Springbank 27 Years Old 1996 No. 247 (Maltbarn)

A Springbank single malt, selected and bottled by Maltbarn, aged 27 year old from 1996 and bottled at 53.2%. 37 bottles in all. Springbank, distilling since 1828 in Campbeltown, is prized for its rich, oily, hand made spirit. Hedley Wright's family has kept the distillery independent for the best part of two centuries.

This was run two and a half times through the stills from lightly peated malt, and condensed in traditional worm tubs. It was matured in refill ex-Bourbon oak, lending vanilla and honey. Beyond twenty years the malt grows waxy and deep, tropical fruit and salt over an oily base. Long maturation suits the heavy, characterful make, the cask knitting slowly with the spirit. 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.

Bottled at a cask strength 53.2%, it is rich. A briny, oily depth with a hint of peat meet vanilla, cream and light coconut from the cask. Beneath it run oily fruit, salt and a coastal depth. The close is rich, fruit over a saline depth. This is a hand made Campbeltown single malt.