Springbank 8yo Fresh Sherry Casks Campbeltown Malts Festival'19 (56.8%): Cannot think of a better time to crack open this bottle... I am sitting on my couch as we speak and trying to deal with three different messaging platforms at the same time one of them being a virtual whisky party populated with all the familiar faces I was hoping to see at the Campbeltown Malts Festival this May. Well, sadly it won't happen this year but it sure will make next year's Festival more special and a much more anticipated event.
This whisky is bottled for the Springbank Open Day at the Campbeltown Malts Festival'19 and released on May 23rd. It is 8 years old and blended from fresh sherry cask which were filled in March 2011. The very small batch yielded only 1100 bottles at cask strength.
Color: Medium amber, clover honey with a distinctive orange hue. It's a little hazy with thin and fast legs.
Nose: Textbook fresh sherry cask maturation: Golden raisins, prunes and buckskin. Hint of sulphur, furniture polish and cellar mold. Dust, black cherry soda and the smell you get when you enter an antique books dealer's shop. Adding water opens it up nicely. Surprisingly woody now despite of its age. Toasted staves and seasoned hard wood. More sulphur, cranberry juice and strawberry jam. Like it better with water.
Palate: Very hot at cask strength... Some dried cranberries and red pepper flakes. Let me add a few drops of water. Yep, it works like a charm: Red currant jam, rock salt and paprika. A little one dimensional (Duh, it's 8yo...) but very salty, mineral and actually quite tasty. Candied orange peel, pebbles and dried strawberries. Dry fruit cake...
Finish: Long with paprika and red berries jam.
Overall: First of all if this whisky was put in front of me in a blind tasting: 1. I would never ever guess that it was younger than ten or twelve years old. There is absolutely nothing about this whisky hinting you it being only 8yo. 2. I would definitely call it as a Campbeltown whisky but most likely would name it as Glen Scotia since I tasted very similar Glen Scotias from independent bottlers before. It's dusty, chalky, mineral and salty... All being said it is a very out of ordinary Springbank to be bottled but don't we expect them to surprise us every year? I do... How many times did you have a chance to taste an 8yo Springbank? This might be my first. It definitely will be enjoyed in this household.
See you all my friends in Campbeltown in May 2021..! It will be a biblical Festival..!
See you all my friends in Campbeltown in May 2021..! It will be a biblical Festival..!
Price: £65
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