Springbank 19 Years Old 1996 Cask #103 (Meadowside Blending)

Meadowside Blending bottled this Springbank, a 19 year old Campbeltown malt from 1996, drawn from cask 103 and bottled at 48.5%. Just 246 bottles were filled. The Springbank distillery, in Mitchell family hands since 1828, is still owned by the Mitchell family, five generations on. The cult around Springbank has made it one of the most collected of all malts.

The make was made by Springbank's singular two and a half times distillation, then condensed through worm tubs. Ex-Sherry wood suited the heavy make, adding a dried fruit richness. Around the mid teens the malt gains depth while keeping its oily salt. Coastal warehousing gives the malt its briny, mineral lift. 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. Today just three distilleries survive in the old Kintyre whisky town.

At a full 48.5% it is bold and oily. A briny, oily depth with a hint of peat meet dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A coastal salt and an orchard fruit lift it. It closes long, oily and salty. This is the most traditional malt in Scotch.