Springbank Vintage Series 27 Years Old 1998

This official Springbank single malt matured to 27 year old from 1998 and bottled at 48.3%. Only 1500 bottles were released. The Springbank distillery, established in 1828, is the most traditional distillery in Scotch, malting all its own barley. Small output and a cult following keep its bottles allocated and keenly sought.

The make was distilled two and a half times from lightly peated, floor malted malt, the vapour cooled in worm tubs. A sherry cask wrapped the oily spirit in dried fruit and a nutty depth. Beyond twenty years the malt grows waxy and deep, tropical fruit and salt over an oily base. Worm tub condensing and an oil fired wash still build the rich, oily texture the distillery is known for. 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 a natural 48.3% it is full and oily. Dried fruit and a walnut richness from the cask underpins oily orchard fruit, salt and a wisp of peat. Soft fruit and brine sit behind the cask sweetness. It closes long, oily and salty. This is a revered Campbeltown single malt.