Review by: The Muskox

Everybody loves Springbank. Or, well, everybody on Reddit loves Springbank. Here’s my take on their 15-year expression.

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Distillery: Springbank.

Bottler: Official bottling.

Region: Campbeltown.

ABV: 46%.

Age: 15 years. Bottled in 2018.

Cask type: Mostly sherry casks.

Price: $102 CAD.

Color: Light amber. Natural Color. Non-chill-filtered.

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Nose: Unmistakably Springbank. Salty, leathery, earthy, yeasty funk right at the front. Underneath is fresh malt and orchard fruit. Apples and peaches, both baked into pies. Chelsea buns (pastry, cinnamon, pecan, butter). Some crystallized pineapple and ginger, with banana and cherry. Creamy vanilla as well. Just a hint of something like a wood-fired oven, I mean the real ones in Italy.

Palate: Creamy texture. Fruity sweetness up front. Strawberry, pear, banana, cantaloupe, and carrot. Next comes some of black pepper, then some light peat smoke, then tropical fruit and nuts. There’s some nori in there, and something else nutty and vegetal and savoury that I can’t quite describe. I feel like I’ve experienced that flavour deep in a bowl of Chinese soup or something…

Finish: Gets saltier and meatier, but still fruity-sweet. Ham hock and seaweed now, along with old pencils, mud, and something vaguely metallic. Some well-worn oak appears here. Hazy cigar smoke. More pecans and banana. A little bit of tart lemon, and a touch of mint.

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Conclusion: Tasty, tasty Springbank. There are flavours in here that you really can’t get from any other distillery. This expression was nicely balanced and had great complexity to it. The savoury aspect is just so lovely. I might have been expecting juuuuust a bit more, but I can’t fault the dram for me being used to my stellar 12-year-old CS bottling.

Final Score: 86.

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Scoring Legend:

• 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
• 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
• 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
• 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
• 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
• 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
• 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
• 50-59: Save it for mixing.
• 0-49: Blech.