Springbank 26 Years Old

This Springbank, an official release, aged 26 year old and bottled at 51.2%. A release of 500 bottles. Springbank, distilling since 1828 in Campbeltown, is still owned by the Mitchell family, five generations on. Uniquely in Scotch, every drop is floor malted, distilled, matured and bottled on the one site.

This was distilled the Springbank way, two and a half times from floor malted barley, and run into cast iron worm tubs. Maturation came in ex-Bourbon wood, with vanilla under the oily fruit. Past twenty years the spirit turns waxy and profound while keeping its character. Coastal warehousing gives the malt its briny, mineral lift. The town and the sea run through every cask of the make. The sea loch at the foot of the town shapes the coastal character of the malt. Demand far outstrips the small output, and bottles are keenly chased. Springbank, Longrow and Hazelburn each show a different face of the one distillery.

At a full 51.2% it is bold and oily. A coastal, waxy spirit with gentle peat meet vanilla, honey and coconut from the cask. It is deep and complex, the maritime spirit shining through. The close is rich, fruit over a saline depth. This is the cult Campbeltown malt from J and A Mitchell.