Springbank 1997 Batch 1 Whisky Review!

These older 'vintage' Springbank bottlings can be a little hard to keep track of, and there's not usually a great deal of relevant supporting information to be found on the subject. But they're Springbanks, so they're usually very tasty!

Springbank would have to be the most "old school" and traditional whisky distillery in Scotland. They're the only active malt distillery in Scotland that floor-malts 100% of their barley requirements on-site, they're still using a direct-fired wash still, and they mature and bottle 100% of their single malts on-site. But alongside that, the distillery produces three different brands of single malt under the same roof, the triple-distilled & un-peated Hazelburn, the 2.5-times distilled & lightly-peated namesake Springbank, and the double-distilled & heavily-peated Longrow. They are also utilising a huge variety of cask types to great effect, with a plethora of limited releases being matured, not finished, in unusual cask types such as ex-madeira, burgundy, tokaji, calvados, rum and a range of different sherry casks, among others. All of which could certainly be considered less "traditional" and "old school" in modern whisky circles, but we should (and most of us do) love them for it!   

The vintage releases from Campbeltown's finest seem to have been mostly released in the early 2000s, and were often simply labelled with the year of distillation, e.g. 1997 vintage. All were quite limited, and many were also private or exclusive bottlings, often from uncommon cask types, which is why auction prices vary massively. I've reviewed the 2001 vintage bottling before (here), and while it was an enjoyable whisky, it didn't quite live up to my expectations for an older bottling of cask strength Springbank. That one was an 8-year old that was bottled in 2009, and there were rumours that it was matured in smaller sized casks, but I couldn't find any solid or even opposing information on that. But what we have here is a little different, and thankfully there's a little more information this time!

The subject for tonight's review is a 10-year old Springbank, distilled in 1997 and fully matured in re-charred sherry butts (500-litre casks), with 11,000 bottles released in June 2007, at a cask strength of 55.2% ABV. And being a Springbank, naturally it's non-chill filtered and naturally coloured. Rather confusingly, and this might help explain why these vintage bottlings aren't being released much anymore, there were two different Springbank 1997 vintage bottlings, both matured in re-charred sherry casks. They were known as Batch 1 and Batch 2, but you won't find that anywhere on the bottles or the packaging, so it's very confusing. They do have different bottling / batch codes printed on the bottles though, and they were bottled at different strengths. The 1997 Batch 1 that I'm reviewing weighs in at 55.2%, while the 1997 Batch 2 was bottled at 54.9% ABV. This sort of thing is an issue for all distilleries bottling under vintages, particularly Glenrothes and Balblair, who also have to add batch numbers to their bottlings when the same problem arises (e.g. 1990 Second Release). Seeing as this Springbank was bottled over 10 years ago it's going to be a little hard to get hold of, but can still be found at auction and the occasional specialist store, obviously at inflated prices. Let's get to it!

Springbank 1997 Vintage, Batch 1, 55.2%. Campbeltown, Scotland.
10-year old, matured in re-charred ex-sherry casks, bottled June 2007 at cask strength. 11,000 bottles. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Deep gold.

Nose: Sweet, musty, fruity and malty. Tinned tropical fruit in syrup, rich white dessert wine. Dusty old oak and dank earthen-floored (dunnage) warehouses, but it's less "funky" than the regular 10 & 12-year old Springbanks. A little salty & oily brine, light drying spices, and a couple of black jelly beans.

Texture: Excellent. Medium-heavy weight, rich & oily. Drying, with a little heat, but no roughness.

Taste: Rich, fruity & spicy. Baked stone fruit here with a pinch of sea salt, dry, smoky & spicy oak with a little dried citrus - lemon & sweetened grapefruit. More of those dank old dunnage warehouses, black pepper & a few drops of that dessert wine, and that black jelly bean again.

Finish: Medium length, but only just. More black pepper & syrupy dessert wine initially, then a hefty handful of dry spices - cinnamon and aniseed, and more pepper. Quite drying actually, light tannins here too with a little touch of heat from the ABV. The fruit does return, but it stays on the edges while the spices dominate, which is a bit of a shame.

Score: 3.5 out of 5, but only just.

Notes: The nose is fantastic on this young Springbank, and the palate is great as well, but the finish was a bit of a let-down for me. It's too dominated by the spices, and they dry everything out and call it a night a little too early. The nose and initial palate do make up for it though. The sherry isn't particularly noticeable in this one, save for that grape/dessert wine note perhaps, but the spices have been amped up, and I can only put both of those points down to that re-charred European oak. Lovely sweet and fruity nose with a rich & spicy palate, with a pinch of Springbank's trademark "old school" brine & dirty dank-ness that us Campbeltown-lovers can't get enough of.

I'd love to do a side-by-side with this and a fresh / first-fill sherry cask Springbank of a similar age, or maybe one of the older all-sherry batches of the 12-year old Cask Strength like this one. They'd be very different of course, and I suspect the 12-year old would take the win, but it'd be a very educational - and enjoyable - way to spend an evening.

Cheers!