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Springbank 15 Year

Springbank 15 Year

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AVAILABLE BY BALLOT

Springbank 15 Year has long been the distillery's most important core whisky. The sherry notes are the most dominant, though there is plenty of complexity, with enough salt, smoke and toffee to go around. Matured in a mix Sherry & Bourbon casks, and bottled at 46%. It can varry considerably from batch to batch!

750ml ml
Region:Scotland > Campbeltown

Andrew's Tasting Note (2019 Bottling - No Date Stamp)

Nose: salty Dutch licorice, salted caramel (bit of a theme here), ashy peat oils and dark chocolate; juicy tobacco, chewy malt and crisp clean smoke; doughy with raisins, melons, English strawberries and dried apricots.

Palate: oily, and fruity with very prominent sherry tones; more ashy oily peat and smoked Loch Fyne kippers; bags of salty tones: more Dutch licorice, salted caramel and salty sherry (is that a thing?); more raisins, with grilled figs and date squares; very chocolaty and fruity with more strawberries and apricots; the smoke is held will in check by the sherry; so much going on... more fruity tobacco and new leather.

Finish: long, rich and sherried with a maritime flair; the peat oils continue to coat the palate; chocolate covered espresso beans with leather, tobacco and more salted caramel.

Comment: on the surface of things I am struck by how sherried it is, but looking at the earlier bottling this year, there is quite a similarity; I love the way the whisky changes, and not always subtly, from batch to batch; this is a solid bottling. 

Andrew's Tasting Note (2019 Bottling - 24/01/19)

Nose: butter scotch, toffee apple and creme brule; not as sherried as the 14/11/18 bottling, but better balanced; melons, canned pineapple and cold tea dregs with Demerara sugars; chocolate covered coffee beans and a touch of tarry peat.

Palate: round, fruity and surprisingly smoky with a prominent savoury-coastal-maritime mouthfeel; the melons and pineapple are still there, with a touch of salted caramel and earl grey infused creme brulee; as the palate evolves, some oily-earthy-peat, juicy orange and more tea dregs with Demerara sugar.

Finish: salty, smoky, toasty and decadent; the fruits fade out before the more decadent caramel and tofee tones; long and oily!

Comment: though I did not write it up, comparing this to the 2018 Edition (14/11/18) mentioned above, this 2019 bottling is less sherried, but also more elegant and complex; this is not my favourite batch of Springbank 15 in recent memory, that honour goes to a 2015 edition, but it is a close runner up!

Andrew's Tasting Note (2017 Bottling)

Nose: so fruity, melons, apricots, bananas, almost overwhelmingly so with a diced fruit bowl effect; lingering underneath some Demerara sugars, leather and a trace of maritime notes, peat and spices.

Palate: rich, fruity, round and leathery, the delicate fruits from the fruit bowl found on the nose are still there complimented by assorted dried dark fruits; there is a creamy buttery base with crisp spices, leather and tobacco developing; salted caramel and smoke emerge later on the palate.

Finish: caramel, fruits and spices fade leaving earthy peat, leather and tobacco on the finish.

Comments: the Springbank 15 morphs a little in style from time to time, the distillery unlike others makes no bones about that, regardless it never disappoints!

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