I snickered at the name ‘Duckhammers’. It seems like a very inefficient hunting tool.

Anyway, I got a sample of this in the mail a little while ago with the request to review it soonish. Unfortunately, it got ridiculously hot and that wasn’t really the kind of weather to properly sit down and assess a dram of this caliber.

Admittedly, I had never heard of the Whisky Kingdom and Duckhammers Rare & Fine. I had, however, heard of Boris Borissov and Sebastian Jaeger, because of their involvement in that awesome Lagavulin 21 by (among others) The Whisky Nerds. They got my address from Bram, of the Whisky Nerds. Normally I’m not fond of others spreading my address around, but if it results in hooch like this, I’m quick to forget.

Let’s review it!

Sniff:
Very warming and wood driven Springbank, but still very Springbank. A whiff of wood smoke, with some coastal notes. Slightly salty, hessian and barley. Roasted barley, like they dried it at too high a temperature. After a while I start getting grilled peaches. Strangely, there’s a hint of paint too.

Sip:
The palate is a little bit more sharp than I expected based on the ABV. Lots of oak, wood smoke again, very dry. The dry notes translate to hessian and straw. Some slate, minerals and coastal salinity. There’s fruit, but it’s very timid. Some peaches. That surprising scent of (latex) paint also translates to the palate.

Swallow:
The finish is much more typical for Springbank, with more fruit (apples, peaches, pears) and slightly less oak focused (fOAKused?). Still very dry with salt, sand, wood, hessian and roasted barley.

This is very much to my liking, but not a quick dram (not just because of the price tag). This whisky reveals itself very slowly, so if you rush it only a little bit, you’ll miss out on a lot of good things. Things that make this whisky awesome.

Even the weird notes of wall paint are great, and only add to the complexity. All in all, this is a tremendous dram, but it has the risk of being underwhelming when you don’t give it the attention it deserves. Absolutely gorgeous.

92/100

Springbank 1992-2019, 26yo, Bourbon Barrel 153b, 47.7%, Whisky Kingdom & Duckhammers Rare & Fine. Still available from The Whisky Kingdom

Thanks to Boris, Sebastian and Bram for the sample!