned the place.  So I have no idea what to expect from it.

Distillery: Bladnoch
Ownership at time of distillation: Inver House
Independent Bottler: Signatory
Age: 16 years (June 30, 1980 - June 1997)
Maturation: probably a refill ex-bourbon cask
Cask#: 89/591/20
Alcohol by Volume: 43%

NEAT
The darkest of this set's six whiskies, this Bladnoch's color is almost gold!  At first the nose sniffs like a bowl of oatmeal with cinnamon and dried apricots.  But then there's carob bark and carpet.  Then dried pineapples and cherry sauce.  Meanwhile it also has a meaty/savoury thing going on: soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and mushrooms.  Once it's aired out for more than 20 minutes it sheds everything but fruit and spice.  Think cardamom and mango.  The palate starts off decently.  Whipped cream, strawberries, cream of wheat, milk chocolate, and caramel.  Then whoooosh, those notes vanish by the third sip.  A bright bitter note remains, followed by carpet fibers, and an edgy off note similar to yesterday's Glenallachie.  It's admirably un-sweet, but it's also un-good.  The finish has that decent start for the first two sips.  Milk chocolate, caramel, and lots of salt.  But subsequent sips leave behind only cardboard and over-steeped black tea.

Um, okay.  Some water perhaps?

WITH WATER (~35%abv)
The nose has become quite faint.  There's some of the cardamom and mango.  Maybe some lychee, honey, and cilantro.  Roses?  The palate is cardboard dipped in sweet cream and over-steeped tea.  Kinda barley-ish at times.  There's nothing but mleh in the finish.  Endless mleh.

CLOSING WORDS:
The nose is strange, but grows enjoyable when it settles down.  Though as the nose gains focus, the palate goes to seed.  Completely.  It's fair to call the resulting finish terrible.  Even though the whisky has its positives, I'm going to be extra tough on it because it's never balanced and I'm still having sense memories of the finish's crapulence.  And if I can't drink the damned whisky, then what good is it?

Availability - ?
Pricing - ?
Rating - 69 (the nose keeps the score from heading to sub-Cutty levels)

Birthday Booze: Glenallachie 11 year old 1985 Signatory, cask 4063

My first Glenallachie review, Woo-hoo!  I guess I should say something about the distillery to celebrate the occasion.

The distillery's name means "Glen of the Rocky Place", which if you've been to Scotland you may know there are almost as many Glen-of-the-Rocky-Places as there are sheep. With such an imaginative name, it was unsurprisingly built in the latter half of the 20th century.  In fact, next year will be its 50th anniversary.  But don't be surprised if the owners won't release anything to mark the occasion since The Chivas Bros would rather no one know about Glenallachie, judging by the effort they put into its non-existent official range.  But Chivas/Pernod didn't build the distillery, rather it was Scottish & Newcastle Breweries.  Yep, the makers of the ubiquitous brown ale.  And, in one more piece of random trivia, Glenallachie distillery received two of Caperdonich's washbacks after that Speyside distillery closed.

On to the whisky.  This is the fourth little number from that fun mini set I busted open for this double birthday booze week. Two out of three have been very good.  How about this one?

Spot the mold spores!!!

Distillery: Glenallachie
Ownership: Chivas Bros / Pernod Ricard
Independent Bottler: Signatory
Age: 11 years (October 11, 1985 - June 1997)
Maturation: probably a 352nd-refill ex-bourbon cask
Cask#: 4063
Alcohol by Volume: 43%

NEAT
Its color is the lightest of the bunch, almost clear.  The nose is all new make, ultra sugary, almost white rum.  Then some orange oil sneaks out, honey, whole wheat bread, and corn flakes.  Finally honey mustard and Belgian witbier.  The palate is hot, bready, yeasty.  A sizable melting plastic note floats above sugar, salt, and chewed grass.  It's a little minerally, metallic, and bitter.  A combo of notebook paper and sour beer.  It finishes slightly buttery and metallic.  Hay and sour beer.

Maybe this needs water or something.

WITH WATER (~35%abv)
The nose holds onto the honey mustard note.  It's more herbal now, more barley focused too.  Lemon juice.  Breakfast cereal box.  The palate remains mineral, metallic, and bitter.  There's a moderate sweetness to it, and it stays grassy.  Maybe a hint of earth and synthetic oil.  Still, it's an improvement.  Unfortunately (or fortunately?), the finish is neutered.  Just lightly bitter and earthy at first, growing spicier with time.

WORDS AND STUFF:
There was a marked improvement once water was added, as in a markup from a D- to a C-.  But if you don't like a mineral and grass filled whisky then this would probably be a big F in your book.  While at times seeming near clearac, this whisky isn't totally free of oak influence.  I think a really crappy barrel was responsible for the palate problems.  A barrel can only be used so many times before the felled tree gets its revenge by pinching an afterlife loaf right into the whisky.  That's a scientific fact right there.

Availability - ?
Pricing - ?
Rating - 73 (with water only, when neat it's around 10 points lower)

Birthday Booze: Clynelish 12 year old 1984 Signatory, cask 3089

Continuing with the birthday booze set:

While in Scotland I had a bland ethyl bomb of a 1982 Clynelish, so I moderated my expectations for this 1984 Clynelish.  Still I was hopeful.  My days of trying '80s Clynelish are probably over now, so it would be great if this whisky didn't suck.

Distillery: Clynelish
Ownership: Diageo
Independent Bottler: Signatory
Age: 12 years (June 13, 1984 - June 1997)
Maturation: probably a refill ex-bourbon cask
Cask#: 3089
Alcohol by Volume: 43%

Its color is a light yellow amber.  The nose is loaded with barley and butterscotch, then musty dunnage and mellow stone fruit (I'm thinking apricot) note.  With some air, it develops notes of motor oil, concrete, and agave syrup.  Sorta reminiscent of refill bourbon barrel Springbank.  There's a fascinating duality in the palate that doesn't sound like it should work, but does, wonderfully. Think petrol and brown sugar.  A combination of gooey thick malty pudding, ginger beer, and a little bit of acidic citrus (maybe limes) meets a dry super mineral white white, rocks, and soil.  It has a spicy, tingly finish with forest floor (wet roots and leaves) notes.  It has a hint of honeyed sweetness, but is otherwise dry.  A little bit of fresh ginger in the mix too.  Its length lengthens with subsequent sips.

This has everything I've been trying to find in a contemporary whisky, without much luck (aside from Springbank and perhaps Benromach).  It's earthy and mineral as hell, yet lightly sweet, fruity, and spicy where it needs to be.  The fact that this much character rings out at 43%abv makes it all the more impressive.  It's nearly oakless which may give some the impression that it's nearly new make, but I find it to be subtly matured and toned without tannin and vanillin creeping in.  To my palate, it's terrific whisky.

Availability - ?
Pricing - ?
Rating - 90

Port Ellen 14 year old 1983 vs Caol Ila 7 year old 1989, a Signatory Taste Off

(Please note: the fill levels for all six of the following Signatory minis were in the neck.
Because I do tastings at night and prefer to photograph during the AM for daylight purposes,
what you often see in my photos is what remains of the samples/minis/etc. from the night before.)

Four years ago, blogger Oliver Klimek said "Who needs Brora and Port Ellen when we have Clynelish and Caol Ila!"  In less than a year after this post well-aged single cask Caol Ila prices doubled or tripled.  That of course had nothing to do with the fact that all long-matured whisky prices were exploding at that point time (and continue to).  Instead, I think we can all agree that it's Oliver's fault.  Gee whiz, thanks, Oliver.

In 1983, DCL (proto-Diageo) closed the old Port Ellen distillery, but kept the larger, more modern Caol Ila distillery open.  Thirty years later Port Ellen has become the Karuizawa or Stitzel-Weller of the Scotch whisky industry.  Or have Karuizawa and Stitzel-Weller become the Port Ellens of the Japanese and American whisky industries?  More to the point, Port Ellen bottlings were highly sought after and are super duper duper duper expensive.  Notice the change in verb tense there: were/are.  No one except for those with the bankroll to buy a three thousand dollar whisky bottle actually chase any of the Port Ellen bottlings at this point in time.  Meanwhile, Caol Ila keeps on beep-boop-beeping its software-run production along, often cranking out some very good stuff.  And though the independent bottlings of older Caol Ila are no longer affordable to the majority of whisky fans, those whiskies can be had for less than the price of one's mortgage.  What a bargain!

So I found myself with one Caol Ila, distilled back in the '80s and younger than its official Diageo bottlings, and one Port Ellen, also from the '80s and at half the age of anything Diageo or the indies can now bottle.  With their straw color they both appeared to have been aged in refill casks, thus possibly very spirit-forward.  Clearly the responsible thing to do was to drink them side by side.

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CAOL ILA 7yo 1989 Signatory
Cask #4516
Nov. 29, 1989 - May 1997
43%abv

NEAT
The nose starts out with tar, roses, celery, and sheep(!), followed by a solid menthol medicinal note.  Then band-aids and a hint of mothballs.  And the PVC-loaded baseball card sheets of my youth.  The menthol shows up in the sharp and mineral palate as well.  A good note of bonfire-scorched marshmallows lightens things up.  A few Milk Duds too.  The peat grows darker with time, its smoke getting heavier as it goes.  Suddenly a BIG umami note appears and stays the course.  The hum of peat runs through the finish.  Sea salt, green bell peppers, and a tangy edge.  Some graham crackers -- we have the whole s'mores here!  A good length to it considering the age and abv.

It's in good shape at this strength, but I'll add a little bit of water.

WITH WATER (~40%abv)
All it took was a few drops to transform the nose.  Grapefruits, cherries, roses, peat smoked molasses candy (Is that thing? Please be a thing.), and candy canes.  Umami takes front seat in the palate, reminding me of toasted sesame seeds and the great toasted seaweed I had in Japan.  Smaller notes of cane sugar and bitter cocoa add complexity.  The finish is loaded with umami as well, along with a hint of sweetness, and a nice spicy sparkle.

COMMENTS:
While this may not work for every palate, it REALLY worked for mine.  It was young without being harsh, had some fascinating complexity, and seemed nearly oak free.  More importantly, it smelled and tasted great.  I wish I could say that the current super young Caol Ilas I've tried recently were at least half as good as this.  But they weren't.  I would also like to point out that all of the quality here is delivered via a 43%abv.  Though I thought I could yell "First!" for a review on this cask, Serge reviewed it twice (here and here), liking it considerably less than I, and finding different notes to it.  Though his buddy Davin (Mr. Canada?) gave it an 87, so listen to Davin on this one.

Availability - ?
Pricing - ?
Rating - 88

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PORT ELLEN 14yo 1983 Signatory
Cask #266
Feb. 9, 1983 - July 1997
43%abv

NEAT
The nose has a little of the menthol note as well.  Some fresh plums and peaches.  Plaster and something more than vaguely ureic.  The palate has a sweet malty start that quickly fades behind raw, hot, salty spirit.  It's a little woolly and maybe there's a hint of bacon.  It has a very bland peat character, but even that collapses behind a violent bitter note.  Ah, the roasted marshmallows make a cameo in the finish.  Otherwise it's peppery ocean water, ashy peat, and a lot of bitterness.

Perhaps it needs water?

WITH WATER (~35%abv)
Well, the nose is a little fruitier.  Maybe a bit of caramel and some peat.  But, nope.  Same quantity of pee.  Luckily it all fades out relatively quickly.   The palate is short on peat, which is a shame because the rest is mostly generic sweetness, bitterness, rough graininess, and a bit of cardboard.  The finish is similar to the neat finish, though plainer.

COMMENTS:
No, it didn't need water.  It needed to be sent to blenders.  Again, I thought I'd be the first to review this one, but nooooope, SV reviewed it too.  He thought it was an utter turd (my words, not his).  My sentiments are close to his, but I don't think it's a complete fail.  It's just kinda bleh.  Only once one gets over the shock of having a significantly subpar Port Ellen, can one see it's not a tragedy.  It's just a mediocre whisky.  Hey, I might be the blender it needed.

Availability - ?
Pricing - ?
Rating - 71

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FINAL THOUGHTS:
This was not a disappointment thanks to the happy surprise that was the Caol Ila.  My faith in that distillery's techno-spirit strengthens every year.  In this instance, though its whisky was half the age of the more famous Islay's, the Caol Ila was rounder and richer, and even swam better.

One can't assume that because the words Port Ellen appear on a bottle's label the whisky inside will be of considerable quality.  That's a little message to those of you scouring auctions for lesser known PE bottlings.  Perhaps some dusty Caol Ilas might bring the joy you're looking for, instead.  At least they'll be cheaper.

On Monday, the old Signatories continue...