Whisky: Springbank 26 Year (1995), WhiskySponge No. 60b

Country/Region: Scotland/Campbeltown

ABV: 51.1%

Cask: Refill Hogshead

Age: 26 Years (Distilled 1995, Bottled 2022)

Nose: Soft coastal salt with wispy distant smoke, dried grass and heather, herbal with wild mint and camphor, paper, soft citrusy fruits with lemon and pineapple

Palate: Medium-bodied and lively, sparkling tropical acidity and citrus, maritime brine and mellow metallic bite with subtle wispy smoke, dried grass, buttery pastries, old papers and paperbacks, waxy at times with more orange and anise.

Finish: Long and lingering with wispy tobacco smoke, beachy salt, paper, and dried vegetation.

Score: 9

Mental Image: Summer 2007.

Narrative & Notes: Memories of one summer nearly two decades ago— memories that feel distant, yet close at hand— with the angsty lyrics of Linkin Park on my iPod, I carried a borrowed copy of the Harry Potter series down to the beach any time I had a day off. The bright coastal brine and the sweet mineral scent of sun-baked sand brought those familiar days to mind with notions of those paperbacks and muddled herbs in a citrusy lemonade. Pineapple and tropical fruits joined in for a bright Italian soda or pushed toward a buttery tropical fruit pound cake. Dried grass and herbal notions of wild mint, camphor, and dried beach debris carried the wispy scent of a distant barbecue or bonfire.  Medium-bodied and lively on the palate, the flavor profile was much the same, with summer memories spilling across the palate, joined by a mellow waxiness and more orange with hints of anise.  The finish was long with wispy tobacco smoke, beachy salt, paper, and dried vegetation.

The summer of 2007 was epic; I had graduated from college and had no idea what I would do next. I spent long days working and my days off walking to a beach park to relax and read. The summer did not end on a high note, and while there are things I wish I could change, that brief period radically altered my direction in life in ways that would not be clear for another decade.

This whisky took me back to those formative moments when I was carefree in a way I find difficult to imagine now. The herbal quality on the nose and palate, the wispy smoke, and the bright citrus all bring back a feeling of certainty— that I have a home to return to and that things will always work out.  I do not know how to describe that feeling, but one of the things I love about whisky and food is the ability to find those long-lost emotions and memories, whether we can convey them or not. I thought this was an extraordinary whisky, and there is no doubt nostalgia played a role.

Overall, cheers for Proust.

Image Credit: Whisky Auctioneer

About Springbank

Characterful and distinctive; the robust younger spirit transforms into mellow coastal meadows with a soft tropical aesthetic over the decades. Popular and expensive, the high quality of the malt has vastly been outstripped by the secondary prices at which it sells.

The titan of Campbeltown, Springbank Distillery, began operations in 1828 and maintains a lot of old-school tradition in production, from in-house floor malting of barley to a mix of direct oil-fired stills and worm tub condenser. Yet, for a producer with a reputation for an old-fashioned approach to whisky production, the brand has been a trendsetter through its diversification into retail and bottling operations (no surprise that many independent bottling companies now have their own distilleries) and its focus on nurturing its reputation as a single malt.

The current strength of the Springbank brand owes a lot to its visibility as a single malt and its status as a forerunner to the trend among scotch consumers for displays of brand loyalty. Hence, even core products from the distillery sell out quickly and can be hard to find. Production at the distillery can barely keep up with the demand. That will likely continue as the distillery only operated at about 20% in 2020 and only produces about 200,000 liters of Springbank per annum. The barley used for Springbank is malted on site, peated between 12-15 ppm, fermented for ~100 hours, and distilled 2 ½ times.

Style: Maritime, Metallic, Citrus, Subtle Coconut/Tropical Elements