Review by: zSolaris

Christmas Countdown 2020 #24: Cadenhead’s Authentic Collection Springbank 11 Year (1996)

Distillery: Springbank

Bottler: Cadenhead’s

Region: Campbelltown

Age: 11 year. Distilled 1996, bottled 2007

ABV: 56.3%

Cask Type: Cream Sherry Butt

Color: 1.5, Auburn/Polished Mahognay. Natural Color and Un-Chill Filtered.

This is the 24th installment of this years’ Christmas Countdown. You can see the entire 2020 series here or the 2019 edition here.

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Nose: Quite fruity from the get go. There’s green apples and grapes along with a bit of under ripe maesil (green plum). A little bit of the Springbank funk pops in as well.

Palate: There’s quite a lot of sherry here. If you’ve ever had cream sherry on it’s own, you definitely taste a bit of it here. It is a tad sugary with more of that under-ripe green plum note. With water, the maesil gets stronger with a more sherry as well. There’s a bit of funk and ends up being a tad medicinal.

Finish: Shorter than expected. It’s funky but not the Springbank funky, instead it’s a cream sherry funky.

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Conclusion: I distinctly remember the first time I had sherry on it’s own. It was in a seafood restaurant in Indianapolis during a trade conference for the industry I work in. I saw some on the dessert drinks menu and thought to myself “well, I love sherried whisky so I probably would like sherry on it’s own!”. I was very, very wrong. Now I imagine that it’s just a case of not being able to get good sherry in the Midwest particularly easily, but I remember very much this weird, funky and almost tangy taste when I had it then. This Springbank reminds me so much of that first glass of sherry, though it is far better. You get a lot of sugary goodness and a lot of fruit. Some of the fruit has that under-ripe bit of tang and combined with a bit of the Springbank funk, you’re left with what I’d imagine a Scot’s interpretation of cream sherry would be. It’s quite nice, though I doubt I’d buy a bottle.

Final Score: 79.

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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.