| Springbank | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sample | |||
| O.B. | 10 years | 17 | |
| 10 years 100° Proof | 19 | ||
| 12 years | 18 3/4 | ||
| 175 anniversary | 17 1/4 | ||
| Cask Strength Batch 1, 1997 | 17 | ||
| Hazelburn aged 12 years | |||
| Longrow CV 2008 | 18 | ||
| Port Wood | 17 1/5 | ||
| Bourbon Wood 12 | 17 2/5 | ||
| 16 y.o., Rhum finish | 18 | ||
| 18 years | |||
| Hazelburn Fisrt Edition | |||
| Longrow 10 years | 18 3/4 | ||
| Rum Wood | 18 2/3 | ||
| 21 years | 18 3/4 | ||
| Berry Bros and Rudd | Berry's own selection 1992, Peat-smoked | ||
| Dewar Rattray | Cask Collection 13 years - for Potstill Austria | 19 | |
| Jean Boyer | Best Casks of Scotland, 1996 | 18 | |
| Signatory | Un-chillfiltered collection 1989 | 14 2/3 |
Springbank 10 years |
|
Age |
10 years |
Alcohol percentage |
46% |
Bottler |
Official |
Particularity |
Non chill filtered |
The colour is pale gold. The nose, very "Springbank" is
charming (strawberry and vanilla hints).
The palate, frank and spicy confirms the nose.
The finis, sweet and salty is slightly oily and woody (oak).
Nose: refreshing, herbal, menthol, sea air. Palate: refreshing, toffe, spicy mint and late salt as if it was a
question of a spray. A complex whisky where they are and a drink that must not get lost anybody .
85/100
C.: Very pale, white wine
N.: A very strong and zesty nose in the beginning: Almost chloroformical, biting, with a hefty spritty, alcoholic attack. Later, after leaving the glass for a short time, a very different picture appears: It's not alcohol anymore domanting the nose, this is the most oaky nose I ever experienced. Deep beneath there are layers of friuts, coconut (pina colada) and burnt sugar surrounded by the oak.
T.: Very firm, but after this nosing-sensation the first impression is a little bit one-dimensional. No caribbean cocktails anymore, it's oakwood again. After adding one drop of water, there is far more complexity to discover: Bitter herbs combined with a very flattering sweetness (creme brulée) and cocoa powder.
F.: A big herbal crescendo, medical, ! very long traces of a very cheerful bitterness (radicchio).
Not having the pleasure to try the older bottling mentioned, I can state that this is a dram very worth trying.
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Apperance: Pale straw
Nose: Quite closed to begin with but with some encouragement it lends lots of nicely balanced aromas with an interesting complexity. Warm but not very prickly. There are some fresh fruits with ground pepper and some aniseed (reminicent of Ouzo) on the background. A nice toasted oak hint is also present, reminds me in some way of a hot steaming bath and also a hint of brylcreem or possibly bubble gums. Reduced dram lends some impressions of green plants and heather flowers in addition. A second dram revealed more maritime hints together with the distinct peppery-ness.
Body: On the lighter side.
Palate: Continues the nice impressions left by the nose. Potent and mouthfilling, well balanced and pleasant. It! feels sweeter than I expected with some interesting candy-like like elements. The finish is quite long and becomes drier as it shifts from a earthy or mossy dampness to a spicy oakiness.
91/100
Springbank 10 years
|
|
Age |
10 years |
Alcohol percentage |
57% |
Bottler |
Official |
Cask |
Bourbon |
Particularity |
Non chill filtered |
Apperance: Old gold with amber huesNose: Fresh and fruity aroma with citrus and lavendar. A certain sea-like saltyness like stranded seaweeds and a delicate smokiness, like a smokehouse in the port. Not as much prickle as one might have expected. With water another type of smokiness appears, most reminicent of sweet pipe tobacco. Also lemon zest, red gumdrops and some pine forest hints.
Body: Medium
Palate: Very round, long and complex. Starts dry and shifts to sweet then back again. Mild fruits with a certain acidity in the beginning, winegums. Then an explotion of taste- lavendar, apple wine and calvados and a delicate oakiness. The finish is long and has elements of an oak aged white wine. It's drier with water.
93/100
Colour: Dark (dirty) gold, olive green glimmers.
Nose: The first impression is that of a hefty malt note which bounces me nearly off my feet. Very firm. Lots of dark chocolate, burnt caramel and malt sweets. Also roasted whalenuts and a beautifully rounded smoky background.
Taste: Very full, warm and also far more smoky and peaty than the nose would suggest. The 57% rolling in with some emphasis but even without water it is a very enjoyable dram. With water there are more soft floral notes and again strong hints of dark malt and brown sugar.
Finish: One finish full and rather long for a whisky of that age. A incredible full and soft sweetness mixes well with bitter wooden notes.
Conc.: A truly great Springbank and a standard in itself, this was the last sip of my bottle of the older bottling, soon I will have a new one and we will see and taste if something has changed...
Tasting date: 09/23/09
Springbank 12 years |
|
Age |
12 years |
Alcohol percentage |
46% |
Bottler |
Official |
Particularity |
Non chill filtered |
The 12 years
old Springbank is amber, with a pleasant xeres and coconut nose.
It is rich and smooth in the palate, with a hint of bitter chocolate.
The taste is harmonious with a long pleasant and complex finish, unique in
the world of single malt.
(la Maison du
Whisky)
Just
like all other whiskies from this mythic Campbeltown distillery,
the 12 years old version is not chill filtered. The whisky is extremely
complex and balanced, with smoke and peat hints, but not too much.
A very great whisky, just for great occasions, because such a wonder
deserves to be appreciated. One of the best whiskies I ever tasted.
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A second tasting completely confirmed the first one. This wonderful
whisky is unfortunately very difficult to find nowadays. a great
fresh and spicy whisky, remarkably complex, balanced and refined.
A real monument. What a whisky! What a distillery!
A pleasant mix of sherry and (discrete) coconut with a very slight
touch of citrus fruit (orange) characterizes a rather complex nose.
The same complexity in the palate, with however a bitter feeling,
probably due to the wood of the cask. Just like an older whisky.
The finish is lingering and pleasant, with also some slightly acid
hints and bitter woody touches.
Springbank 21 years |
|
Age |
21 years |
Alcohol percentage |
46% |
Particularity |
Non chill filtered |
Bottler |
Official |
Springbank 18 years |
|
Age |
18 years |
Alcohol percentage |
46% |
Particularity |
Non chill filtered |
Bottler |
Official |
Springbank
|
|
Age |
12 years |
Alcohol percentage |
54,6% |
Particularity |
Cask Strength Non chill filtered |
Bottler |
Official |
Cask |
Rum |
The nose reveals sweet perfumed and slightly fruity fragrances.
A hint of sea salt.
The taste confirms the nose, and a taste of red apples, pears and hedge fruits
is dominant.
The finish is spicy, mentholated.
Apperance: Pale gold
Nose: At first a powerfully dominant acidic fruityness with bubble gums. Develops more complex and deeper scents. Some green house hints, pine nuts, toasted bread, smoked caviar, ethyl alcohol and a nice smokiness behind all that, mostly smoked saucage. Diluted dram is dominated by sweet apple cider but also has barley sugar, rice pudding, marzipan and sandalwood.
Body: Medium, soft
Palate: Curious. Powerful and warm throughout with some raisins, apricots, coconuts and unfortunately a few sickly off notes in the background. Not enough to be really unpleasant but enough to irritate. More pleasant with water but a little less interesting as well. The finish is long and has lots of pink pepper. Very good despite the slightly sickly character! present some times.
89/100
Springbank
|
|
Age |
13 years |
Alcohol percentage |
54,2% |
Particularity |
Cask Strength Non chill filtered |
Bottler |
Official |
Cask |
Port |
Note: this was a blind tasting and it looks like I took port for sherry...
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Springbank
|
|
Age |
12 years |
Alcohol percentage |
58,5% |
Particularity |
Cask Strength Non chill filtered |
Bottler |
Official |
Cask |
Bourbon |
I
am definitely not a fan of wood finishes from mythic
distilleries whose traditional products are from the highest quality.
This wood finish, even if it gives a good result, does not give
the same happiness as a traditional bottling of Springbank. This
malt smells really nice, is complex, mixing malt and citrus fruits,
and the taste, dominated by the alcohol (this bottle has an alcohol
degree of more than 58%) is pleasant without being comparable with
other versions (in the tradition) Springbank uses to produce. The
finish is a little bit too short as well.
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The Bourbon finish is more discrete than others. But I immediately
detected the sherry, despite the announcements of the producer.
The bourbon brings some smoothness, but I still prefer the traditional
Springbank. The finish remains very short, but the quotation is
better than the first time.
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The nose feels first some tingling's
due to the high degree of alcohol. But after a while, a nice complexity
appears, revealing the traditional Springbank coconut hints together
with some sweet pleasant touches. In the palate, a kind of roundness
with coconut hints mixed with some woody touches is rather nice.
A beautiful and rather long finish too.
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The nose is merely marked by malt, a touch of smoke and hints of fruits with something like a cloud of coconut
smell above. The mouth is rather different, and the malty smoothness disappears and make room to some acid impression
and the alcohol is very present in the palate. This acidity is quite aggressive, not just like nice fruity acidity.
The finish is long and very marked by alcohol too, and the acidity dominating the mouth is dimming, leaving some
room for nice coconut hints. Some remains of the sweetness of the nose come back too. This whisky is not really
nicely balanced. The unbalance feeling between nose and mouth is rather unpleasant. A deception.
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A nice fruity nose, with pear or peach fragrances. Some dry cut grass as well (just before it becomes hay), some
acid notes and a touch of smoke on the background. Later some plum jam. Nice sensations. And later some discrete
coconut touches. The mouth is rather fruity too, lots of taste and freshness. Apple alcohol. Or more precisely
alcool and apples, as the alcohol impression dominates the mouth clearly. The finish is quite long, but merely
marked by the memory of alcohol rather than by the extension of the whisky taste. Later on it developes on fresh
fruit aromas, the same which already were present in the mouth and the nose.
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Apperance: Pale straw, ranging to pale gold
Nose: Straight nose is very full and deliciously characteristic of Springbank. Coconuts are definately present, along with some marzipan, lavender and a hint of feints. It also seems to develop and increased spicyness with some aniseed. The diluted dram is incredibly rich and complex, some fresh fruits, floral notes, and a pretty dominant soapy note. Behind that some elements of new wood, cigarr boxes and fresh laundry. Very, very nice.
Body: Light to medium.
Palate: Starts intense, very warming- almost numbing at cask strength. Rich sweetness and medium length. Quite creamy despite the relative lightness of body. Even with some water the palate sticks out as a little too sharp. When diluted down to acceptable level! s I feel that it lacks complexity. I don't know if there is a magic balance where the palate will sing as well as the aroma, but I haven't found it, a shame really. Still, a very nice bottling.
88/100
Springbank
|
|
Age |
12 years |
Alcohol percentage |
46% |
Particularity |
Non chill filtered |
Bottler |
Official |
Longrow
|
|
Age |
10 years |
Alcohol percentage |
46% |
Particularity |
Non chill filtered |
Bottler |
Official |
The colour is yellow gold. The nose is marked by peat and pine
resin.
The palate restitutes with freshness the peat and the salty and spicy hints.
The finish is long, and recalls peaty malted barley.
Longrow
|
|
Age |
no age statement |
Alcohol percentage |
46% |
Particularity |
Non chill filtered |
Bottler |
Official |
Colour: Gold green (no colouring).
Nose: In the beginning very easy and appreciable, with an accent on the floral note. For me no "peat monster" at all, but there is a great development toward very spicy herbs (Angostura). Forest flowers, freshly cut wood, coniferous trees show up.
Taste: Digestif, very medical, like a very strong and very well rounded herbal bitter. Bitterroot, myrrh, grapefruit peel and radicchio. Very beautiful and enjoyable for me and anyone who likes bitter spices. Later a very nice cocktail note appears which gets stronger if you add a little water: Brown sugar combined with limes (caipirinha with a dash of angostura), campari-orange.
Finish: Like a good bitter, this finish is very very long, this very pleasureful bitterroot note makes love to you! r tastebuds for hours.
Conc.: They say this is a specially peated bottling, and I cannot find it peaty in the traditional Islay way. There are worlds between this dram and any Islay-malt I ever experienced, but this opens for me a whole inspiring new dimension to the term "peaty".
Tasting date:Oct/25/2008 Price in Germany ca 40 euros
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Date of tasting: 8/2 2009
Apperance: Pale Gold
Nose: Roasted almonds and buttery popcorns. A light wiff of paint, oatmeal and old wood. Round and pleasant to the nose with a light burnt note, hay and fresh, dry smoke. With water a distinct leatheryness comes out- cowhides and new leather bootes. Also a slightly solvent fruityness and bubble gums. Really very pleasant and complex.
Body: Light to medium
Palate: Round and pleasant with a nice complexity. Good balance with no elements becoming too dominant. It starts out very light and develops clean and mostly green flavours. Semi dry, lightly peaty, vegitative, the smoke is most reminicent of lightly roasted wood. It could have been longer and a little more intense.
89/100
Hazelburn
|
|
Age |
8 years |
Alcohol percentage |
46% |
Particularity |
Cask Strength Non chill filtered |
Bottler |
Official |
Hazelburn
|
|
Age |
12 years |
Alcohol percentage |
46% |
Particularity |
Cask Strength Non chill filtered |
Bottler |
Official |
Springbank
|
|
Age |
12 years |
Alcohol percentage |
46% |
Particularity |
Non chill filtered |
Bottler |
Signatory |
Springbank
|
|
Age |
13 years |
Alcohol percentage |
57,3% |
Bottler |
Dewar Rattray |
Springbank
|
|
Taux d'alcool |
57,3% |
Embouteilleur |
Berry Bros & Budd |
Springbank
|
|
Alcohol percentage |
46% |
Bottler |
Jean Boyer |
Springbank
|
|
Alcohol percentage |
54.2% |
Bottler |
Officiel |
Apperance: Pale gold
Nose: Refreshing straight nose with good complexity. Solvent fruity elements with a hint of burnt sugar, vanilla, white chocolate and lemon-lime soft drink, maybe some malted milk. Some sea spray with dilution, but still a predominance of solvent, fresh and citric fruit elements like pear drops, peach sweets, bubble gum and rum-toft. Also some cut paper and perhaps a very light mossiness.
Body: Medium, sticky tears
Palate: Starts on the dry side but imediately becomes sweeter. It develops some burnt sugar and eventually some of the acidic fruitiness found in the nose, but not as dominant. The finish is long and extends the impression left by the nose. Good balance and enjoyable, well composed.
93/100
Springbank
|
|
Alcohol percentage |
55.2% |
Bottler |
Official |
Springbank
|
|
Alcohol percentage |
55.9% |
Bottler |
Official |
Apperance: Deep Gold
Nose: The maritime flavours are present in this one along with mixed fruits, bubble gums and nicely softened winey and oily notes with good balance throughout. Immediately detectable is some rubber, like pencil erasers, also fresh sea-spray, fennel and suntan oil. After a while, more sherry aromas emerge but not to the point of domination. With dilution it becomes much sweeter with fruit salad and candy, perhaps a hint of bananas and the lavender in the background. Great complexity, amazingly good.
Body: Medium
Palate: Starts almost sour but shifts. Good weight and intensity. Very sweet in the swallow with lots of nice fruity elements. The finish is long and winey with elements of dry oloroso, sweet fruits and tingling spices. Fabulous dr! am with amazing balance. Top notch!
95/100

C.: Bight, clear, golden, straw
N.: In the beginning a sharp whiff of Terpentine, but very soon mellow and softer notes add a very soft touch giving the whole picture a beautiful balance. There are bitter chocolate, caramel but also very interesting spicy and floral notes: Freshly mowed grass, cinnamon, vanilla cookie, soft wooden smoke. Very smooth peat lingering in the back
T.: Full, overwhelming, but not at all hurting. You don't need any water to sense a symphony of different aromes: Citrus peel, Grapefruit but also the dark chocolate mentioned above. Salt and mild green pepper. A drop of water reveals more smoke, peat and on the other hand, brown sugar. Much less fruits.
F.: Very very long. The fruits disappear slowly, smoke and peat keep on dancing twosteps on the palate.
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Springbank
|
|
Age |
11 years |
Alcohol percentage |
55,2% |
Bottler |
Official |
Colour: Greenish, dark straw (mahogany bleached in the sun), softly glowing, few small particles are dustlike floating – needless to say: Non coloured, non chill filtered
Nose: The first impression is very firm and spirity. But later there’s fruits and smoke in the most beautiful combination I ever experienced so far. Dark chocolate praliné, also not missing is the typical Springbank soft salty note. With water added there appears a even more differentiated picture, Melon, grapefruit and thick charcoal smoke.
Taste: Very impressing, bitter medicine, lime peel, burnt caramel (creme brulée) and cedar wood incense. Also there’s melon, cucumber and seaweed, all this backed by a subtle and very and enjoyable sweetness (brown sugar).
Finish: Rather short, the sweetness quickly giving place to some nice herbal bitter notes, which, alas, vanish after a few moments.
Conc.: A very great Springbank, but I’d love to have some more remaining impression on my tongue.
Date: Feb/04/2009
Price in Germany: ca 59,00 Euro
Springbank
|
|
Age |
9 years (7 years in Bourbon refill butts 2 years in fresh Marsala casks) |
Alcohol percentage |
58% |
Bottler |
Official |
Colour: Red golden, rosé wine
Nose: Very appealing, the alcohol kicks in very softly, at first a bit heavy on the whiney and definetly a little weak on the malty side, but that’s no loss at all. Later there’s fruit brandy (kirsch, slobovitz, williams christ, you name it), but now, yes, whalenuts marcipane and lots of spices (aniseed, cumin, a little menthol, even red peppers). waldmeister and freshly cut clover. dextrose, very soft hints of peatsmoke. Very very promising and multilayered.
Taste: W/o water very firm and heavy but again very seducing and charming, the peat now being far more marked and mixing beautifully with the fruit notes (woodberries). Soft soapy notes (green apple), but very likeable, comparable to a good armagnac... with water there are always new shades: Again nuts, marcipane and dried fruits, also soft notes of an old leather bag, i could go on like this more and more.
Finish: Now the spices, mentioned above, changing and lingering between themselves and the appealing fruity approach. After a medium long development there’s a prickly peppery pleasure remaining on the tongue.
Conc.: This bottle was bought in Scotland during my last Holidays 2007 (the picture was taken there near Loch Linne) and was a very dear souvenir during the last two years. But alas, every bottle has a last drop.
Price in UK 2007: Sterling 42,00
Tasted on June, 4, 2008
Longrow
|
|
Age |
7 years |
Alcohol percentage |
55,8% |
| Bottler |
Official |
Date of tasting: 8/2 2009
Apperance: Yellow- almost old Gold
Nose: Warm and smoky. Didn't feel very spirity at first but then an agressive prickle attacked the nose. Behind that there's some cough medicine, sawdust and green twigs. A pretty dominant peatiness, tar and moss. Intensive, youthful freshness with some complexity (but could do with more). With more water added- cumin and mossy woodlands comes out together with a wineyness which is beginning to appear.
Body: Medium, oily.
Palate: Round and cooling. Definately towards the sweet side. The wine comes out with a dominant acidity in the middle. Reminds me of a fresh white wine. The finish is relatively long and hovers between ripe pears and dry smoke.
87/100
Longrow
|
|
Age |
18 years |
Alcohol percentage |
46% |
Bottler |
Official |
Apperance: Very pale Gold
Nose: Softly mellow, warming, pleasant and quite closed to begin with. Grilled maize, a soft and salty sea breeze. Almost a little dull, but hinting at something more. Comes alive with a little water added, fresh oranges, red apples, raw potatoes and grassy notes comes out. Some almonds, old wood and sweet white wine in the back. Just the slightest hint of medicinal peatiness.
Body: Medium
Palate: Starts out very cooling and with better intensity than the nose had. Good balance of fruits, cereal and winey/nutty hints. The finish is long and pleasant with some woody hints, sea spray and some soft highland peat.
90/100
Springbank
|
|
Age |
No age statement |
Alcohol percentage |
47,8% |
Bottler |
Official |
This bottling was drawn from two casks, one refill sherry butt filled in 1997 (#18) and one refill sherry hogshead filled in 1993 (#28), it was bottled in 2008 as one of 850 bottles.
Apperance: Yellow Gold
Nose: Pleasant and sherried aromas without the heftyness one would find in a first fill. Quite rubbery, a little medicinal and some seaweed. Strokes of the ocean in this one and some oil associated notes. The diluted dram lends lots of nice woody touches, some caramell, salted pork and the soothing lavender, which is almost like violet here. Some peardrops and apricots in there as well but the fragrant aroma is the star of the show.
Body: Light to medium
Palate: Nicely balanced sherry notes. Very warming, on the sweet side combining some fruity, wood! y, fragrant and winey notes. The finish is a little bitter but nice and long and really ties of this dram in a very nice way.
94/100
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Whisky is an alcoholic drink. Let's prefer quality to quantity as the abuse of alcohol beverages can damage the health. Consuming alcoholic drinks during pregnancy, even in small quantities, can seriously affect the health of the child. Consumption of alcohol impairs your ability to drive a car or operate machinery, and may cause health problems.