Springbank 25 Years Old (46% 2014)

A distillery bottling of Springbank, a 25 year old Campbeltown malt and bottled at 46%. The outturn was 1200 bottles. The Springbank distillery, in Mitchell family hands since 1828, is a cult Campbeltown distillery with a devoted following. Concerto barley is malted on the floors and kilned in the distillery's own kiln.

The make was run two and a half times through the stills from lightly peated malt, then cooled slowly in worm tubs. A sherry cask wrapped the oily spirit in dried fruit and a nutty depth. Long ageing brings an oily depth, candied fruit and a mellow coastal salt. The cool, damp Campbeltown air by the sea gives a slow, even maturation. Today just three distilleries survive in the old Kintyre whisky town. The maritime warehouses by the sea lend the malt its briny, oily depth. A 1940s Porteus mill and an open iron mash tun are part of the old setup. The Mitchell family has held the distillery for five generations.

Bottled at 46%, it is rounded. A briny, oily depth with a hint of peat ride on raisin, fig and a vanilla sweetness. The texture is rich and oily, the salt threaded through. A long finish smoulders on salt and oil. This is a complex, coastal Campbeltown whisky.