Springbank 12 Years Old 1997 NC² Range (Duncan Taylor)

From Duncan Taylor comes this Springbank, a 12 year old Campbeltown malt from 1997 and bottled at 54.4%. The Springbank distillery, in Mitchell family hands since 1828, 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.

The make was drawn off after two and a half distillations of gently peated malt, and run into cast iron worm tubs. Ex-Bourbon casks held the spirit, soft oak that lets the make lead. Mid age brings a fuller fruit and a deeper coastal complexity. Coastal warehousing gives the malt its briny, mineral lift. The spirit is filled to cask and matured within the distillery walls. 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.

At its natural 54.4% it is concentrated. A salty, waxy depth with a whisper of peat meet creamy vanilla and oak sweetness from the cask. It is deep and complex, the maritime spirit shining through. It closes long, oily and salty. This is Springbank's rich, oily, maritime style.