Springbank 18 y.o. (2011)

46% abv

Score:  89.5/100

Another absolutely classy malt from Springbank.  This is where the distillery really shines.  The spirit ages very well, and the distillery has managed a great cask policy over the years (sadly, not the case with their warehousing of mature stocks).  Not sure how much the traditional approach taken by Spingbank has to do with the overall quality of the product, but the two seem to walk hand-in-hand, so I’ll make my own assumptions.

Doesn’t matter though.  What does matter is that this is a damn fine  dram.  Even now, in this age of overarching mature malt shortages, this one has still been held to a high standard of quality.  If you DO manage to get your hands on a bottle of an older edition though…wow.  That really is something special.

Nose:  A smoky and ‘old timey’ malter.  A fair bit of pepper.  Slightly barnyard farmy.  Smells of warm rubber bands.  Pastry shells.  Anise.  Not as fruity as I’d hoped for.  Just a touch ashy.  Still a very charming and ‘throwback’ style of malt.

Palate:  Great body and presence.  Smoked caramel.  Some spicy, woody and leathery notes.  Malty grains (and maybe multi-grains?).  Some pepper and citrus.  Some nifty savoury notes.  Touch of ouzo.  More smoke to’ards the back end.  Great development.

Thoughts:  Good old fashioned whisky.  The older variant was better (and much more fruit-rich), but this new one is still a keeper.  Hopefully mature Springbank is slumbering away in the Campbeltown warehouses, ’cause quite frankly old Springbank is sexy.

– Reviewed by:  Curt

– Photo:  Curt