Springbank Longrow 13 Years Old

This official Longrow single malt matured to 13 year old and bottled at 51.3%. Only 9000 bottles were released. The Springbank distillery, established in 1828, is run much as it was a century ago. It makes three malts: Springbank, the peated Longrow and the unpeated Hazelburn.

The make was double distilled from heavily peated, floor malted barley, then condensed through worm tubs. Maturation came in ex-Bourbon wood, with vanilla under the oily fruit. By this age the maritime weight rounds into a richer, fuller malt. Years in oak deepen the fruit and the maritime character together. The spirit is filled to cask and matured within the distillery walls. Few distilleries keep so much of the old craft alive under one roof. Campbeltown was once the whisky capital of the world, with more than thirty distilleries at its peak. Today just three distilleries survive in the old Kintyre whisky town.

At a full 51.3% it is bold and oily. A vanilla and toffee sweetness from the cask underpins smoke, tar and an oily maritime depth. A coastal salt and an orchard fruit lift it. It closes long, oily and salty. This is a robust, smoky Campbeltown whisky.