Springbank 5 yo '100 proof' (57.1%, OB, 2025) 
Composed of 100% bourbon casks, although not too sure if everything was first fill. Colour: pale straw. Nose: an abundance of fresh breads and citrus notes. Yeasty sourdough starter, wool, fresh linens and white flowers. Then lemon barley water and impressions of bay leaf, citrus curds, heathery floral notes and some firmer mineral and stone qualities that nod towards waxiness. The very epitome of excellent young malt whisky. With water: lighter and almost feathery, more focussed around cereals, breads, pressed flowers, wool, ink and mineral oil. Mouth: fantastic! Pure Springbank distillate character, very waxy and much oily and more emphatic than the nose suggested, going here much more decisively towards lemon waxy notes, chalk, clay, sheep wool, delicate medicinal tones and wild coastal flowers. There's also a slightly sharp, white stone fruitiness and fermentary side that makes me think of old Glen Grant 5yo 100 proof bottlings. With water: gets bone dry, even salty and superbly coastal now, lemon juice on sheep wool, watercress, white pepper and a trace of brittle peat smoke. Finish: good length, warming and peppery, with impressions of warm draff, old school ales, chalky and still those persistently bright lemony notes. Comments: It's true that I adore this distillate-dominated sort of profile, but even with that caveat, I think this is top notch, uber-charismatic young malt whisky in the very best sense. Swings a wrecking ball through most of these frankly embarrassing NAS wine finished things that clutter up whisky these days. That being said, it also demonstrates that in order to be able to release young, unvarnished, high strength bottlings such as this, you need the sort of distillate that can stand on its own. 
SGP: 462 - 88 points. 

Springbank 5 yo 1993/1998 (61.2%, Adelphi, cask #324)
We can only assume some kind of uber active sherry cask was deployed here... Colour: deep ruby. Nose: soy sauce, beef jerky and teriyaki! We know from a few other bottlings that Mitchells had filled a parcel of very active first fill port casks in the early 1990s, could this be one of those? There are certainly some pretty porty impressions going on: ruby and crusted port notes, cassis, blackcurrant cough drops, then more tertiary, earthy and rooty characteristics underneath that. A strong impression of some Springbank character despite such a heavy drape of cask influence. With water: blackcurrant, brambles, fig jam, plum wine and aniseed. This gentle impression of children's medicine such as Calpol in the background too. Mouth: extremely powerful upon arrival! You do tend to feel the alcohol, but there's also a wealth of sweet liquorice, black jack chew sweets, aniseed, cough syrup, herbal ointments, Buckfast, celery salts, cocktail bitters, dried tarragon, resinous hardwoods and strong, black tea. The nose seems like a distant cousin by comparison in terms of power! With water: full on blackcurrant cordial, red fruit cough syrups, dried mint, eucalyptus, aged porter beer, subtle traces of peat, some walnut oil and more strong notes of aniseed and liquorice. Also a feeling of aged Fernet Branca too. Extremely potent and dominated by these herbal, medicinal and rooty characteristics. Finish: long, on bitter artichoke liqueurs, black pepper, teas, rich earthy tones and more things like bramble wine, natural tar and fir wood resins. Comments: extreme and also extremely fun. What I really quite enjoy is that you still find the Springbank peeping out from those inky depths. I would really love to know if this was indeed one of those hyper active port hoggies? Also, in the end, it turned out to be a pretty perfect sparring partner for that new 5yo. Although, it's one of those drams that's extremely hard to score, please take mine with a pinch of salt. 
SGP: 662 - 87 points.