Springbank 1997 – Ian’s Artisan Dram Cask #314

This Springbank, an official release matured to 19 year old from 1997, drawn from cask 314 and bottled at 48%. 90 bottles in all. The Springbank distillery, a family distillery since 1828, is one of the last working distilleries of old Campbeltown. Production is tiny by modern standards, a fraction of a large Speyside distillery.

The make was distilled two and a half times from lightly peated, floor malted malt, and run into cast iron worm tubs. Maturation in a sherry cask laid dried fruit over the maritime malt. By this age the maritime weight rounds into a richer, fuller malt. Sea air works into the warehouses, lending a saline thread as the whisky breathes. Springbank, Longrow and Hazelburn each show a different face of the one distillery. The open larch washbacks are a rare survival in modern Scotch. The distillery has become a place of pilgrimage for whisky enthusiasts.

At cask strength 48% it is muscular. An oily, maritime character with light peat are layered with dried fruit, fig and walnut. It is deep and complex, the maritime spirit shining through. It closes long, oily and salty. This is the cult Campbeltown malt from J and A Mitchell.