Springbank 21 Years Old (47.5% Sweden)

An official Springbank single malt, a 21 year old Campbeltown malt and bottled at 47.5%. 318 bottles in all. The Springbank distillery, established in 1828, is a family distillery that malts and bottles every drop on site. Campbeltown was its own protected whisky region long before the revival.

The make was run two and a half times through the stills from lightly peated malt, and slowly worm tub cooled. 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 slow loss of the angel's share concentrates the oily, complex core over time. The distillery has become a place of pilgrimage for whisky enthusiasts. 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.

At cask strength 47.5% it is muscular. Dried fruit, fig and walnut meets a salty, waxy depth with a whisper of peat. It is rich and layered, the fruit and salt well matched. A long finish smoulders on salt and oil. This is a hand made Campbeltown single malt.