Springbank 21 Year Old

A little background

Springbank – A Campbeltown Whisky. One of the smallest regions in Scotland. The owner was told his region would be absorbed into another region because they had too few distilleries. So what did he do? He literally opened a new distillery just to keep the Campbeltown region officially recognized. #dedication!

One of the few companies that care about consumers – so much so, they will tell retailers not to ‘bank’ stock. If they discover someone buys up stock and sells it for more later, Springbank will basically stop selling to you. They have a cult following and are truly a ‘small batch’ whisky. This dram is 70% rum cask and 30% Bourbon. This review was of the 2018 release.

(Tasted neat from a Glencairn Glass)

Color

Gold

Nose

Over ripe and grilled pineapple, vanilla, coconut. Does not have the Springbank funk and damp dunnage smell. Toffee, burnt brown sugar and a hint of smoke, faint smoke very faint. Back end very slightly medicinal/herbal smell.

With water:
Slight salinity, salt, liquid white sugar, pineapple is still there. Pinch of earth.

Quite a clean nose for a Springbank. How weird!

Palate

Unusual because for a Springbank, it is so clean. No dunnage foosty note at all! (sad face). Crisp taste with hints of green apple, pineapple and a stainless steely taste to it (probably from the rum influence). Earthiness and slight tannin and some citrus rind, perhaps lemon rind. Cedar, sandalwood perfume and candied orange.

With water:
Cereal notes, bready and becomes drier. Caramel and burnt sugar elevates a tad and toasted coconut. Gets a tad ‘chalky’ dry.

Finish

Not too oily but waxy, sweeter side and very clean. Finish is medium to long.

In conclusion

This whisky is almost too clean – especially for a Springbank. But you may like it because of that. If you’re after a sweeter whisky, don’t add any water. If you’d prefer it to be a bit drier, add a touch of water. It’s a good whisky, a very nice whisky. However, it’s a bit too sterile for my liking of a Springbank.

Is it worth while? Yes and No. It is expensive, you can buy 3 bottles of other Springbanks for the price of this – so maybe I would rather have the 12yo cask strength, 15 and 18 instead of this one bottle. 

*NOTE: Formulations of Springbank releases change year on year, one year will be totally different to another year so one cannot judge from the 2018 vs what the next one will be.