Springbank Longrow 2001 (47.9%)

This Longrow, an official release matured to 20 year old from 2001 and bottled at 47.9%. A release of 1488 bottles. Springbank has distilled in Campbeltown since 1828, prized for its rich, oily, hand made spirit. Small output and a cult following keep its bottles allocated and keenly sought.

It was distilled twice from malt kilned over plenty of peat, the vapour cooled in worm tubs. Maturation came in ex-Bourbon wood, with vanilla under the oily fruit. 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. Today just three distilleries survive in the old Kintyre whisky town. The maritime warehouses by the sea lend the malt its briny, oily depth. A 1940s Porteus mill and an open iron mash tun are part of the old setup. The Mitchell family has held the distillery for five generations.

At cask strength 47.9% it is muscular. A tarry, maritime smoke meet a vanilla and toffee sweetness from the cask. Soft fruit and brine sit behind the cask sweetness. It finishes deep, complex and maritime. This is a tarry, coastal Campbeltown malt.