Blend Project #9 Springbank "Edinburgh International Festival 2013"...

Springbank Edinburgh International Festival Blended Scotch Whisky 2013 (40.0%): This is the second Edinburgh International Festival Whisky expression I will review on "tire-bouchon" after the 2010 bottling back in May 2012. Only 2013 bottles have been made available in total to honor The Edinburgh International Festival 2013 and only a few hundreds have been put on sale. The odd stamp that drew my attention with the 2010 edition mentioning "J. & A. Mitchell's Campbeltown Scotch Whisky" is still on the box but now the label says "Blended Scotch Whisky" with a side note of "Blended & Bottled by J&A Mitchell & Co. Ltd, Springbank Distillery, Campbeltown". So we are still confused about this "Campbeltown" Scotch Whisky thing but anyway... I wasn't able to attend the Festival with The Wooster Group this summer but was fortunate enough to get my buddy Jim Dawson's bottle to review this whisky. Special thanks to Jimbo! Let's get started... Color: Pale yellow-green hay color, like a young Pinot Grigio. Nose: Unripe concorde pears, lime zest and Mrs. Meyer's lemon verbana liquid dish soap. Stinky aged camembert cheese and sour milk: Canals of Amsterdam on a hot summer day and good amount of damp peat bog after heavy rain. Palate: Very young. Roasted but not peeled hazelnuts and salted almonds. Diner style banana cream pie and orange flavored jelly candies. Picking up spilled trail mix pieces from a bar counter and tasting the citrus scented furniture polish. Subtle and gentle but tasty peat at the background. Thin, tingly and a little bubbly mouthfeel. Finish: Sour, salty and sweet. Short. Overall: This is the third Springbank EIF expression I tasted after 2007 and 2010 and I have a feeling that the blend gets younger and sort of blander each time. It is still extremely easygoing and quite enjoyable with the amount of peat on its palate but definitely not too much memorable. A decent summer weekend afternoon blend to sip in a pub accompanied by friends and a malty Scottish ale. Something you wouldn't buy a bottle to bring home probably but definitely wouldn't deny when offered. In the beginning I really didn't consider it being a part of our blend project but now I think it is perfect for the list with its price tag just above £20 even if it is pretty hard to find due to its limited release. So, number 10 in the list it is...

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