Springbank Longrow 13 Years Old (59.1%)

This Longrow, an official release, a 13 year old from 2003 and bottled at 59.1%. 540 bottles in all. Springbank is a Campbeltown distillery run by J and A Mitchell since 1828, Campbeltown's most revered surviving distillery. Hedley Wright's family has kept the distillery independent for the best part of two centuries.

It was run twice through the stills from heavily peated malt, and condensed in traditional worm tubs. Ex-Sherry wood suited the heavy make, adding a dried fruit richness. Mid age brings a fuller fruit and a deeper coastal complexity. Everything is done on site, the spirit going from still to cask to bottle in Campbeltown. 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. The distillery has become a place of pilgrimage for whisky enthusiasts.

Bottled at a cask strength 59.1%, it is rich. A coastal peat smoke with a briny depth are layered with dried fruit, fig and walnut. Beneath it run oily fruit, salt and a coastal depth. A long, oily, coastal finish lingers. This is a smoky, maritime Campbeltown single malt.