Springbank 26 Years Old 1998 Whiskyland Chapter One (Decadent Drinks)

Decadent Drinks selected this Springbank matured to 26 year old from 1998 and bottled at 56.8%. 550 bottles in all. Springbank has distilled in Campbeltown since 1828, Campbeltown's most revered surviving distillery. Small output and a cult following keep its bottles allocated and keenly sought.

It was run through the distillery's part triple distillation, the malt floor malted and gently peated, the vapour cooled in worm tubs. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, gentle American oak beneath the spirit. Past twenty years the spirit turns waxy and profound while keeping its character. The hands on, small scale working shapes a spirit of real individuality. The old town of Campbeltown once rivalled Speyside as Scotland's whisky heart. Quality and tradition, not volume, have always been the watchwords here. The spirit is filled to cask and matured within the distillery walls.

At a hearty 56.8% it carries real weight. A briny, oily depth with a hint of peat are layered with vanilla, cream and light coconut. A waxy weight and a saline tang give it real body. A long finish smoulders on salt and oil. This is the most traditional malt in Scotch.