Springbank Society 9yo Fresh Sauternes Hogsheads...

Springbank Society 9yo Fresh Sauternes Hogsheads (57.1%): Today I have a Springbank Society bottling on my desk. It is bottled from a vat of fresh Sauternes hogheads filled in November 2007 and bottled in May 2017. And it is the first society bottle in my cabinet signed by the distillery's fairly new General Manager Findlay Ross. The batch yielded 1,128 bottles... I have to admit though that I actually opened this bottle way back as our New Year's bottle at midnight, December 31st, 2017 but unfortunately had to let it sit for quite a while in the cabinet since it was extremely sulphury and pretty hard to enjoy at that time... I kept sampling it since and started to observe that it was getting better and better in time. Very slowly but definitely better... Finally this week I decided that it is time to pour it again, spend some time with it and post a review. So, here it is...

Color: Dark amber, chestnut honey with thin legs.

Nose: Passion fruit... Also some freshly picked wild mushrooms, damp gardening soil and fertilizer. White port, mineral water and Irish Spring soap bars. But mainly passion fruit. Adding water makes it more soapy but not in a bad way, it's kinda refreshing... Lipton iced tea tropical and rubber band balls.

Palate: Oddly enough I have passion fruit on the palate as well. Sour cherry juice, black soil and a little soot. Four berries jam and dried strawberries. Gherkins... Water works great here. Guava, papaya and mango slices, brewed green tea and dry oak staves.

Finish: Long, sweet and syrupy. Dark brown Muscovado sugar, sweet grape molasses and christmas cake.

Overall: I am pretty happy about how this whisky came back to life in time... In this case oxidation was our best friend. Now it is fruity, juicy and refreshing. I probably would have guessed it as a Longrow instead of a Springbank because of the rubbery and plasticky peat on the palate if I tasted it blind. Nevertheless it is a great batch...

Price: $65

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