It’s been a while since I wrote these tasting notes, but it’s Springbank and Springbank is not something to just forget about and not review it.

I am a self-professed Springbank Fanboy, although I don’t even buy that much of the stuff. At least, not as much as some others in the IAAS Facebook group. But of course, there’s always a bigger fish, right?

So, a 14 year old Springbank at cask strength that’s only 47.7%? I guess it was either a very porous cask, or maybe even a leaky one. Generally I would expect this age to be around 56% or so, sometimes even higher.

Let’s see where this leads us!

Sniff:
Fairly straight forward Springbank. Fairly ‘safe’ too. Straw, grass, some oak, a whiff of smoke and lots of barley. Although it doesn’t have the oiliness and not the depth, it does remind me of some past Local Barley releases (the modern ones).

Sip:
A bit more fiery than I expected. Some dry grassy notes, with dry oak and some black pepper. Slightly salty with a hint of vanilla custard.

Swallow:
Slightly drier, but very warming. A bit more oak, some straw and a bit of a salty tang.

While this is a good whisky, as far as Springbank goes it’s quite a bit less impressive than I expected. It does tick most of the typical boxes, but it misses a bit of the oiliness and the funkiness that life Springbank whisky to a different level.

86/100