Nose is musky tobacco. Orange zest, wooden draws, carob and some vanilla bean. It does have that Springbank funk. Brioche laced kaya toast!
Palate is bruised apples and flint. The Oloroso comes through with salty leather. Cream, caramel, toasted coconut, licorice and wood.
Finish green apples and apple seed. More of that lovely coconut, orange pith.
4/5 Stars
20 – Springbank 16yr 1997 Single Cask 56% cask 07/178-3 (10 years refill bourbon 6 years fresh Madeira)
Nose of milk chocolate and wood glue is bolstered by citrus zest, bruised apples and dusty drawers. Some lifted florals and berry notes.
Palate is sweet and honeyed. There is some real complexity but not particularly integrated. But it’s funky and really interesting. Woody, dark fruit, tobacco and dried out raisins… then more honey. It is really all over the shop raspberry cordial suddenly appears.
Finish is flinty, bruised apples, chalky, slightly peaty with licks of warm milk and honey with a dollop of cream – and those berries?!?
Nose is fruity and full of fruit jelly. Jersey caramels, cream and grassy. Orange blossoms.
Wow the weight on the palate it is thick and rich. Intense apple, grassy, egg white and spice. Cream and caramel.
Finish more spice and a touch of creme patisserie.
3.5/5 Stars
11 – Irish 21yr 1998 by TWA 51.3%
Nose is peach tea and mango. Almonds and milk chocolate. Liquorice and interestingly the slight saltiness of soy sauce?!
Palate is all juicy dried peaches and peach ice tea. Leads to green grass, LPG and cream.
Finish is like sitting under an almond tree in the sun eating toast with peach jam.
4/5 Stars
12 – Port Ellen 1983 27yrs by Duncan Taylor cask 672 49.4%
Nose is seawater and plums. Bruised apples and seaweed. Flinty. Pineapple jelly, pear juice and caramel.
Palate is super complex. Beautiful Fruit and peat and minerality. Iodine, burnt bacon and juicy tropical fruit.
Finish is long… seaweed, iodine, and bacon and scallop sandwiches with lingering diluted stone fruit.
4.5/5 stars
13 – Springbank 25 2020 bottling
Nose is peppery and fruity (topical and stone fruit). Burnt butter porridge and pineapple. Seaside pier wood.
Palate is fresh cut apricots and bruised apples, brambles. It has leather and salt. It’s pretty flinty, and has good oyster shell. I wanted a little more it felt a touch light.
Finish is buttery and funky in only the way Springbank can do with wood and spice.
Apologies for my record keeping in 2020. Like most work and life were thrown some challenges thanks to COVID. Unsurprisingly I was still drinking drams and had the opportunity to partake in some sensational online “virtual” tastings including all of the Longrow Reds and a Aberlour A’Bunadh through the batches. Anyway here are my top 5 drams for 2020 – lots of Springbank!
Springbank 1991 by the whisky agency 27 years 46.4%
Nose is beautifully waxy and shows loads of fruit including apples, bananas and apricots. There is caramel and slight spice – some Springbank funk and old whisky smell.
The palate is rich and deep. Old apples, fruity, old and funky, waxy and pristine. Honey and super nutty. Wow there is some interplay between the elements.
But wow this finish is just nuts. It lasts for ever with mango and wax. Old whisky, candles and apples, dusty draws. It is elegant and pristine – the warmth of a smile from a girl in a summer dress.
Palate big and impressive, sweetness, spice woody, red apple skin, bounty bars, fruit mince, hand cream, peaches
Finish freshly cut stone fruit, cream that lasts and lasts (we’re talking minutes here), a pleasing metallic resonance
SMWS 27.111 (Springbank) A coal bucket full of marshmallows
Nose unmistakably Springbank. Earthy, tobacco funk with a lattice of sweetness, leather and brandy snaps, dusty, roses
Palate sweet but not cloying, a heavy spirit. Leather bound books, orchard fruits. More fruit with water, start seeing beautiful waxiness, stone fruit and peanut brittle.
Wow! This nose. Shoe polish, maybe?? Carob, pineapple lumps, camphor
Palate really funky, minerality, lots of spice and juicy fruit. Tastes like “old whisky” and elegant.
Finish leather, tobacco, orchards.
Springbank 18YO 2000 Pacific Edge
Nose of pencil shavings, rock melon, cream, honey, iodine, dried apricots. Wow it just keeps giving, new things keep appearing like lemonade and lemsip.
Palate dried fruits, marmalade, orange zest, pencil shavings, rock melon, shaving cream and tobacco
37 – SMWS 27.111 (Springbank) A coal bucket full of marshmallows
Nose unmistakably Springbank. Earthy, tobacco funk with a lattice of sweetness, leather and brandy snaps, dusty, roses
Palate sweet but not cloying, a heavy spirit. Leather bound books, orchard fruits. More fruit with water, start seeing beautiful waxiness, stone fruit and peanut brittle.
Nose is typical butter cake, apricots, brandy snaps, buttered toast with that metallic note. Also there is some menthol… with time in the glass it became waxy.
Palate apricot crumble with melty vanilla icecream – truly delicious. Some interesting waxy, ice coffee, and hay notes.
Finish green grass, coffee cream and saltiness
****
39 – Hazelburn 2003, 13 years Oloroso cask bottles March 2017
Nose fruit cake, buttered fruit toast, campbeltown funk
Palate is honey joys, fruit cake, bruised apples, wooden shelves, dried cranberries
19 – Glen Elgin 1995 by The Whisky Agency 23 years 48.2%
Nose is beautifully waxy and full of tropical fruits, river stones, marshmallow and green apricots. It is beautifully elegant.
Palate is initially sweet and pure and cheeky like raspberry lollies. Green grass, green mangos, cream which leads to riper mango flavours.
Finish is creamy and loooooong. Slight hints of salt, minerals and fruit.
****^
20 – Highland Park 2003, 14 years bottled for Duty Zero cask 6138
Nose is richly peated and sherried; like a beautiful smoked ham dipped in toffee. Walking through an orchard in autumn.
Loads of minerality on the palate, honey, toffee pecans and green sticks.
The finish is a lovely mix of charcoal and marshmallow
****
21 – Balblair 1990 by Kingsbury 23 years refill sherry cask 10116 52.9%
Nose honey, mandarin, leather, cloves, peanut shells. Very restrained.
Palate is powerful and eye opening. Honey and reserved citrus – like a citrus gel. Toffee and burnt caramel and apricots.
Finish waxy and gentle citrus.
****^
22 – Springbank 1991 by the whisky agency 27 years 46.4%
Nose is beautifully waxy and shows loads of fruit including apples, bananas and apricots. There is caramel and slight spice – some Springbank funk and old whisky smell.
The palate is rich and deep. Old apples, fruity, old and funky, waxy and pristine. Honey and super nutty. Wow there is some interplay between the elements.
But wow this finish is just nuts. It lasts for ever with mango and wax. Old whisky, candles and apples, dusty draws. It is elegant and pristine – the warmth of a smile from a girl in a summer dress.
*****
23 – SMWS 80.10 “Champagne and Roses” Glen Spey 11 years 55.8%
Nose is honey and floral, slightly nutty and toasted, pine resin
Palate is quite dry and hot … super biscuity, loads of shortbread. I understand why “roses” is in the title as it is slightly floral and rose hips.
Finish is green sticks, salt and slight cream
**^
24 – SMWS 9.167 “Part of the furniture” Glen Grant 23 years
I’m digging the nose apricots, hand cream and sticky date pud, maple walnuts
Palate is straightforward coffee, green grass, cream, green mango
124 – Craigellachie 12 for Quaich Bar Cask #39215 PX
Nose that is strongly honeyed, with cold butter and minerality. Some liquorice and caramel, slight ozone and green hills. Palate has honey continuing, deep woody notes and controlled sulfur there is a lovely puff of marshmallow. That honey note is even in the finish and there is some real earthy soil.
****
125 – Springbank 12, 1996 NC2 by Duncan Taylor 46%
Nose of honey, hay and (unpleasantly) plasticine but the apricots and tropical fruits are positive. The palate is gentle and tropical with dried salted mango and a hint of peanut brittle. Simple finish of grape vines. Hmmm… disappointing.
**
126 – Ichiro’s Malt & Grain 2019 bourbon barrel for The Whisky Plus cask 7172 59%
Delicious grilled bananas with brown sugar on the nose followed by raspberry lollies, dried pineapple, vanilla and crushed ants. Palate is very bourbon like toasted pound cake with vanilla cream, butter, some stone fruit, waffle cones. Lovely long but simple finish of tropical fruits and rancio.
****
127 – Longrow 1993 10 year old
Nose of lemon barley! Some old bottle effect is there but it blows away with time to revea caramel, hay, salt and pepper. The palate has some Campbeltown funk, bruised apples in light caramel sauce with toasted sesame seeds. The finish has more bruised apple then apricot seeds and green grass.
Nice nose of caramel and furniture polish, bruised apples and salt flakes on chocolate mousse.
A really intense palate… wow! Pencil shavings, toasted coconut, liquorice and molasses. The mouthfeel is intensely thick and honeyed.
With the finish the liquorice lingers on top of an eggy chewy toasted meringue.
****
89 – Springbank 17 Year Old Sherry Wood bottled 2015
Lovely umami like nose – gunpowder mixed with dashi, milk caramels sitting in dusty drawers.
Classic springbank palate; funk, dried fruit and bruised apples. A slight dusty xmas pudding and hints of toasted marshmallow.
The finish is old world charm of sitting in an old leather chair eating the cream on top of a roasted apple.
****
90 – Bowmore 1995 by Wemyss “Nostalgic 70’s Flavour”
An intense nose of spiciness and jersey caramel. I’m immediately thinking freshly grated nutmeg. Pencil shavings on chocolate mango pudding.
On the palate a beautiful whisky, showing balance and charm. Red apple, mangoes, loads of fruit and gentle spice. This is a coconut drenched old whisky. There is real elegance here.
To finish red apples and tropical fruit by the seaside
80 – SMWS 27.97 (Springbank) Glazed cashews and lemon lollies
Loads of Campbelltown funk on the nose. A super zingy lemon and honey drive the nose. It’s met by green almonds and the seaside salt of a good sherry.
On the palate lemon zest and gun powder flooded by red plums and tea cake followed by almond butter.
An interesting finish of oil paints, glue and red grapes.
****
81 – Ben Nevis 1992 17 Years by High Spirits cask 2624
Nose: Lemon, peaches steeped in champagne, prunes and apricots
Palate: Grassy and loads of dried pineapple, honey and salted butter smeared on rye bread, loads of funky cask spiciness
Finish: super juicy citrus and stone fruit
****
82 – Ben Nevis 10 Years cask strength Batch 1 distilled 21 April 2008 62.4%
Crisp and clear nose with overwhelming honey with such beautiful fruit sugar brightness, a twist of coffee and toffee.
The palate features loads of tea cake (as expected with Ben Nevis), butter and honey. Some great mineral flinty and coal like, late reminiscent of soft liquorice.
Wine like tannins and stonefruit really pushes through on the finish, honey, maple syrup.
61 – Springbank 15 (early 2000s bottle)
Nose: Nose of a wax dipped brown banana, caramel dipped old apples, pencil shavings and a hot chocolate on a dusty shelf, hit of my mother’s apricot jam on a honey joy biscuit.
Palate: Beautiful mouth feel, cooling even. A very gentle whisky Honey, burnt rocks and old cream. Green leaves about to smoke.
Finish: Old wood, green leaf smoke and apple snow.
*****
62 – Fleurieu New Make
Nose: Apricot kernels, raw dough, apricots, raisins
Palate: Super intense fruit sugar, raisins, pastry
Finish: Gentle citrus
(No score as new make)
63 – Fleurieu Fountain of Youth 53.3%
Nose: Chestnut flower honey, rubber, salt water taffy
Palate: Raisins, old butter, golden syrup, green figs
Finish: Prunes and muscat grapes
***
64 – Fleurieu single port cask, selected by Whisky and Alement 49.7%
Nose: Super intense sweet honey and again the metallic taste of chestnut honey, white cheese mould, lemsip, grape seed
grey whisky 