Springbank 21 Years Old (49.6%)

This Springbank, an official release, a 21 year old and bottled at 49.6%. The outturn was 702 bottles. A family distillery since 1828, Springbank is still owned by the Mitchell family, five generations on. The cult around Springbank has made it one of the most collected of all malts.

The spirit was given Springbank's unusual two and a half times distillation, then condensed through worm tubs. Ex-Sherry wood suited the heavy make, adding a dried fruit richness. Past twenty years the spirit turns waxy and profound while keeping its character. Coastal warehousing gives the malt its briny, mineral lift. 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. The distillery has become a place of pilgrimage for whisky enthusiasts.

Bottled at a cask strength 49.6%, it is rich. A coastal, waxy spirit with gentle peat meet a sherried dried fruit and nuts from the cask. A coastal salt and an orchard fruit lift it. Sea salt and fruit draw out the close. This is an oily, salty Campbeltown classic.