Springbank 1995
Style: Exceptional Single Cask
Cask: #135
Year of distillation: 1995
Bottled: 2022
Age: 26
Region: Campbeltown
Cask Type: Hogshead
No. of bottles: 219
ABV: 52.1%
Release: Spring 2022
Jonny McMillan
“Undoubtedly the champion of the whisky nerds; Springbank is unrivalled in its idiosyncratic approach to whisky making and promotion. I adore the way this distillery kowtows to no trends, nor chases any passing gimmicks, just 100% floor malted barley, long fermentation and direct fire stills. Only a fool would ask for more.”
Tasting Notes
From the moment the cork leaves the bottle there is no doubt this is Jamaican Rum in all its funky, fruity glory. The nose is a prime example of high ester rum; off ripe tropical fruit, paraffin, wax paper, lychee and orange zest all charge out the glass. This powerful character is continued on the palate with an array of tropical fruits and leathery, almost farmy funk that appear with time. An exceptional, exuberant and eccentric dram.
Distillery
Springbank is one of the last surviving distilleries in Campbeltown, on the Mull of Kintyre. Once a hub of distilling, the town’s heritage is remembered in the old song “Campbeltown Loch”.
Ronnie says: “The Mitchells of Campbeltown and their relatives are a legend - at one time owning 5 distilleries in the area called the Whisky Metropolis by Alfred Barnard in the late 19th Century. Over production, some indifferent whisky, the fraudulent Pattison crisis and Prohibition in the US foreclosed all but two of, at one time, over 30 distilleries. One of those is Springbank, and still owned by a Mitchell descendent, Hedley Wright.”