Springbank 18 Year

Rating: 22/23 N: Moderated peaty herbaceousness (odd, considering this is unpeated), cinnamon, prune, some floral vanilla. A lot less farmyard, grass, and richness than the 15 has. Some dry wood starts coming through. It smells old but restrained. Leaving it for a bit, a little tangerine starts coming out too and the depth builds. It's a very nice nose. After a while, some meat and light farmyard start coming out, along with a dash of iodine. This isn't really a more complex nose than that of the 15, but it might be a bit deeper. They're fairly different stylistically, but now I kind of find the sweet cinnamon here a bit more appealing. P: Sweet with cinnamon, grain, farmyard, grass, waxy tartness, herbal, earthy peat. Is this really unpeated? It tastes very mildly peated, though I think that's just the farmyard mixing with the smoke from the toasting. And whatever is causing that iodine flavor. I like the bit of prickliness the comes with the cinnamon and the occasional tangerine that comes in here. The flavor really swirls here. I'm really struggling to capture all of the flavors that the depths of this dram include because there are so many and I only have a sample of this. And, frankly, I'd really like to enjoy the sample. The wood is present here, but it comes with a light touch, showing more in the maturity and artistry with which it sculpts the other flavors, enhancing their natural beauty. I do wish that the flavor were fuller though. F: Light brown sugar, malt, cinnamon at first. They do linger, but more farmyard, grain, and iodine come out as it progresses. There's some nice umami lingering here. - Conclusion - My first thought is "there's no way this is below an 18, and even that seems almost certainly too low". My second thought is "oh, crap, what do I have around to compare this with in the 19 to 23 range? Nothing very fitting, I'm afraid. I have Cadenhead's Tullibardine 25 (1993) at a 19, though a low one. This is far more complex and balanced, with more maturity. The Tullibardine has a fuller flavor, but that doesn't make up for the gap here though. There's no way I'm going below a 20 now. I'm leaning more toward a 21 or 22 though. Lismore 21 (a solid 19) is actually pretty funky, so it's a better match-up. That said, the Lismore comes across as rough and muddled in comparison. The distinction is stark. This can't be below a 21. Maybe it's a 23. Another fairly poor match-up is Glenfarclas 25 (23). I'd say that this is closer to the Glenfarclas than it is to the Tullibardine. I'd say that the complexity here is about on par with that of the Glenfarclas, but the depth is greater here. The Glenfarclas is also richer though, despite its lower ABV and obvious mellowing from the air. The air might actually have brought this particular bottle down to more like a 22. Even so, I think I'd probably take the Glenfarclas over this, but it's close. A 21 or 22 here for sure. I would take this over Springbank 21, shockingly. How I wish I had a bottle of Highland Park 18 here to compare. Also, just to have. At the end of the day, this is solid competition for a bottle of Glenfarclas 25 that is past its prime, but not too far past it. Considering that, I'm going to give this a lofty 22. Amazing. With my final sip, I'm loving the balance and complexity here. The bourbon barrel flavor might be a bit strong than I'd like, so maybe some older barrel would have been better. Also, maybe a little bit of oloroso and PX mixed in could have added just a little more complexity and allowed this dram to hit more dimensions. I'm really nit-picking here though. Thank you @pkingmartin for sharing this delightful dram with me! I seem to have the contrarian opinion on this one, but I think that Springbank aged in bourbon barrels is Springbank at its finest!

I'm really glad I kept both the Longrow 18, 2018 and this Springbank 18, 2015 edition back from auction. Mr Excellent has nailed a lot of the flavour descriptors. Oily, ripe banana, coconut, pepper, cinnamon, and more going on. I had a think a while back what my favourite distilleries were. A fair number have dropped back due to quality/crap cheap NAS (Talisker) and poor blending (Glendronach) from my top few. Springbank (incl. Longrow, Hazelburn) however I now declare is solidly top spot. Have they let me down, yes. Particularly an over sulphured bomb. There is only one bottle of any spirit i have bought out of the however many hundreds i have returned and that was a massively sulphur bombed Hazelburn 14 Sherry casked. I LOVED the first one I had but man the next two... One i left open for 3 or 4 months, barely drank any and gave the rest away. The next year I was like na this is even worse so I returned it. And this is from a man who loves a bit of sulphur e.g. Mortlach. Anyhow they are my no. 1 as despite sometimes severe quality control issues they always have best intentions and cam deliver some absolute stunners at a (21 and 25 year aged stmts aside) fair price. It's not in their DNA to ramp up production, go mass mkt and pump out crap. If they pump out crap it's still good intentions (just sloppy quality ctl - seriously do they taste each run??). Anyhow let it open for a few weeks and enjoy. Another SB stunner. Update: Months later and close to bottle kill i'm raising this to a ultra rare 4.75. I've bought hundreds of bottles and had thousands of samples and it's extremely rare I see a bottle all the way through. Mostly i give it away as i either go off it, it degrades and or i get bored. Not this one, this I will mourn. I love the flavour profile, complexity and most importantly perfect balance that oxegen and time just has not degraded. There maybe drams I have thought more special than this but very few that have consistently delivered and kept me wanting to go back to every single time..never once have I felt not in the mood for this dram.

So @pkingmartin sent me a handful of lovely Scotch samples that were nicely labeled. Being against pre-conceived notions I’m tasting this one before reading the label. Pale straw with a thin appearance in the glass - nothing much sticks to the sides. Light and fruity with a hint of wet, earthy peat. Pears, clover, ginger, wet stone, freshly cut apple, new leather. The peat isn’t the faintest bit smokey or ashy. Methinks Speyside or Cambletown? Not the smokey Islay and doesn’t burst with malt or heather, no sherry here to speak of. Soft and light. Peat hits first, then a blink of malt and then almost a Italian Pino Grigio or NZ Sauvignon Blanc-esque mixture of stone with grapefruit, pear, and floral elements that subside into a saltwater taffy and peaty finish that lingers but not intrusively. This is light and dang near refreshing. There is no burn to speak of and ABV I’m guessing is 43-44%. Age? In Scotch years maybe 12 but could be more. It has just a slight bit of medicinal iodine and sulfur component on the finish like @ContemplativeFox points out about Highland Park. This is honesty more dry than HP though which leaves me wondering, what is this?!? Drumroll… Springbank 18!!! Love these guys. Was way off on the age. Was also slightly low on the ABV. This honesty could be 40% given how little heat it puts off. Don’t get much, if any, of the sherry barrels - maybe I’m daft or maybe the barrels were spent. Pure malty goodness, and @ContemplativeFox read my mind with the mention of a “peated Irish whiskey.” Soft, fruity, and perhaps more acid and mineral than an good Irish pour though. Score is tricky - it deviates from my love of viscous, high proof whiskys. Great in the summertime but in early fall it’s a bit lacking. Considering the price difference between this and the 10 year I likely won’t make the jump. I say that having just picked up a 15 year though so more to follow…

Nose: Fruit funk (overly ripe bananas and coconut), salted caramel, barrel ding and black pepper, and a gentle smoke note. Palate: Tart fruits. Rich dates, raisins, even almost a raspberry. The coconut shows up as does the overly ripe banana funk, but in a good way. The tart fruits open into a dark chocolate and salted caramel and finishes with lingering fruits and a gentle smoked finish. Light black pepper notes stay with the entire sip, almost like a texture. Final notes: This whisky completely surprised me. I have a strong love for many of Campbeltown's offerings and this is currently my favorite. I was expecting a much bigger peat explosion but was pleasantly surprised, and yes, I love peat bombs. The palate and nose are incredibly rich and oily and stay with you long after a sip. In a way, it gives a slight rum impression with the coconut and banana funk but it's absolutely lovely. I think this is a bottle that any Campbeltown lover should have in their collection and honestly is a perfect expression to introduce any whisky lover into the region. Realistically, I'd prefer to rate this truly as a 4.6 rather than a 4.5, but Distiller does not give me that option and I wouldn't particularly call it a 4.75. If a cask strength bottling was ever released (if it hasn't been), that would be a bottle I would equally be interested in to explore it's purest form. Overall it's an excellent whisky to explore on it's own, however it does a remarkable job of holding it's own if you were pairing with food or a cigar. I'd recommend a heavier, oily cigar with darker caramel notes or something with umami notes. Personal recommendations would be a RoMa Craft Aquitaine or D&T Red Meat Lovers cigar. Disclaimer: I did not see a distinction on here between the first and second edition of the Springbank 18 bottlings. The bottle I am reviewing is the first edition.

I ran down my whisky collection and took a break for a bit to give my stomach lining a break but when I saw the latest releases of SB 18 and 15 I cracked and bought them. The last year or two people (and unfortunately it seems collectors) have woken up to the joys of SB. Add COVID supply issues in the mix and the 18 yr and special releases sell out very fast down in NZ. The CS 12 yr release suffers the same fate and you can't dawdle even with the 15 yr shockingly. Anyhow i had read the reviews and I knew it was a boubon cask release with a tiny bit of port casking but given the 2015 release i had hoarded blew me away and got into rare .2% territory (the number of drams i have given a 4.75 and above rating to) I had to have it. Sadly the 2020 release just isn't in the same league...at all...i go between a 4 and 4.25 but I think i prefer the rougher yet more flavourful 15 yr 2020. So 4 it is. It's got the usual refinement, beautiful vanilla sweetness but personally without any sherry influence it seems incomplete and a bit soulless. I really am getting zero port but at 12% of the casking not surprising i guess.Having said that I just remembered that I have had amazing cs strength special release bourbon casks from them so its more than just missing sherry. It just doesn't have a lot of complexity and is just...good. Still in the age of stupid whisky prices you have to commend SB. 4 years later and I paid only 5% more. That alone is why SB deserves respect. They could go Octomore or Highland Park level stupid with pricing but they don't. And they employ waaay more local staff than the big boys. I could go on but despite the slight hero worship this one just didn't blow me away. You should still like this drop if you are a SB fan but definitely don't feel sorry if it passed you by.

Springbank 18 year - 2014 edition. I'm a bit shocked to see that this is a 2014 but 14/301 is what's here and the 14 should be the year. Bought a 2014 longrow 18 not all that long ago as well as a 12 (old packaging) so I guess not that surprising. The box and bottle however look awfully nice to be this vintage. Oh well 301 so end of the year 2014 at least. Nose - classic springbank BBQ peat as I have come to think of it. There's a bit of a wine character not just a sherry note (this is heavily sherried I'm fairly certain). I get a bit of oak but given 18 years not a lot. As it's opening up I'm starting to get vanilla from the bourbon. A very clean springbank nose, much more refined than the 12's and 15's. I'm not sure this is a good thing but it just is what it is. Taste - Opens with a lot of vanilla, transitions to some sherry, then moves into that springbank funk with BBQ and more sherry, spices form, it heats up, and then nicely and gently finishes. There's gentle smoke over the whole experience, perhaps the most smoke I've gotten on a springbank to date. Oh yeah vanilla cream over this nice bitter sherry bite, savory smoke, a touch of meat, a really nice medium finish. Only real negative I have for this one is that it really does drink a bit like water at first before the sherry and peat and sparks of springbank build up and send you on an epic journey. Normally 46% is that almost there but not there spot for a whisky and this might showcase that like no other. 48% would be a game changer. 170 buck, well worth it, and yes I want another bottle or two.