Springbank 30 Years Old

This Springbank, an official release, a 30 year old release and bottled at 46%. Just 1600 bottles were filled. Springbank is a Campbeltown distillery distilling since 1828, run much as it was a century ago. Production is tiny by modern standards, a fraction of a large Speyside distillery.

It was floor malted, lightly peated and distilled two and a half times, and run into cast iron worm tubs. A sherry butt held it, the wood lending raisin and walnut. At this great age the malt is full and waxy, the fruit deep and the salt mellow. Years in oak deepen the fruit and the maritime character together. Today just three distilleries survive in the old Kintyre whisky town. The maritime warehouses by the sea lend the malt its briny, oily depth. A 1940s Porteus mill and an open iron mash tun are part of the old setup. The Mitchell family has held the distillery for five generations.

At 46% it is clean and characterful. Dried fruit and a vanilla oak from the cask underpins oily orchard fruit, salt and a wisp of peat. It is deep and complex, the maritime spirit shining through. A long, oily, coastal finish lingers. This is the cult Campbeltown malt from J and A Mitchell.