Springbank 25 Years Old (46% 2006)

This Springbank, an official release, a 25 year old release and bottled at 46%. A release of 1200 bottles. Springbank is a Campbeltown distillery founded in 1828, still owned by the Mitchell family, five generations on. It makes three malts: Springbank, the peated Longrow and the unpeated Hazelburn.

It was floor malted, lightly peated and distilled two and a half times, then condensed through worm tubs. Maturation in a sherry cask laid dried fruit over the maritime malt. Past twenty years the spirit turns waxy and profound while keeping its character. Coastal warehousing gives the malt its briny, mineral lift. The sea loch at the foot of the town shapes the coastal character of the malt. 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 46% it is clean and characterful. A coastal, waxy spirit with gentle peat meet dried fruit and a walnut richness from the cask. A coastal salt and an orchard fruit lift it. A long, oily, coastal finish lingers. This is an oily, salty Campbeltown classic.