Springbank Private Bottling 19 Years Old 1996

A distillery bottling of Springbank, aged 19 year old from 1996, drawn from cask 75 and bottled at 54%. Just 236 bottles were filled. In Mitchell family hands since 1828, Springbank is one of only three distilleries left in Campbeltown. Concerto barley is malted on the floors and kilned in the distillery's own kiln.

The spirit was drawn off after two and a half distillations of gently peated malt, then cooled slowly in worm tubs. A sherry butt held it, the wood lending raisin and walnut. Mid age brings a fuller fruit and a deeper coastal complexity. The oily, robust make carries cask flavour while holding its own character. Kintyre's damp, mild climate suits a long and gentle maturation. The old town of Campbeltown once rivalled Speyside as Scotland's whisky heart. Quality and tradition, not volume, have always been the watchwords here. The spirit is filled to cask and matured within the distillery walls.

Undiluted at 54%, it is intense. A sherried dried fruit and nuts meets a salty, waxy depth with a whisper of peat. The texture is rich and oily, the salt threaded through. Salt and oily fruit see out a long finish. This is a complex, coastal Campbeltown whisky.