Springbank 20 Years Old 1997 Cask #290 (Meadowside Blending)

This Springbank was from the independent bottler Meadowside Blending, a 20 year old from 1997, drawn from cask 290 and bottled at 55.8%. A release of 276 bottles. A family distillery since 1828, Springbank is a cult Campbeltown distillery with a devoted following. Each bottling is filled and labelled in Campbeltown rather than shipped away.

The spirit was distilled the Springbank way, two and a half times from floor malted barley, then cooled slowly in worm tubs. A sherry butt held it, the wood lending raisin and walnut. Beyond twenty years the malt grows waxy and deep, tropical fruit and salt over an oily base. The cool, damp Campbeltown air by the sea gives a slow, even maturation. Demand far outstrips the small output, and bottles are keenly chased. Springbank, Longrow and Hazelburn each show a different face of the one distillery. The open larch washbacks are a rare survival in modern Scotch.

At 55.8%, undiluted, it is deep and powerful. A coastal, waxy spirit with gentle peat ride on dried fruit, fig and walnut. The texture is rich and oily, the salt threaded through. Salt and oily fruit see out a long finish. This is the flagship malt of old Campbeltown.