Springbank 17 Years Old (47.8%)

A distillery bottling of Springbank, a 17 year old from 2002 and bottled at 47.8%. 9200 bottles in all. The Springbank distillery, in Mitchell family hands since 1828, is a cult Campbeltown distillery with a devoted following. Water comes from Crosshill Loch, the barley malted on the distillery's own floors.

The make was run two and a half times through the stills from lightly peated malt, and worm tub cooled in the old way. Maturation in a fortified wine cask lent red and dark fruit. Around the mid teens the malt gains depth while keeping its oily salt. The cool, damp Campbeltown air by the sea gives a slow, even maturation. Few distilleries keep so much of the old craft alive under one roof. Campbeltown was once the whisky capital of the world, with more than thirty distilleries at its peak. Today just three distilleries survive in the old Kintyre whisky town.

Bottled at a cask strength 47.8%, it is rich. A briny, oily depth with a hint of peat ride on brown sugar, banana and a tropical lift. The mouthfeel is oily, the fruit carried on a salty body. A long finish smoulders on salt and oil. This is the most traditional malt in Scotch.