Springbank 14 Years Old Cask #98/144-2

A distillery bottling of Springbank, a 14 year old from 1997, drawn from cask 98/144-2 and bottled at 55.3%. The outturn was 570 bottles. The Springbank distillery, a family distillery since 1828, is a survivor of Campbeltown's great whisky era. Each bottling is filled and labelled in Campbeltown rather than shipped away.

The make was run two and a half times through the stills from lightly peated malt, then cooled slowly in worm tubs. A sherry butt held it, the wood lending raisin and walnut. Around the mid teens the malt gains depth while keeping its oily salt. Refill oak lets the distillery character lead, all oily weight and coastal salt. 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. The maritime warehouses by the sea lend the malt its briny, oily depth.

At cask strength 55.3% it is muscular. Brine, wax and a light peat note sit over dried fruit and a walnut richness. 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.