Springbank 1964 Private Bottling

This Springbank, an official release, aged 35 year old from 1964 and bottled at 46%. Springbank has distilled in Campbeltown since 1828, still owned by the Mitchell family, five generations on. Production is tiny by modern standards, a fraction of a large Speyside distillery.

It was given the part triple distillation unique to Springbank, and run into cast iron worm tubs. It was matured in refill ex-Bourbon oak, lending vanilla and honey. At this great age the malt is full and waxy, the fruit deep and the salt mellow. Coastal warehousing gives the malt its briny, mineral lift. The town and the sea run through every cask of the make. The sea loch at the foot of the town shapes the coastal character of the malt. Demand far outstrips the small output, and bottles are keenly chased. Springbank, Longrow and Hazelburn each show a different face of the one distillery.

Reduced to 46%, it is mellow. A coastal, waxy spirit with gentle peat meet vanilla, cream and light coconut from the cask. It is deep and complex, the maritime spirit shining through. It finishes deep, complex and maritime. This is the cult Campbeltown malt from J and A Mitchell.