Springbank 21 Years Old (48%)

This official Springbank single malt, a 21 year old Campbeltown malt from 1995 and bottled at 48%. A release of 336 bottles. The Springbank distillery, established in 1828, is the most traditional distillery in Scotch, malting all its own barley. The distillery champions the old, slow, labour intensive way of making whisky.

The make was distilled two and a half times from lightly peated, floor malted malt, and condensed in traditional worm tubs. Maturation in a sherry cask laid dried fruit over the maritime malt. At this age it is rich and complex, the fruit folded into a waxy, briny body. Worm tub condensing and an oil fired wash still build the rich, oily texture the distillery is known for. 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 hearty 48% it carries real weight. Dried fruit and a walnut richness from the cask underpins oily orchard fruit, salt and a wisp of peat. Beneath it run oily fruit, salt and a coastal depth. It closes long, oily and salty. This is the flagship malt of old Campbeltown.