Currently, due to COVID-19 and Brexit, it’s pretty hard to get a bottle of Springbank 10 in The Netherlands. A lot of bottle-shops are running out since it’s a quite popular whisky, the distillery hasn’t been able to bottle casks for a large chunk of last year and it’s a lot more complicated to get stuff into the EU, apparently.

So, recently I decided to do a bottle-share with a bottle I did manage to get, from last September’s batch. The whisky is made up of 40% sherry casks and 60% bourbon casks.

As with every Springbank 10 I have quite high expectations, as this is a € 50 whisky that consistently outperforms many bottles that are twice as expensive. It’s a benchmark if there ever was one.

Sniff:
A whiff of smoke, with a lot of harbor scents. Tar, rope, salinity, basalt. Some straw and hessian, a bit of iron too.

Sip:
The palate is dry, with a bit of straw-like bite. Oak, iron, apple, sate, salinity, grass. A lot is happening.

Swallow:
The finish is a bit more sweet, but still dry. Quite long with hessisn and cracked leather. Straw, grass, oak, apple

It’s always a bit challenging to properly score this. Technically you cannot taste the price of a bottle of whisky. On the other hand, having to pay for booze generally is part of the experience.

If you take in account I got this for little under € 50, this is a 90 point whisky for sure. As is Benromach 10, Lagavulin 16, and some others that shouldn’t technically score that high either.

If you just look at the liquid it still sits comfortably at 88 points, since it is just a very good, complex and interesting whisky. It’s easily quaffable, but also offers room for exploration. There’s layers of flavors, with just enough of everything to be very, very good.

88/100