Springbank Duty Paid Sample – For Trade Purposes Only 12 Years Old 2008

A distillery bottling of Springbank, a 12 year old Campbeltown malt from 2008, drawn from cask Rotation 171 and bottled at 56.1%. The Springbank distillery, established in 1828, is one of only three distilleries left in Campbeltown. Each bottling is filled and labelled in Campbeltown rather than shipped away.

The make was run two and a half times through the stills from lightly peated malt, then cooled slowly in worm tubs. Maturation in a sherry cask laid dried fruit over the maritime malt. Past a decade the oily spirit deepens, fruit and salt knitting with the oak. The oily, robust make carries cask flavour while holding its own character. 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 a full 56.1% it is bold and oily. Dried fruit and a walnut richness meets a salty, waxy depth with a whisper of peat. 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.