Review by: ZoidbergOnTheRocks
I’ve been sitting on 2oz samples of three Springbank Local Barley bottles for far, far longer than I should. Time to finally crack ’em open!
Now, am I sophisticated enough to find the influence of each barley type? Absolutely not. I’m generally skeptical of “Terroir Matters(TM)”, but I suspect I’m gonna have a good time anyway.
Tasted on 7/26/2022, neat in a Glencairn, water added later as appropriate.
Image from the Springbank 9 Local Barley page
Springbank 9 Year Local Barley
Distillery: Springbank
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Campbeltown
ABV: 57.7%, cask strength
Age: 9 years old. Distilled in 07/2009. Bottled in 10/2018.
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. One of 9,700 bottles. High Cattadale Farm, Optic barley.
Nose: mild wood smoke. Lemon, tangerine. Medicinal. Seaweed. Chalk. Ethanol. Eucalyptus. Caramel. Fish market. Warm sand. With Water: less ethanol (with time, too), more mineral and spice. Wax. Starch.
Taste: hot. Lemon. Lots of wood smoke. Seawater. Oily. Chalky, mineral. With Water: more lemon & tangerine. Heat is gone. Salty. More mineral, more medicinal. Seaweed. Some of that fishiness coming thru.
Finish: lots of ashy wood smoke. Lemon rind. Seawater. Iodine. Chalk. Mild pepper. Medium length on smoke, citrus, and tingley spice. With Water: less smoke. More fruit, tangerine.
Summary: a very medicinal and mineral one. Lots of chalk, wet rocks, warm sand, etc. Some nice bright fruit, a little smoke, a little maritime. Nice balance here w/ a lot going on, and water opens it up further. There’s some interesting, oddly fishy undertones throughout. It does feel a bit thinner w/ water, though. Most interesting of the three, for sure, and I’d not have guessed the youngest. I think I might just stop guessing on age.
Would I buy a bottle? yes. WhiskyBase shows 124eur, which seems reasonable. Sadly I’m seeing some seriously tatter-tastic pricing on auction, so I’ll back away, like Homer into the hedge.
Final Score: 87.
Springbank 10 Year Local Barley
Distillery: Springbank
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Campbeltown
ABV: 57.3%, cask strength
Age: 10 years old. Distilled in 06/2007. Bottled in 11/2017.
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. One of 9,000 bottles. West Backs farm, Belgravia barley.
Nose: very shy. Lemon. Cardboard. Ethanol. Wet spackle. A bit floral. A hint of coal smoke. Menthol. Leather. With Water: same, maybe more new leather, still reads quite hot (even an hour on.)
Taste: lemon. Sweeter than expected. New leather. Chalky. Floral. Very mild smoke. A bit hot. Very medicinal. With Water: slightly less heat, same otherwise.
Finish: a bit dry. Lots of leather, bitter lemon, chalk. Very mild smoke. Bitter medicinal notes, like you’ve chewed a tablet. With Water: more smoke. More menthol, camphor. I kinda want to lookup the ingredients of Lip Medex and just list those.
Summary: this one is quite hot neat, and remains so even with a nice splash of water. It’s very medicinal, but less on hospitals and bandaids and more on pills, pill bottles, and chewed tablets. Water helps the heat a bit, but doesn’t change it much otherwise. The finish is the best part of this, and it’s a good one. Very medicinal, with a lot of added lip balm, more smoke, and more minerals. Rather simple overall, and oddly balanced. If the rest of it could be as good as the finish we’d have a real winner.
Would I buy a bottle? I’ll pass.
Final Score: 80.
Springbank 11 Year Local Barley
Distillery: Springbank
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Campbeltown
ABV: 53.1%, cask strength
Age: 11 years old. Distilled in 02/2006. Bottled in 02/2017.
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. One of 9,000 bottles. Aros Farm, Bere barley.
Nose: tangerine. Very mild ash. Seaspray. Warm sand. Chalk. Shoe polish. With Water: decaying seaweed, driftwood.
Taste: sweet citrus. Ashy smoke. Seawater. Chalky. Mild pepper, eucalyptus. Creamy. Hot. With Water: heat is gone. Thinner. Sweeter, less spice.
Finish: a bit dry. Brief pop of ashy smoke. Very mineral, chalky. Much more fruit here, very nice. Seawater. Mild spice. Quite long on smoke, citrus, and seawater. With Water: more seaweed, same otherwise.
Summary: a fairly simple one with some nice citrus, very mild smoke throughout, and lots and lots of maritime and mineral notes. It’s sweeter than expected from the nose, with a nice finish of fruit, minerals, and seawater. Water doesn’t do much for it besides help w/ the heat. The finish is the best part; nice length, salty, mild smoke, bright citrus. Overall quite nice.
Would I buy a bottle? ouch, no. I was gonna say “sure, for a reasonable price” but this shows 464eur on WhiskyBase. It’s gotta be a joke.
Final Score: 82.
Comparison
Order: 9 > 11 > 10
This is a fun set. There’s a clear similarity between them all. The 9 has the most interest, nice balance, very mineral and medicinal. I dig it. There’s a bit of a fishy funk underlying it, too. The 11 is much more simple, but solid on all fronts. The 10 is oddly balanced and much weaker until you get to the finish. An easy ordering for me.
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.
Malt Runners 