Springbank Longrow 1996 (56.1%)

This official Longrow single malt matured to 16 year old from 1996 and bottled at 56.1%. 546 bottles in all. Springbank has distilled in Campbeltown since 1828, run much as it was a century ago. Production is tiny by modern standards, a fraction of a large Speyside distillery.

It was floor malted, peated hard and double distilled for Longrow, and run into cast iron worm tubs. A refill American oak cask held it, keeping the distillery character to the fore. Past a decade the oily spirit deepens, fruit and salt knitting with the oak. Years in oak deepen the fruit and the maritime character together. 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. Kintyre's damp, mild climate suits a long and gentle maturation.

Undiluted at 56.1%, it is intense. Vanilla, cream and light coconut from the cask underpins a tarry, maritime smoke. It is deep and complex, the maritime spirit shining through. It finishes deep, complex and maritime. This is a robust, smoky Campbeltown whisky.