Review by: The Muskox

I desperately tried to avoid getting a sample of this bottling. If Springbank is serious about showing off the terroir of locally-grown barley, sticking the whisky in a strong sherry cask doesn’t make any sense. And like all the other Local Barley bottlings, the secondary-price-to-age ratio seems way off to me. So, preconceptions in place. But then I kept hearing how amazing this whisky was, from, well, nearly everyone. So here it is.

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Distillery: Springbank.

Bottler: Official bottling.

Region: Campbeltown.

ABV: 53.9%, cask strength.

Age: 10 years old. Distilled in 06/2010. Bottled on 12/03/2020.

Cask type: Oloroso Sherry.

Color: Copper. No colour added, un-chillfiltered.

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Nose: Very fresh and tropical, but also spice-rich shiny sherry, moderate peat, and slightly savoury. Prunes, peaches, red apples, grapefruit, and cherry pie. Squishy caramel and brown sugar. Nutty-woody notes of pencils and walnut. Lightly tropical and floral – cardamom, guava, and maybe some lemongrass. All sorts of rich spice note: vanilla, clove, cardamom, cinnamon, gingerbread. Some unsweetened cocoa powder too. A bit industrial and salty. There’s bit of that hand-cream note I’ve gotten from Springbanks before. Sundried tomatoes in olive oil?

Palate: Thick texture, fairly sweet throughout. Arrives sweet and salty, with sea-sprayed tropical fruits and orange. Five Alive! Did anyone else drink that stuff? Rich and perfumed fruit in the middle, plums and the like. Scented wood, black pepper, and more of that hand cream. Huge baking spice, tobacco, and earthy, dunnagey barley. Loads of salted caramel, some maple sugar, melted chocolate, and cedar campfire.

Water puts the focus more on sherry, spice, wood, and barley, at the expense of the tropical fruit.

Finish: Medium-length and creamy. Long candied sherry and caramel. Tobacco, flowers, sour cherry. Salted caramel. Vernors float – cream soda and ginger. Very sweet creamy milk chocolate. Guava. Cedar and balsamic! Smooth honey. Tangy orange juice, almost like the frozen canned from-concentrate stuff.

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Possible SMWS bottling name: “Grandpa’s boat dock sangria”

Notes: My grandpa always made sangria with orange juice concentrate, hence the name. Anyways.

This is so delicious. Awesome complexity and balance – there’s plenty of intense flavour coming from both the active casks and the rich Springbank spirit. I hate to say it, but it lives up to the hype.

Final Score: 90.

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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.