Springbank Longrow 21 Years Old (44.5%)

This official Longrow single malt, aged 21 year old and bottled at 44.5%. The outturn was 168 bottles. Springbank, distilling since 1828 in Campbeltown, is still owned by the Mitchell family, five generations on. It makes three malts: Springbank, the peated Longrow and the unpeated Hazelburn.

This was double distilled from heavily peated, floor malted barley, then condensed through worm tubs. Ex-Sherry wood suited the heavy make, adding a dried fruit richness. Past twenty years the spirit turns waxy and profound while keeping its character. Coastal warehousing gives the malt its briny, mineral lift. Quality and tradition, not volume, have always been the watchwords here. 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.

Reduced to 44.5%, it is mellow. Heavy smoke over brine and wax meet dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A coastal salt and an orchard fruit lift it. The close is rich, fruit over a saline depth. This is a tarry, coastal Campbeltown malt.