Springbank 18 Years Old

This official Springbank single malt, an 18 year old and bottled at 46%. The Springbank distillery, in Mitchell family hands since 1828, is prized for its rich, oily, hand made spirit. Small output and a cult following keep its bottles allocated and keenly sought.

The make was distilled two and a half times from lightly peated, floor malted malt, the vapour cooled in worm tubs. A sherry butt held it, the wood lending raisin and walnut. By this age the maritime weight rounds into a richer, fuller malt. Long maturation suits the heavy, characterful make, the cask knitting slowly with the spirit. Kintyre's damp, mild climate suits a long and gentle maturation. The old town of Campbeltown once rivalled Speyside as Scotland's whisky heart. Quality and tradition, not volume, have always been the watchwords here. 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.

At 46% it is supple and briny. A coastal, waxy spirit with gentle peat meet raisin, fig and a vanilla sweetness from the cask. Soft fruit and brine sit behind the cask sweetness. It closes long, oily and salty. This is a revered Campbeltown single malt.