Review by: The Muskox

Let’s set the record straight here: u/_asipper went to Scotland, visited loads of distilleries, bought all the distillery exclusives, hauled them back to the US, then split them all out for people to try. What a dude.

This is Hazelburn’s entry. Like the other Campbeltown handfills, this is an infinity cask, topped up from time to time with random cask ends without any consideration or planning. I’ve heard that the Cadenhead’s guys have dumped whisky as old as 28 years into these handfill casks.

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Distillery: Springbank.

Bottler: Official bottling.

Region: Campbeltown.

ABV: 58.9%, cask strength.

Age: NAS. Bottled in 11/2022.

Price: $70 at the distillery.

Color: White wine. No colour added, chill-filtered.

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Nose: Very light and floral. Soft tropical fruits – pineapple, kumquat, Asian pear. Distinct mineral notes – hints of chlorine, mineral water, and sandstone. Fatty-nutty flavours of sunflower seeds, macadamia nuts, and even some canola oil. Cool aloe vera greenness, and an inexplicable hint of something like artichoke hearts.

A dribble of water adds sugar cane and deeper citrus.

Palate: Lightly oily texture. Arrives very floral and delicate – clean laundry, nougat, lime cordial, pears, neutral oil. Floral and slightly nutty on the development. Some more mineral notes – clean mineral oil, light shale, soda water. Tropical juiciness comes in on the back end, along with white peaches and orange flowers.

With the water, the might be a hint of paraffin hiding in there?

Finish: Medium. More robust flowers, citrus oils, key lime pie, juicy tropical fruits, honeydew melon, more nougat. Mineral hints.

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Possible SMWS bottling name: “Spotlit sinkhole garden”

Notes: Out of the three Springbank hand-fills, this one was hyped up as possibly the best. It’s indeed very good, but to me it ended up being in many respects just a weaker version of the Springbank handfill. The tropical fruit isn’t as pungent, the body is still oily but a little thinner, it drinks a bit younger, and it’s a much cleaner, leaner, and more mineral-y malt overall. That may be more to the taste of some, but probably not me in this case. I feel like this is what the people who avoid Hazelburn thinking it’s just a worse Springbank must think that all Hazelburn is like.

Final Score: 84.

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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.