| |
Home
Thousands of tastings,
all the ramblings
and all the fun
(hopefully!)
Whiskyfun.com
Guaranteed ad-free
copyright 2002-2026
|
 |
|
| Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
| |
|
| |
| |
October 1, 2026 |
|
  |
|
The Time Warp Sessions,
today Springbank with 50 years between them |
It’s a complete disaster, we had promised ourselves we’d taste Clynelish and Springbank every month, and yet it seems we didn’t taste a single Springbank in September. So, high time we made amends. That said, we should be tasting quite a few other expressions from the famous Campbeltowner over the course of this month, just to put everything back into some semblance of order. Thank you for your kind and much-appreciated understanding. |
|
Springbank 8 yo 2018/2026 (58.1%, OB, Distillery Exclusive, oloroso sherry cask, 1,200 bottles) 
This was released for the opening of the new bottling hall. Colour: gold, so not very dark for oloroso. Maybe not first fill. Nose: a little herbal tea and some very dry raisins to begin with, dried goji berries, even some curious echoes of PX, then mint leaves, rather discreetly. With water: damp earth, pipe tobacco, cedarwood… Mouth (neat): smokier, peppery, then developing towards umeshu and dark honey, with touches of ginger. With water: it becomes saltier, almost briny, but the raisins counterbalance that tendency. Finish: long, a little floral, a little fermentary, and slightly winey. Comments: a very lovely Springbank, rather cask-driven and consequently less close to the distillate than some others, but we like it rather a lot, even if we tend to prefer the more bourbon or X-fill versions. Right.
SGP:552 - 86 points. |
|
Springbank 1967/1990 (50.4%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, #27.11) 
An inevitably legendary vintage, which followed the no less legendary 1965 and 1966, almost more common. I did say ‘almost’. Anyway, these were the swinging sixties, baby! Colour: gold. Nose: immediately, those sublime slightly metallic notes, almost coppery (old samovar), then little touches of mint, camphor and eucalyptus, not exactly unknown in these vintages, a little olive oil, then a few exotic fruits (mango) and finally a pack of menthol Kools from the very same era, left the previous evening on a beach at low tide. You see what I mean. I don’t think adding water is necessary here. Mouth: beeswax, pollen and even propolis dominate at first, soon followed by the zests of all kinds of citrus fruits. Then, finally, the coastal notes return, together with a few traces of petrolic substances. A little water increases the salinity. Finish: magnificent signature of liquorice wood and mint, with a feeling of bitter orange and fresh walnuts polished with wax in the aftertaste. Comments: I believe we tend to add one point per decade to these bottlings of these extraordinary vintages, whether they came from the honourable SMWS, Signatory, Cadenhead or, of course, the official versions. Anyway, another Jimi Hendrix of malt whisky (1967, got it?)
SGP:561 – 93 points. |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
