Springbank Private Bottling 30 Years Old 1972

This Springbank, an official release matured to 30 year old from 1972, drawn from cask 759 and bottled at 46%. A release of 242 bottles. A family distillery since 1828, Springbank is still owned by the Mitchell family, five generations on. It makes three malts: Springbank, the peated Longrow and the unpeated Hazelburn.

The spirit was given Springbank's unusual two and a half times distillation, then condensed through worm tubs. It was matured in refill ex-Bourbon oak, lending vanilla and honey. At three decades and more it is rich and oily, tropical fruit, beeswax and salt in a deep, old malt. 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.

At 46% it is supple and briny. A coastal, waxy spirit with gentle peat meet vanilla, cream and light coconut from the cask. A coastal salt and an orchard fruit lift it. Sea salt and fruit draw out the close. This is an oily, salty Campbeltown classic.