Springbank 12 Years Old Cask #Batch 21

A distillery bottling of Springbank, a 12 year old, drawn from cask Batch 21 and bottled at 56.1%. 12000 bottles in all. The Springbank distillery, in Mitchell family hands since 1828, is a cult Campbeltown distillery with a devoted following. Concerto barley is malted on the floors and kilned in the distillery's own kiln.

The make was run two and a half times through the stills from lightly peated malt, then cooled slowly in worm tubs. A sherry cask wrapped the oily spirit in dried fruit and a nutty depth. 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. 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 cask strength 56.1% it is muscular. A briny, oily depth with a hint of peat ride on raisin, fig and a vanilla sweetness. The texture is rich and oily, the salt threaded through. A long finish smoulders on salt and oil. This is a complex, coastal Campbeltown whisky.