HAZELBURN 2007 12YO - CADENHEAD AUTHENTIC COLLECTION

It's time to review another recent release from the good folks in Campbeltown, Wm. Cadenheads. Released late in Autumn 2020, this triple distilled unpeated Springbank carries the name Hazelburn.

The triple distilled unpeated style was introduced by then Manager Franck McHardy, who'd returned to manage Springbank after a stay in Northern Ireland and a job at Bushmills Distillery, where whisky is also triple distilled. The new Hazelburn spirit was first produced by the Springbank Distillery again back in 1997. 

The name Hazelburn originally comes from another distillery in Campbeltown (Early 18th Century - 1925/26) and was at the time, one of the biggest distilleries in Campbeltown. 

This particular edition comes from a single re-charred bourbon hogshead. Something that previously has worked very well with the Springbank spirit

Casks in the Springbank courtyard May 22nd 2019 © The Malt Desk

Hazelburn 2007 12yo 51,9%, re-charred bourbon hogshead, 234 bottles, Cadenheads Authentic Collection

Nose:

Quite heavy - that re-charred bourbon hogshead certainly has a say here...
Also quite creamy, loads of sweetness from vanilla and a strawberry note, hints of oregano and orange peel, a touch of ginger, custard and crisp slight burnt butter dough with the cask char also showing itself. A few drops of water brings out some flour/freshly made baking dough

Taste:

Thick and creamy arrival. If you've tasted whisky from a re-charred cask before you know where this style comes from. Dark honey, overripe banana, loads of caramel notes - that Créme Brûlée again. There are hints of cloves in there too, along with some fair bit of delicious but, to me, unrecognizable fruity notes.

At first, this came across as slightly peated to me, but this quickly receded and I found that it was probably the cask char speaking loudly on the first approach and at this point, I think I was right... This might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I love this as opposed to another re-charred oak matured whisky, I've reviewed lately...

89/100!

Sample was bought via my whisky network

SPRINGBANK 1993 26YO - VIRTUAL OPEN DAY 2020 DISTILLERY BOTTLING

Due to Covid19 this year, lots of festivals and whisky gathering have been cancelled. However, quite a few have also moved online and the Campbeltown Malt Festival 2020 that was originally scheduled for May 2020 was also moved online - placed in the last week of October.

The festival gave us a tasting each night from Monday - Friday, each tasting having at least a couple of star drams. One of those and one highly anticipated was the Springbank 1993 26yo Open Day bottle - a vatting of 2 bourbon casks. This was included in the Springbank Tasting Kit for the Friday night tasting along with 5 other drams, incl. a preview tasting of the next Local Barley - don't try and chase it down, folks - it will not be released until sometime in 2021.

Anyways, the purpose of this writeup was to review the Springbank 26yo - a, for some, a bit had to interpret dram. At least that was my impression from the comments during the tasting which left me thinking that the people giving this a not so good review, maybe didn't give this dram the time it deserved?
However, I did... I poured it a good 45min before I even approached it except for an initial sniff thinking it seems very closed up.

So what did I get from it once I went back to it? My notes are below the picture...

The Springbank 1993 26yo Virtual Open Day 2020 Bottling

Springbank 1993 26yo 51,1%, 2 Refill Bourbon Hogsheads, 432 bottles, Springbank Virtual Open Day 2020

Nose:
The Open Day has a cracking nose, initially dusty and notes of wet sand.
A bit closed but opens up nicely showing a slightly peaty side before going fruity. Quite some brine in there as well. The fruits, some tropical and citrus ones are struggling a bit to come through but give this time and you will be rewarded. All in all quite vibrant for a 25yo+ whisky

Taste:

Quite potent on arrival, peat, overripe apples and pears, honey, cask spices... Ginger and pepper, a little salty, the peat linger along with a nice malty finish. A few drops of water brings out more tropical style fruit notes but never leaving its Springbank DNA behind.

As with the 24yo Springbank from Cadenhead released in 2019, this needs time.
Time to breathe in the glass and time on the palate. It cannot, or I'd rather say, it must not be rushed. Give it time and you will be rewarded. A cracker!

91/100!

SPRINGBANK 1995 18YO FRESH PORT HOGSHEAD - SPRINGBANK'S 'THE CAGE'

Outside, the World is going mad, trying to escape the Corona virus.
Inside and trying to keep sane I popped this Springbank distilled on 26. May 1995 and matured for 18 years in a fresh Port Hogshead before being bottled at 51,7% on 14. May 2014, just 12 days short of its 19th birthday.

Honestly its not fair reviewing this as its a one off, so no chance of picking up a bottle like it - only a similar one - if you're extremely lucky

Springbank 1995 18yo Fresh Port Hogshead 51,7% - Springbank 'The Cage'

Nose:

The nose is stunning, the Springbank character is there with both brine and peat, but its wrapped in this delicate wine sweetness that never manages to take over completely but instead delivers both oranges and Christmas cake notes. Stunning!!

Taste:
The feel in the glass is heavy as are the curtains on the glass. The arrival is mellow at first, the wine paving the way but never taking over. The Springbank DNA is so close behind, it instead delivers a mix of all things Springbank mixed with a very clean spot on port cask. Sorry Folks, this has to be tasted to get the full impression. Only thing I can say now is that I know this bottle won't last long... Again stunning! Lost for words! But you'll have to like this style of almost too much cask influence...

91/100

SPRINGBANK 1999 16YO LOCAL BARLEY - DISTILLERY BOTTLING

This highly anticipated bottling have been reviewed to death on a number of blogs already, but I'm going to review it anyway. I'm of course talking about the 2016 edition of Springbank's Local Barley... it's a revival of a tradition Springbank has, using barley grown locally on Kintyre for a range of bottlings. The first ones were distilled all the way back in 1965, 1966 and 1970 and bottled mainly in the 1990s (although a couple were bottled in 2000) and are some of the biggest cult bottlings you get from Springbank except for the 1919 and Millenium bottles.

This particular release saw the light of day in February this year and the bottles flew off the shelves everywhere at a price of close to £100. I'm guessing many were bought purely in an attempt to make a quick profit as we now see many of this 9000-bottle release appearing left and right on auction sites, which is sad really 'cause its cracking whisky... but I guess its just another sign of the times.

The 99' Local Barley is made with 'Prisma'-barley, a strain not often used anymore but was used widespread around the turn of the Millennium. It was grown on Low Machrimor Farm near Southend on the very tip of the Kintyre peninsula, then malted, distilled (of course), matured and bottled on-site at Springbank Distillery. The bottling is a mix of 80% ex-bourbon casks and 20% ex-sherry casks-

So, just how cracking is it? Let's take a closer look...

The stills at Springbank, May 10 2011 © The Malt Desk

Springbank 1999 16yo (xx.09.1999/xx.01.2016) 54,3%, 9000 bottles, Distillery bottling

Colour is pale gold

Nose:
My bottle has been open for about 2 weeks now and just removing the cork and splashing about 3½ cls in my glass raises delightful aromas of citrus and vanilla before my nose even gets close to the glass. I already mentioned the citrus and vanilla, but there's also quite a bit of a waxy note as if someone poured a large splash of Clynelish in here.

I get some dirty chimney and noticeable peat, honey, lemon oil, fresh grass and and wet dirt like stepping out onto the lawn after the rain. Quite refreshing and I dunno why but this gives me the feeling of nipping at a whisky mojito when water is added. The water also makes the nose give off some pineapple and lemon wrapped in a thin layer of brine... What a fantastic nose !!

Taste:
The palate is very well behaved without water, but add some and there's that whisky mojito packed with malt, loads of lemon and mint leaves on top +  plus a little peat!

The water gives the whole thing quite a Schweppes fizzyness but it never lets you forget you're dealing with a Springbank here. There's lots of light oils, like the ones you used for your toys when you were a kid. There's ash, vanilla again, mere hints of pencil shavings, juicy malt, delicate wood spices (peppers)...

Everything's just here in beautiful measures!

Brilliant stuff!!

91/100!

WHISKY AND CHOCOLATE PAIRING

Thursday April 24th I hosted at whisky and chocolate pairing at the local whisky club. I tried this first around 3½ years ago at Aberlour Distillery in Speyside and had often thought that it actually works quite well with whisky and chocolates.

My experience prior to the Aberlour event ammounted to having Port with chocolates - but that was 'only' with high cocoa content chocolate...
This time though, I thought I'd go all in and try the pairing with chocolates from Danish luxury chocolate producer Summerbird - the website's in Danish or use Google translate on the website... anyway, I'm sure you can get an idea of what their products are like :-)

Now what am I going to highlight in this post? Well, I thought I'd focus a bit on why I made the specific paring and, of course, on what worked and more importantly what didn't work - that, and of course a few tasting notes on the whiskies...

The bottles in tasting, April 24th 2014 © The Malt Desk

First pairing:

Springbank 15yo 46% (bottled mid 00's)
Praline Petit Four with organic raspberry cover

Why this pairing?

The Springbank 15yo normally has medium light sherry influence along with salty sweet notes and a mild smoky trail.. or at least this was what I counted on with this one as I've had versions of it on numerous occasions before.
Instead I found this Springbank very peaty with thought going towards the Longrow expression from Springbank Distillery, being oily with dried fruits, honey, malt and very peaty as mentioned above. This goes to show the small batch production they do at Springbank and underlines their status as one of -if not- the last craft distillery in Scotland.

This comes in at a score of 86/100!

Did this pairing work?

Yes, it did! Besides from the whisky being far more peaty than expected, it showed great form and spririt quality - no doubt about that. The praline had the right texture and mouthfeel to compliment the light sherry and also actually the very noticeable peat and the raspberry rounded the experience off with a light red fruit influence working very well in neutralizing the peat from the whisky.

If I have say 'but' here, I could have wished for a slightly more noticeable influence from the raspberry. This was not a miss at all, just a slight bump with the Springbank being more peaty than expected.

Second pairing:

Macduff 2000 11yo 60%, 1st fill sherry cask#5774, Berry Bros. for The Whisky Barrel
Chocolate truffle w/ licorice

Why this pairing?
Macduff is usually a bit of an odd whisky. It's also sometimes marketed as Glen Deveron and as that its far from a malt that will rock your world. Old Macduff however can be great and the particular bottling used in this tasting has gotten some good and even great reviews, so this was what my pairing was pretty much built upon.

The nose on this one extremely sweet, almost in a Pedro Ximinez style. It doesn't state what kind of sherry cask is used, so its possible its a PX cask. Also loads of dark fruit mint and orange here. The palate is very overpowering and mouth coating with its massive sweetness, bit of anise, milk chocolate and a little dirty (spent fireworks) on the finish.

This scores a very nice 87/100!

Did this pairing work?
The majority of people at the tasting seemed to think so as it was voted best pairing.
It wasn't my personal favourite pairing, but I agree that the sweet creme licorice and very powerful sweet sherry matched up very well as the licorice prevented the sherry from overpower the experience.

Third pairing:

Arran 121.61 2002 10yo 61,1% 'Pulled pork with Chocolate mousse', The Scotch Malt Whisky Society
Chocolate truffle w/ raspberry (heavy)

Why this pairing?

I tried this Arran when it first came out in the Autumn of 2013 and just knew right away I had to get one - actually I was lucky to even get one as it sold out at the 1 year birthday bash of Danish branch of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society. This has a dry nutty, oloroso sherry profile with dried fruit, mainly raisin and prunes, Vienna roast coffee, and still - quite amazingly due to its heavy sherry style - a little Arran character of apple, oils and barley richness left in this... especially if you leave it to breathe for a while.

A cracking sherried Arran that scores a great 89/100!

Did this pairing work?

Oh yes! For me it turns out to be the 2nd best of the evening.The raspberry gives off a big burst of raspberry to compliment nutty dry sherry profile and with this its like the raspberry chocate carries over into the whisky and vice versa. The outer chocolate coating of the truffle makes sure the experience never gets too dry and  the whisky and its abv of 61,1% never makes it too sweet. Lovely!



Chocolate truffels, left to right - mint, lemon and licorice. Picture with permission from Summerbird website

Fourth pairing:

Glen Grant 1974 37yo 49% Sherry cask#7643, Berry Bros
Chocolate truffle w/ mint

Why this pairing?

Older whiskies and especially sherry matured ones, can carry delicate mint/cooling notes both mid palate and on the finish. I've tried quite a few old Glen Grants through the years and based on that, it was pretty clear to me that the creme mint truffle should be paired with the Glen Grant. Lighter in its sherry style than expected makes this bottling quite a delicate whisky, IMO with Mocha latte and old tawny port and fresh leather notes. The palate deliveres a good combination of spotless oloroso sherry profile and anis and a little mint on the finish.

A delicate number, this Glen Grant with a score of 89/100!

Did this pairing work?

Yes, this also worked :-) Though the mint and chocolate took the lead in this pairing, the Glen Grant still managed to shine through with its combination of 49% abv and coffe, tawny port notes and old age. The mint from the chocolate also provided at sort of palate cleansing for the next pairing

Fifth pairing:

Inchgower 1982 28yo 56,2% cask#6968, Berry Bros
Cream puff of white chocolate w/ passion fruit/rosehip fill

Why this pairing?

Since I've not tried that many Inchgowers through my whisky drinking years, I thought based on its tasting notes, it could be fun to put this one in the tasting. This was a pairing done on the basis of other peoples tasting notes of the whisky and a pre-tasting of the cream puff used. so I was very excited to see if this would work. The whisky itself turned out to be a cracker! Thick creamy malt, ginger, hint of peanut, a little mixed herbs and oak spice.

A delicious malt, this one - one I'd take a bottle of any time - scores a solid 90/100!

Did this pairing work?

Definately yes - this was hands down the best pairing of the evening, according to my taste. The malty herbal Inchgower matched the passion fruit/rosehip beautifully. You had the think malt, slight sharp gingery, spicy and herbal notes matching the sweeter passion fruit/rosehip in a way where you'd want to take a nip of the whisky, then the cream puff ad the whisky again until both were gone. A sure sign of a excellent pairing :-)

White chocolate cream puffs w/ passion fruit/rosehip. Picture with permission from Summerbird website

Sixth pairing:

Ardbeg 'Galileo' 1999 49% ex-bourbon & marsala cask, Distillery bottling
Chocolate truffle w/ lemon

Why this pairing?

Some lemony/winey peat smoke and chocolate with lemon - whats not to like?
I've previously reviewed the 'Galileo' on the blog - you can read them by following this link

Did this pairing work?

Ehh no - it did not! The lemony creme filling and the marsala wine and sweet peat just made it go over the top and borderline queasy. This pairing just didn't work and the 'Galileo' is a dessert dram to be had on its own. Not much more to say about this, really... maybe other than 5 out 6 isn't so bad :-)


Was this fun?

This was a very nice evening out, indeed and hosting this was a lot of fun and I know that most people left the tasting with the desire to explore whisky and chocolate pairing further, which was really the point. If asked again, I'll be more than happy to host another tasting like this.

Finally, I hope this blog post will inspire some of you out there to try whisky and chocolate pairing yourself...

And most importantly... have fun :-)

SPRINGBANK 1996 - ADELPHI

Next, I'll be doing a review of a few Adelphi bottlings. For this first one, we head to Campbeltown and Springbank and after that I'll be moving north east to Speyside for the next ones...

I'm not going to dwell long on Springbank itself in this review, but instead I'll focus a bit on building of Adelphi's new distillery on the remote Ardnamurchan Peninsula. As I mentioned in this post, their plan were, to begin with, to be distilling in the Autumn of 2013, but this has now been pushed forward to first quarter of 2014. The building and installation of equipment is going along nicely now and still should arrive the week starting with 11th November.

You can follow the progress, pictures included, on the Adelphi Distillery Ltd Facebook page.

The review below is of a whisky that carries some sulphury notes, but also one that, IMO of course, benefits from having this edge... more on my takes on sulphur here.

The 3 stills at Springbank, one wash (left) and 2 spirit stills, May 10th 2011 © The Malt Desk 

Springbank 1996 16yo, 53,9%, cask#72, 220 bottles, Adelphi

Colour is gold

Nose:
Sweet, the dirty - noth which I expect comes from a fino sherry cask, though this is not stated on the bottle. Some vegitative sulphury notes comes off this one as well as some winey/yeasty notes - another thing thats making me suspect this being a fino cask, but this adds to the experience here. Then you get the Springbank dirtyness instead, (olive?) oil, some hints of peat and brine accompagnied by overripe banana and mango and a dash of motor oil as well.

Taste:
A lot more agressive on the palate, this one. Again sweet and quite dirty, getting really brackish at some point. A strange combination of heavy oils, peat, fruit, ash, white wine/heavy cider along with some coconut and saltiness.

I suspect this whisky might put off some people and its fun that I like this one, as I'm normally very sensitive to sulphury notes.... but this one has it in the right amounts. Good whisky!!

84/100!

SPRINGBANK 1970 37YO OLOROSO CASK - SIGNATORY

Have you ever walked into your local wine dealer and been eyeing that bottle for a while - but you wouldn't spend the money on it, 'cause it's just too bl**dy expensive?

But recently I did buy it when I was shopping for bottles for a tasting in the local club, so that's another way of getting to try that bottle you've had your eyes on for what seems too long. Bottled in 2007, it still carried a hefty price tag, though it might have been increased a couple of times - I'm honestly not sure... It had been carrying the recent tag for quite some time, so I'm not sure if the price has been bumped up a couple of times.

You may think that this headed in the direction of another rant on whisky pricing, but instead I'll urge you to visit those small out of the way whisky shops either when you travel or just visit another town/city close to you... the prices may have gone up, but I know -also from a couple of friends- its still possible to find some older bottlings on the shelves at, maybe not entirely fair prices, but still within range for a few of you to maybe share a bottle or buy it as a club as I did with this particular one.

As you might have figured out by now from reading the headline I'll be reviewing some old Springbank and that alone have brought my expectations up a bit. It's also very sherried, so there's also a chance of it being all winey and/or even s*lph*r tainted... Let's hope not!


Stencil room @ Springbank May 10th 2011 © The Malt Desk


Springbank 1970 37yo (16.06.1970/28.06.2007) 53,9% sherry butt#1621, 370 bottles, Signatory Vintage Decanter Series

Colour is mahogany

Nose:
Old cellar, Drambuie and rum-like, peppery notes tickles your nose, hint of varnish that goes away with time, figs, I'm thinking strawberries dipped in chocolate or like sticking you nose into a box of liqueur filled chocolates.

Taste:
Old heavy sherry style, leather and a slightly burnt edge, tobacco shop, kirsch and oranges, raisins, soy sauce, sun dried tomatoes, very sherried but a distinct 'Springer' as its Campbeltown backbone is still noticeable, but only just...

A lovely dram, but on the edge and bottled in the nick of time, I think!

90/100!

SPRINGBANK 12YO CASK STRENGTH - DISTILLERY BOTTLING

Ahh, that little manual labour distillery down to the south west on the Kintyre Peninsula... The Springbank Distillery has an almost fanatic crowd of followers, much like Ardbeg on Islay, but you don't see the Springbank make alot of fuzz about themselves. They pride themselves in being a little excentric and just concentrate on making whisky, including still doing the traditional floor maltings...

Traditional, though empty, floor maltings at Springbank Distillery, May 10th 2011 © The Malt Desk

When I reviewed some BenRiachs a short while ago, I mentioned finishes... you either love or hate them, but as I also mentioned Springbank does more than that - they rarely just 'finish' they almost double mature instead to give a better spirit/cask finish integration... oh, and they also full mature in cask types, usually just used for finishing - like port casks.

But its not cask finishes that Springbank has built its reputation on... it bourbon and sherry cask matured whisky and their core range still consists of such.

One of those releases is the 12yo Cask Strength that has now seen its 6th batch and consists of up to 60% first fill sherry hogsheads. Let's try it...

Springbank 12yo Cask Strength batch 2, 58,5%, Distillery bottling

Colour is light amber

Nose:
Unmistakingly Springbank, oily (diesel even), light peat, honey and warm brown sugar, briny and leathery, sweet malt and sugared wort and nutmeg

Taste:
Very mouthfilling, again with the dirty oil feel, toffee, dried fruits, nutty, some vanilla, earthy, tobacco, fairly peated on the finish with some spicy oak too

A very good dram from Campbeltown indeed!

87/100!

SPRINGBANK 1996 15YO - DISTILLERY DUTY PAID SAMPLE

Back in September I reviewed an exclusive Springbank bottling done for the Ardshiel Hotel in Campbeltown (review here).
It was a 1/1 bottling and they now have bottlings like this of both Hazelburn, Springbank, Longrow and as far as I remember also of Kilkerran.

I recently tried another of these bottlings, also a Springbank, though not one with a customised label or anything - this one was 'just' for sale :-)

Springbank 1996 (06.06.1996) 15yo 54,4%, Warehouse 15 cask sample from a first fill sherry cask

Full oloroso in colour

Nose:
Creamy oloroso sherry, chocolates and coffee, slight hint of coconut, oils, a hint of peat and damp warehouses.

Taste:
Hint of sulphur but then beautiful fresh oloroso, rums and molasses, dark dried fruits and again very oily. Also some high grade coffee, spices and traditional Danish Xmas baking.

Lovely stuff with the hint of sulphur adding to the experience here.
Picture displayed is another 15yo bottling from Warehouse 15, but otherwise very similar in appearance.

89/100!

SPRINGBANK 17YO PORT CASK - ARDSHIEL HOTEL & RESTAURANT EXCLUSIVE

Here is one of those bottles you probably only see and try once - ever....

Why? since its a one off - yes, a one off... a hand bottled duty paid sample from a single cask exclusively for the Ardshiel Hotel mentioned in the Glendronach post from Saturday 8th September.


Springbank August 2012 © The Malt Desk

When I spotted this one in bar, I just knew I had to try it.
Amazing colour on it and its my experience that Springbank goes well with port maturation... and even though it was £11 a nip, I treated myself to it, as a dessert :-)

Springbank 17yo, bottled 2012, 54,2%, (full maturation in) Fresh port cask, Hand bottled, Duty paid sample for Ardshiel Hotel & Restaurant

Colour: Dark brown/red - just like an old tawny port

Springbank 17yo for Ardshiel Hotel © The Malt Desk

Nose:
Amazing how the first thing that hits you is the Springbank character - salt, some peat, heavy oils and pepper. Then the wine hits with an avalanche of crushed red grapes, blackcurrant and even hits of strawberry - and finally going back to a slightly maritime theme on tar, salt and peat. I find this very multi-layered...

Taste:
Heavy arrival on mainly fruit and what I'll just refer to as 'Springbank' incl. a surprising amount of peat - again very surprising how much original character there's left in this one. After a short while more delicate notes appear - dried fruits, as in your muesli, blackcurrant, some licorice, then huge on wet tobacco and a drying wood, dried red grapes and peat on the finish.

This is a lovely dram - but you'll have to like port finishes to really like this one.

Anyway, I'll bring it up to a solid 90/100!

SPRINGBANK 1999 - DK PRIVATE CASK

Back in the late 1990's, Springbank sold cask for private ownership to raise capital for their business. This resulted in quite a few casks in the hands of more ordinary people, rather than owned by the distillery and/or by some indie bottler. Due to Springbanks small stock some of these private casks have been bought back from private owner ship to fill the gap in the distillery's own stock.

Anywa, one of these private casks is reviewed below.
Its a cask bottled with the custom label for Springbanks private casks series and in a standard bottle. The cask is a split cask between 5 whisky loving guys in the mid-south of Denmark.

Springbank 1999 08.10.1999/xx.xx.2010 54,5% refill sherry hogshead#282, 297 bottles, Private cask for The Five Whisky Connoisseurs

Colour: Very pale straw

Nose:
Sweet, then ashy peat...an extremely 'naked' Springbank - I'm thinking very much new make on some notes here... but it has still matured to a degree where the cask is speaking beautifully to you with garden bonfires, salty wood chips, delicate smoky pears, melon and olive oil

Taste:
Immediate attack of sweetness, then sour and then hugely spicy. The smoky pears reappear followed by pleasant earthy peat notes to a level where you could mistake this whisky a Longrow. Its extremely coastal with brine, salt and minerals. Mid palate it produces some lovely grapefruit and tonic water notes following through to the finish.

Lovely 'naked style' Springbank!

87/100!

SPRINGBANK 21 - DISTILLERY BOTTLING (2005)

One of the great cult whiskies from Campbeltown darling Springbank is the 21yo.
It has been bottled in several batches - the first one all the way back in 1985 in a clear dumpy bottle all the way up until today where, in late 2011 it was bottled in the Springbank bottles we know today. It hit the market with a staggering price tag in earlier 2012, but still the 1560 bottles released never sat long on the retails shelves...

The small amount released through time has always been because of the relatively small output and old maturing stock at Springbank, so when you get a chance to try this one, go ahead... its a rarity

Here's my take on one of the latest (2005) release:

Springbank 21yo 46%, Distillery bottling (2005)

Deep gold in colour

Nose:
Very mellow vanilla'ed sherry, molecules of peat, musty oranges and the inside of a traditional dunnage warehouse comes to mind. A few Rum notes also springs into mind along with honey and chocolate muesli bars. Notes from of a Danish bakery shop...

Taste:
Surprisingly fresh and with a good steady mouth arrival.
Then a thin layer of clean sherry finishing off with a bitter hint of nuts and the dried fruitmix you find in the stores. Some pleasant oak and honey in the aftertaste and a salty feeling along the edges of your mouth. Very well balanced malt! Textbook!

There's no ½ points in my book, so I have to take it up to 92/100!

SPRINGBANK 1992 - ADELPHI

Springbank 1992 17yo 54,3% cask#132, 257 bottles, Adelphi

Golden straw

Nose:
Heavy oil, sweet smoke, some fruit, brint and salt. More oily and they should start drilling for the stuff.

Taste:
Clear tell-tell Campeltown character here.
Did they mislabel this one Springbank when it should have been Longrow?
Mouthcoating diesel oil feel, peat, barley, coconut, the veggie rows in the supermarket and maybe some stale beer (in a good way). Something clearly coastal about this one as well...
A medium/long finish with more peat, pepper and sweet barley.
Reminds me of a walk on the pier in windy weather.

A cracking 'Springer'!

88/100!

EDINBURGH INDIE 'THE BOTTLERS' - PART I

The first reviews featured here will be of 6 whiskies from Edinburgh indie 'The Bottlers'

Founded in 1993 and originally -and still is- a wine merchant, the style of most whiskies bottled by these guys are very much on the vinous side.

They have far from a big output, and the last ones to hit the market was back in 2009.
They have done some legendary bottlings of both cult distilleries Brora and Port Ellen and these are now very sought after on auction - usually going at almost ridiculous prices.

(Sadly) there will be neither Brora or Port Ellen among this series of 6, but there will be good whiskies in this series of reviews, for sure. Finally - more on the 'The Bottlers' here

Right, lets see what these guys are about - first one up is a head-to-head with 2 Springbanks:

Springbank 1993 16yo 54,8% xx.03.1993/xx.05.2009, ex-bourbon hogshead#218, The Bottlers

Pale straw in colour

Nose:
Fresh, citrussy, grass, briny with a dash of peat

Taste:
Much more peat in this one than the nose suggested, some bitter oak, porridge and cask vanillas lurking in the background. Very coastal indeed with seaspray, hint of old dock (tarry!) and ...more peat!! Close to a Longrow! strange since its sister cask is far from that... more on that below. Medium aftertaste.

Maybe not the greatest of Springbanks, but far from a bad one either

84/100!

Strange these 2 casks having forthrunning number and #218 being from March 93' and #219 being from April 93'. Either they had a stop in production or a filling stop with their newmake spirit being held over night(s) before filling again.


Right, lets have a go at the sister cask... #219 - no point in posting a picture of that one, since its similar to #218 except for the cask number



Springbank 1993 16yo 53,5% xx.04.1993/xx.05.2009, ex-bourbon hogshead#219, The Bottlers

Pale straw in colour

Nose:
Creamy, heavy style sweetness, honey'ed theme here, ver little peat, if any at all noticeable at all.

Taste:
Oh, here's the peat, though not as big as in #218. Its oily, spicy, heavy and drying, but still very much an easy drinker. Medium/long aftertaste.

This is the better of the 2 casks IMO. It's clearly more multidimensional compared to #218.

86/100!