Springbank call themselves “The whisky drinker’s whisky”. It is indeed a whisky that’s for very long been highly regarded among whisky enthusiasts, and certainly among many of my more whisky-seasoned friends in WOLS who in large part inducted me into the whiskyverse. Springbank is the stalwart of the Campbeltown style of single malt, and family-owned and traditionally operated. They irony of “The whisky drinker’s whisky” is that most whisky drinkers cannot get a hold of a bottle anymore. In recent years Springbank has become the target of hype and speculation. Looking at auction prices for the 21yo, it was going for around the retail price of ~ €200 until the the end of 2020, with a rapid price increase, peaking at around €600 in 2020, but now slowly coming down. In the latest OSWAs — the online Scotch whisky awards — Springbank won both distillery of the year and the scotch whisky of the year with their 10yo.
Despite the the passion surrounding Springbank, it never really clicked with me during my Edinburgh days. Interesting and characterful, for sure, but maybe too funky and smoky to be delicious for me. At a bar in Edinburgh I recommended my dad try a SB10 not too long ago, and I think he was slightly traumatized by the experience.
Nonetheless, I’ve been stocking up on SB10 out of some silly FOMO. I should at least try to understand its character by getting through a bottle. I haven’t actually had a significant dose of Springbank in almost 4 years methinks, and my palate has certainly developed a lot in this time (probably tried 500 whiskies in the interim) so I maybe it will be more appealing now. I’ll crack open one of my 10yo’s, then follow up with small samples of 15 , 18, and 21yo from the core range.
Questions
• What is the Springbank character?
• Does Springbank live up to the hype?
Springbank | 10yo | 46% | Official
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Scotch single malt
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unchillfiltered & natural color
when a new batch is released can be found for ~€70 for a short while
Bottle first impression
⚡Experience
Nose: Tropical fruits (overripe papaya), pear drops, juicy bourbon cask, and vanilla custard. The overripe fruits blend with cheddar cheese powder and prawn cocktail for a mildly ‘funky’ character, that segues to chalky, minerally, and lightly ashy. And thai basil? Sweet, savoury, salty on the palate — pickle brine! Load of juicy oak and papaya, some pickled ginger. Really moorish.
💡Thoughts
The nose makes me think of Ben Nevis. It is glorious. I thought I wasn’t that into Springbank, and despite the hype around it, I’ve not been. But I’m a convert. I’m so glad my FOMO lead me to buy three bottles of the 10yo while I could get a good price.
Personal Favourite
❤️
Springbank | 15yo | 46% | Official
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Scotch single malt
95% Sherry, 5% Bourbon
unchillfiltered & natural color
RRP ~€85 but these days found above at ~€150
Small sample review
⚡Experience
Still loads of juicy fruits, in particular over-fermented red grape, but also crisp red apples. Old-school sherry, buttery and musky, with muscovado sugar. Positively farmy and dusty. Hint of burnt match stick. Palate: sweet, unctuous, confectionary, with just a slightly bitter edge. Flavours of prunes, mature oak, wood and pipe smoke, leading to a slightly ashy finish.
💡Thoughts
A really great dram. There is certainly a lot of spirit character on display that is well complemented by the sherry (etc.) casks. Personally, though, the move from the tropical fruits towards the raisiny lowers my excitement.
Rewarding
✔️
Springbank | 18yo | 46% | Official
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🔆
💲
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Scotch single malt
65% Sherry, 20% Bourbon, 15% Rum
unchillfiltered & natural color
RRP ~€130 but these days sells for double
Small sample review
⚡Experience
Nose is similar to 15yo, but less farmy and with more demerara sugar, leather, cinnamon, and a hint of tobacco. The fruitiness draws more towards forest berries here. Palate: punchy, meaty, savoury, a bit briny. Flavours of toasted bread, dates, nuts, and with hints of anis and mint.
💡Thoughts
Quite balanced and harmonious, a little less weird than the 15yo. It’s more meaty and somewhat less funky. Not besides a comparison to Mortlach, Edradour, but more farmy still.
Rewarding
✔️
Springbank | 21yo | 46% | Official
🌐
🪵
🔆
💲
🔗
Scotch single malt
45% Bourbon, 20% Sherry, 20% Rum, 15% Port
unchillfiltered & natural color
RRP ~€300 but sells for double
Small sample review
⚡Experience
A bit more closed than the younger siblings on the nose at first. We regain more of the juicy bourbon character, but in a more elegantly aged fashion: golden sultanas, coconut, lime, fragrant rice, and various delicate floral aromas including jasmin tea, cedar, and elderflower. As expected, a farmy, cheesy, perhaps even farty smell is there. Palate: briny, but not as much as the 10yo — however immensely flavoursome. Melon, golden sultanas, toasted nuts, and and a peat that blooms out over a few seconds, very round, tobacco-y. Minerally finish with dried gooseberries.
💡Thoughts
Absolutely superb. But. Whereas I experienced SB10 as really unique among comparable bottles in age and price, the SB21 lies closer to other experiences I’ve had in the 20-25yo age range, like Ben Nevis, or Tobermory, and to some extent Bunnahabhain (although it lacks the funky aspect). It definitely has a commonality with older Jura. It stands to reason that there is more of a generic ‘old oak’ effect coming into play here.
Personal Favourite
❤️
Conclusion
Indeed, the Springbank character is funky and briney, minerally, but also eminently fruity, with the cask steering the impression towards tropical fruits, prunes and raisins, or forest berries depending on the previous content. And it is fantastic. Maybe not worth the extravagant prices, but I’m really glad I’ve snagged some 10yo (my favourite of the lot, it turns out) at RRP.
DuckDrams 
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