Springbank 8-Year Old 1980s Whisky Review!

The oldest Springbank bottling that I've tasted to date! After first spying a bottle at a bar in Tokyo in 2023, a bottle appeared on a local auction site almost a year later, and I couldn't let it go - despite the high price tag, it was worth it! 

Springbank is quite popular among whisky enthusiasts in Japan, and there are a lot of older official bottlings to be found in some of the fantastic whisky bars there. It's not uncommon to see bottlings from the early 2000s or the 2010s sitting on bar shelves - or on the actual bar top in many cases - but as spoiled for choice as any whisky lover is in Japan, it's still rather unusual to see one quite this old. This 8-year old was bottled for Japan in the mid-1980s, somewhere between 1983 and 1988, as far as I can deduce - thanks to a couple of Japanese bar owner/operators who helped confirm that! That means it was distilled in the 1970s, at a time when the Scotch whisky world was unrecognisable compared to what it is today. It also means that this whisky was bottled in the darkest time for Scotch whisky since World War II, in 1983 alone a massive number of distilleries had been mothballed, many of which were demolished altogether. Diageo alone closed 15 of its distilleries, ranging from now-famous names like Port Ellen and Brora to obscurities like Coleburn and Banff. Even Springbank itself was closed at the time this whisky was bottled, since production ceased in 1979 and didn't start up again until 1987. This was all at a time when single malt official bottlings were still a new thing and blended Scotch whisky was still very much at the helm of the industry - it still is, of course, making up more than 80% of global Scotch whisky sales. Interestingly though when Springbank reopened in 1987 they made the decision to stop supplying to blenders and to focus on single malts, which was very unusual at the time. They did continue to sell casks though, up until the mid-1990s I believe. 

This particular official bottling of 8-year old Springbank is "only" bottled at 43% ABV, which is still a preferred strength in Japan, although there were a number of Springbanks bottled at 43% at and prior to this time. Interestingly the non-chill filtration disclaimer that we're all familiar with these days is printed on the back label of this pear-shaped bottle, but I can only tell you that thanks to the magic of Google Translate - the entirety of the back label is written in Japanese. It is also stated as being natural colour, even going so far as to say "which is why the colour appears lighter". This just goes to show that Springbank was ahead of the curve with natural presentation and declaring it as such right there on the bottle, even forty years ago. And that's at a bottling strength of 43%, remember, rather than the 46% (and above) mark where most contemporary producers will happily skip chill filtration thanks to the higher level of alcohol keeping more of those lovely hazing compounds dissolved in the whisky, or "in solution" as the chemists would say. 

Now, the big question with old bottlings like this is always "what was different back then?". Sometimes there are overt changes in production and/or policy like switching from 100% Golden Promise barley, or switching from floor malted barley to 100% commercially malted barley, or switching from direct-fired to steam heated stills, or other more modern equipment. Then there's the added complications that are often a murky subject, like the use of paxarette in sherry casks, or the use of a different yeast strain, changes in fermentation times or distillation cut points, and that sort of thing. When it comes to Springbank though, it's all a little more challenging because barely anything will have changed, production-wise or equipment-wise, in those 40-years. Obviously there were also industry-wide changes like cask sources, yeast strains, barley varieties, and the general regulatory and environmental stuff. The big glaring difference in this bottling and all that were distilled around this time is something that is often overlooked with older Springbanks. While we might assume that the distillery has always malted their own barley in-house, they actually stopped floor-malting their barley for over three decades in the second-half of the 20th century. According to the Malt Whisky Yearbook they switched to commercially malted barley in 1960 and the malting floors weren't recommissioned until 1992, meaning that anything distilled between those dates was made from barley that was malted elsewhere. The interesting and mysterious thing here is that this date range covers all of the legendary old Local Barley bottlings that were distilled in the 1960s and bottled in the 1990s, and the rear label on those mega-expensive unicorn bottlings does state that the barley was malted at the distillery. So either they made an exception for those 1960s local barley distillation runs and re-opened the malting floors for a limited time, or the date range is slightly incorrect and they closed the malting floors in the mid-1960s. 

Something that we can't really allow for here is the effect that 40-odd years in a glass bottle has had on this whisky - while whisky doesn't continue ageing once bottled thanks to the higher alcohol level in spirits and the inert glass used, such long periods - decades - do have a different effect that is rather difficult to pin down; known as "Old Bottle Effect" or "OBE" among aficionados. This is generally thought to be more pronounced in bottles that are sealed with corks, which aren't perfectly airtight, which will also cause evaporation over time and in sub-optimal storage conditions i.e. swings in temperature and humidity. Screwcap bottles like this Springbank are still affected though and evaporation can still occur. When I picked it up this bottle's fill level was roughly the same as that of the bottle pictured below, which would've accelerated this effect - it's mainly the alcohol (ethanol) that evaporates since it's more volatile. Parafilm your old bottles people, even if they're screwcaps! But even if evaporation wasn't a factor, there's still air in the bottle between the liquid and the closure - known as the "headspace". It's all difficult to quantify though because there are just so many variables involved. Even if the same person were able to taste the exact same whisky a decade or two apart, their palate will have changed, as will their memory of the previous encounter with the whisky, and it's that subjectivity which makes it impossible to compare and contrast between an OBE-affected whisky and a non-affected whisky. 

Springbank 8-year old for Japan, bottled 1980s, 43.0%. Campbeltown, Scotland.

Bottled 1983-1988, presumably matured in refill ex-bourbon casks. Non-chill filtered, natural colour (declared on label). 

Colour: Pale gold. 

Nose: Soft, fruity & sweet, clean. Lovely malted barley cereal notes, thick honey, fresh red apples. White pepper, icing sugar, and candied lemon peel. More time brings out some dry old oak, subtle earthy peatiness, a lick of salt, and a lovely fresh minerality - beach pebbles? It may be soft & clean for a Springbank, but there's still plenty going on!

Texture: Medium weight. Lightly oily, sweet, honeyed, relatively clean. Deliciously soft & silky. I'd have to assume that the ABV has dropped slightly over that 40-years, but regardless there's no heat whatsoever. 

Taste: More thick honey, sweet malted barley, candied lemon peel & icing sugar sweetness. It's more citrusy here with some lemon cake icing/frosting, a little marzipan too. Red apple skins, soft earthy peat, white pepper, and a soft "dunnage" minerality & earthiness. 

Finish: Medium length, just. That soft earthy peat fades into a light chalky & gravelly minerality, followed by the red apples from the nose - but they're slightly oxidised (browning) now. Lemon icing again, sea salt, and that lovely earthy dunnage "funk" that we all love in Springbank - it's much softer and cleaner than a contemporary bottling, though. 

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: Lovely! Very soft & subtle compared to a modern Springbank, which would partly be due to the lower ABV, plus being bottled 40-years ago perhaps. It doesn't suffer from that lower bottling strength though, aside from the length of finish perhaps. Whereas some of these older lower strength bottlings can devolve into watery and muted experiences, in this Springbank the nice oily texture is there on the palate, while the complexity is still there on the nose - no doubt helped by the natural presentation. It's definitely lighter and cleaner than a contemporary Springbank, but it isn't muted by any means. Aside form differences in production or desired style of spirit, that could also be intentional since the Japanese preference tends to lean towards sweeter, lighter, and more refined whiskies that are more "easy drinking". I'd have to assume that was even more the case back in the 1980s when Suntory was only just starting to release single malts and long before highballs had become a staple serve in Japan. 

As liquid time capsules go, this one is a treasure! 

Cheers!

Hazelburn Society 16-Year Old Ruby Port Whisky Review!

A port cask matured Hazelburn bottled in 2023 for the Springbank Society. Interestingly it was matured for 13-years in refill port casks before a 3-year secondary maturation in first-fill port casks. My first port cask Hazelburn, and it should make for a great Christmas Eve dram! 

Hazelburn is Springbank's unpeated single malt which is triple-distilled, as opposed to the standard Springbank which is lightly peated and distilled 2.5-times, and the heavily peated Longrow which is double-distilled. Both Hazelburn and Longrow respectively only make up 10% of Springbank's annual production, which is already a small amount that is nowhere near enough. Despite the relative scarcity neither seem to attract the flippers and hoarders as much as the distillery's namesake single malt does, which is a good thing! Believe it or not this ignorance also applies to rarities like cage bottles and Springbank Society bottlings of Longrow & Hazelburn, which are much rarer but seem to fly under the radar in comparison. The Springbank Society has been around for decades, essentially it's the inner circle for fans of the distillery. Unlike similar programs such as the Ardbeg Committee or the Friends of Laphroaig which are now nothing more than mailing lists and loyalty programs, members of the Springbank Society are offered bottlings that are actually exclusive and actually limited. Membership is required to purchase Society bottlings and they're only offered by the distillery itself, and membership isn't as easy to obtain as you may think - aside from paying a joining fee, due to massive demand the distillery closed the Society to new members a few years ago. There's no news on when, or even if, it'll be reopening. Unless you were lucky enough to get in on the action before this closure, your only real method of purchasing a Society bottling is to visit the secondary whisky auctions or other secondary sellers. You could argue that the distillery waited too long to stop accepting new Society members, and given the stock constraints that they are still dealing with there's essentially no point in re-opening that door anytime soon. Even now Society members need to be very quick to buy one of these exclusive bottlings straight from the source. 

There have been around 35-40 Society bottlings to date, and I've been lucky enough to taste a few examples, including one or two Longrows and Hazelburns. As you'd expect from Springbank these limited releases are often matured in an unusual cask type or bottled at an unusual age - two recent Springbank Society bottlings have been just 5-years old, one ex-bourbon cask and one ex-sherry cask. In the distant past Society releases were single cask bottlings, which changed to small batch releases of 2-5 casks vatted together, and the more recent examples have been larger at the 2,000-ish bottle mark. They're mostly cask strength as you'd expect, and are always in a fairly non-descript plain bottle with plain labelling and packaging. This particular Springbank Society Hazelburn is a 16-year old that was distilled in June 2007 and bottled in September 2023 at a cask strength of 50.8% ABV. Thanks to the 350ml bottle size there were 1,610 bottles released - it makes much more sense to do that than to release 800 x 700ml bottles, right? I haven't been able to find an exact retail price on original release, but word is they were around £50, which sounds about right. Secondary pricing is of course higher, but not as high as it would've been if these were 700ml bottles and if there'd been half the amount of bottles released. I think the 350ml bottles are a great move for Springbank Society bottlings, since the smaller bottles encourage opening & enjoying rather than flipping or hoarding. 

Port cask Springbanks tend to be very popular, probably because it's an unusual cask type in Campbeltown whisky and is still a less-common cask type in Scotch whisky overall. Personally in terms of official bottlings I've only had one Springbank and one Longrow example to date, so I can't really comment on the wider merits of port cask Springbanks. I will say though that the Springbank example I've had from the old brown label cask finished series was delicious, while the Longrow example, the 11-year old port cask from the 'Red' series of wine-heavy Longrows, was OK but not great. The Longrow Red series has now been discontinued and is due to be replaced by a 100 Proof (UK Proof, 57.1% ABV) series, which is great news if you ask me since the "Reds" tended to be far too heavy on the wine influence. Despite Longrow being quite a robust spirit on paper it struggled to hold up to most of those wine casks, even when a relatively short finishing period was involved. Being triple distilled and unpeated, Hazelburn is of course much lighter than the heavily peated Longrow, so it'll be interesting to see how this example holds up to what is certainly a heavy port cask influence - as stated above, it was matured in refill port casks for 13-years and then finished in first-fill Ruby port casks for the following 3-years. I've liked most of the Oloroso sherry cask Hazelburns that I've tasted to date and loved the 2022 15-year old in particular, which certainly wasn't light on the cask influence but maintained a great overall balance. Oloroso sherry (dry) and port (sweet) are very different from each other though, particularly Ruby port which is younger and sweeter compared to the Tawny port casks which we see more of in the whisky world. That's because most Ruby port doesn't spend much - if any - time in wood, tending to be stored/aged in stainless steel or concrete tanks instead, so we can assume that the Ruby port aged in these casks was of good quality. The sample for this review came from a generous fellow whisky lover. Let's get to it!

Springbank Society Hazelburn 16-year old, 50.8%. Campbeltown, Scotland.

Distilled 6/2007, bottled 9/2023. Matured in refill port casks for 13-years, finished in first-fill Ruby port casks for 3-years. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 1,610 x 350ml bottles. 

Colour: Dark red with pink tinges. 

Nose: Rich, jammy, lightly floral. Bit of a nose prickle too. Musty red grapes, damp old wood, new leather, and red fruit jams - strawberry, raspberry, and plum. Hints of Turkish delight (rosewater) and sweeter orange peel. Becomes spicy & herbal with more time, cinnamon, black tea leaves, dried sage & rosemary. Not overly sweet so far. 

Texture: Medium-heavy weight. Rich and fruity, but nowhere near as sweet as I'd feared. Quite dry and spicy in fact. Slight heat. 

Taste: Fruity & rich. Red grape must again, and more leather. Raspberry, strawberry, and plum jams. Wood spices, black tea leaves, dried rosemary & sage. Bitter dark chocolate truffles coated with cinnamon. 

Finish: Medium length. Drying and astringent with leather & black tea leaves, wood spices, and dried herbs. Dried raspberries and more bitter dark chocolate.

Score: 3 out of 5. 

Notes: I know that seems like a low score for a Springbank Society bottling, but this one is always going to come down to personal preference. I can see it being quite divisive. While it's very much cask dominated, rather than overly sweet it's instead surprisingly dry, spicy, and tannic. I don't mind dry whiskies and don't mind some mild tannins in those whiskies, but like the recent 11-year old Longrow Red mentioned above, there's still too much cask influence here for my personal tastes. The Hazelburn spirit has been completely overwhelmed, even more so than the aforementioned Longrow was - which is no surprise. But while the Longrow was overly sweet and floral, this Hazelburn is almost the opposite, dry, spicy, astringent, and tannic. That could be because the Longrow was Tawny port casks and this is Ruby port casks, but Ruby port is generally the sweetest variety in port wine, so I can't be sure. 

I'd say that port cask lovers would find this one fascinating, and it's still a tasty Hazelburn. I just would've preferred that they left it in those refill port casks rather than giving it a secondary maturation in first-fill port casks. One of the best Longrows I've ever tasted was a Cadenhead's refill port cask, which still had some cask influence but really let the spirit shine. And that's exactly what I want to see when it comes to Campbeltown whiskies.

Cheers!

Chichibu On The Way 2024 Whisky Review!

The fourth instalment in the "On The Way" series from Japan's fantastic Chichibu Distillery. Cask strength single malt distilled from floor-malted barley, and it's delicious! 

I was lucky enough to visit Chichibu Distillery during my trip to Japan in 2023, thanks to the distillery's Australian importer Casa De Vinos. It's taken me until now to write about that visit, partly because I didn't have any Chichibu to review alongside the write-up, despite trying many during that trip - both at the distillery and in Japan's many outstanding whisky bars. But here we are over a year later, and I'm looking at a recent bottling that definitely deserves your attention, as does the distillery in general. Chichibu single malts are in extremely high demand worldwide, both in Japan and here in Australia, and both official and independent bottlings are very expensive as a result. Despite being a relatively young distillery Chichibu is essentially Japan's answer to Springbank, in more ways than one. So while it's been caught up in the continuing worldwide hype around Japanese whisky, Chichibu has suffered more than most from the sudden & massive surge in popularity. Annual production is generally well under 65,000-litres of spirit, which puts the distillery's output in-line with Scottish distilleries like tiny farm distillery Daftmill or Glengyle (producing Kilkerran) which only operates for three months of the year. That said, Chichibu has been a little quicker on their feet and in 2019 built a second much larger distillery located a few minutes away from the original. Additionally the company is currently building a grain whisky distillery on Hokkaido, Japan's northern island, which will be used for future blended whiskies but potentially also single grain bottlings. The two malt distilleries are romantically known as Chichibu #1 and Chichibu #2, but no single malt official bottlings have been released from the second distillery as yet, so we'll focus on the original malt distillery, Chichibu #1, for now. It was founded back in 2007 and began producing spirit in February 2008, with the first single malt whisky released three years later in 2011.

Chichibu Distillery was founded by Ichiro Akuto, the grandson of the founder of the legendary Japanese demolished distillery Hanyu, in addition to a long family tradition of sake brewing. The company behind Chichibu Distillery "Venture Whisky" was founded in 2004, but is more widely known as Ichiro's Malts. Ichiro's also produces blended malts under the 'Ichiro's Malt' label and blended whiskies under the 'Ichiro's Malt & Grain' label, which are not to be overlooked in their own rights. Some are delicious and often contain well-aged grain & malt whiskies from closed distilleries like Hanyu or Kawasaki - Mr. Akuto skilfully acquired the remaining stock of both when the distilleries had closed and were destined for demolition. He's also the man behind the "Card" series of Hanyu bottlings which trade for insane amounts of money these days - despite the oldest whisky involved being "only" 20-years old, the more desirable bottlings will often go for well over $20,000 at auction, and the full set of 54 bottlings reached $1,500,000 in Hong Kong back in 2019 - no doubt it would reach even higher these days. At the other end of the scale, the company's entry-level Ichiro's Malt & Grain "world blend" is a tasty whisky and offers great value if you can get it near the Japanese retail pricing, which is around 4,000 JPY or $40 AUD. Despite being bottled at 46% ABV it'll often be used for cocktails or highballs (whisky & soda on the rocks) over there, where it works very well. Outside of Japan it's priced too highly for that, unfortunately! Chichibu single malts, on the other hand, retail for around 40,000 JPY ($400 AUD) and upwards on the shelves of Japanese retailers and similar equivalents further abroad including here in Australia, with older bottlings of younger releases often being priced much higher. Independent bottlings are very scarce and can be even more expensive from the likes of Adelphi and the SMWS. 

Chichibu Distillery is located on the outskirts of its namesake city, which is in Saitama Prefecture, roughly two hours north-west of Tokyo. It's not particularly easy to get there while travelling, requiring either a direct train on the "Seibu" trainline from Ikebukuro Station in the north-west of Tokyo, or a JR train from Tokyo Station to Kumagaya where you change to the Chichibu line for the remainder of the journey. Either method will cost about $20 each way, and you'll then need a taxi to & from the distillery itself which takes around 20-minutes. The distillery does not have a visitor's centre and does not offer tours to the public, but if you know someone it is absolutely worth the effort in getting there. The distillery does open its doors during the Chichibu Whisky Matsuri (festival(, which takes place annually in February. Aside from the distillery itself, even the relatively small city of Chichibu is well worth the visit if you ask me, with a few very good bottle shops / liquor stores dotted around the city and even a fantastic branch of the Highlander Inn whisky bar. You can also find Chichibu whiskies at many local restaurants and bars, including in the train station. These local options are by far the cheapest way to taste one of these whiskies; during my trip I had a fantastic lunch of delicious donburi & side dishes with a dram of a single cask Chichibu for a total price of $28. Yes, that was the total for both the meal and the dram. Coming from Australia where you can easily pay $30 for a pub lunch - of much lower quality - without a drink, that was quite the bargain! 

Chichibu is a small, old school, hands-on distillery. The vast majority of unpeated barley used at Chichibu #1 is sourced from inside Japan, while their peated releases use malt imported from the UK. The mash tun is tiny and manually stirred / raked, while fermentation is long, up to 96-hours, and takes place in eight relatively small washbacks that are made from Mizunara (Japanese oak) - to my knowledge this is the only distillery in the world that is using Mizunara washbacks, and they would've been extremely expensive. The two very small copper pot stills pictured above were made by Forsyth's in Scotland, and are heated by internal steam coils that are run slowly, and use shell & tube condensers - interestingly, the newer and larger malt distillery Chichibu #2 features French oak washbacks and direct-fired stills, so that'll be one to watch in future! The quality of their whisky is the main consideration at Chichibu, and these are generally quite spirit-driven whiskies with plenty of character. While some are fully matured in active sherry or red wine casks, Ichiro's is careful to make sure that the distillery character is not lost. A cooperage was built on-site so the distillery can build and repair its own casks, which range from ex-bourbon, ex-sherry, and ex-red wine, to Mizunara (Japanese oak), and Chibidaru casks. The latter roughly translates to "cute cask" in English, and is broadly Ichiro's answer to a quarter cask in Scotch whisky. Chibidaru casks are ex-bourbon American oak hogsheads (250-litres) recoopered into 150-litre casks, sometimes combined with cask heads made from Mizunara (Japanese oak) or virgin oak. Those whiskies are generally bottled young as a result, and the casks are subsequently filled for a second time. All warehouses at Chichibu are the traditional dunnage type, of which there are five on-site, with casks stacked horizontally three-high on earthen floors. Hands-on manual production, majority local barley, long fermentation in wooden washbacks, small production equipment, dunnage warehouses, and characterful spirit-driven malt whisky. Like I said, this is essentially Japan's take on Springbank!

The Chichibu single malt that we're looking at today is a recent bottling, and is the fourth release in the distillery's "On The Way" series of work in progress bottlings which debuted in 2013. This fourth On The Way release has been distilled from 100% Japanese barley, grown in Japan and then floor-malted in the UK by Chichibu Distillery staff who were flown over to work with (and learn from) the specialists at the maltings. This is obviously not the norm for Chichibu, which normally uses Japanese barley that is commercially malted locally. This release is a vatting of casks aged from 9-15 years with an average age of 11-years, including ex-bourbon, ex-wine, and Chibidaru (see above). I'm assuming the majority were refill since the casks used in this vatting were specifically chosen to show the barley character rather than any overt cask influence. No Chichibu single malts are artificially coloured or chill filtered, and they're usually bottled at cask strength; 54.5% ABV in this case. This was quite a large release with 12,000 bottles available globally, priced locally at $350-375 AUD. Worldwide scarcity aside that's a steep figure for a large release of a relatively young malt, but I was comfortable with the price tag given the quality of this whisky and its relative affordability compared to the single cask releases - which are often $600 or more. Let's take it for a spin!

Chichibu On The Way 2024 Floor Malted, NAS, 54.5%. Chichibu, Japan.

Distilled from 100% floor-malted Japanese barley malted in the UK. Aged 9-15 years, average 11-years. Ex-bourbon, ex-red wine, and ex-Chibidaru (150-litre ex-bourbon) casks. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 12,000 bottles. 

Colour: Pale gold. 

Nose: Creamy, bright, and fruity. Damp malted barley, creamy porridge with honey, peat juice, and malt biscuits. Flashes of banana chips, yellow peaches, plum, and nectarine. Touch of ground white pepper & milk bottle lollies / confectionary. Cut grass, lemon drops, and sandalwood spice with more time. 

Texture: Medium weight. Creamy, malty, bright. Slightly lactic. Slight heat but pleasant. 

Taste: Lovely biscuity maltiness, creamy porridge with honey, bright tropical fruit. More peach, nectarine, and plum, bit of apricot and pineapple. Sandalwood, ground white pepper, a little vanilla fudge. Lemon drops, touches of walnuts & banana bread around the edges. 

Finish: Medium-long length. Fruity & creamy, a little lactic (creamy peach yoghurt). White pepper, milk bottle lollies, that apricot & nectarine again. Dried pineapple again. Lemon-scented white chocolate. 

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: Lovely stuff. Seems both fresh & youthful and mature & characterful at the same time. There are shades of Bruichladdich's Islay Barley & Bere Barley releases here, but with added fruitiness and a touch more maturity, and less lactic notes. Subtle cask influence is present in the sandalwood - which I always seem to get from mizunara cask whiskies, but that could be coincidental - and the vanilla fudge notes. This is a lovely spirit-driven whisky with a great malty character, both of which are rare traits in Japanese single malts. Aside from Chichibu, anyway! Interestingly though, this release isn't immediately identifiable as a Chichibu. It's delicious, don't get me wrong, but anyone who has tasted a selection of the unpeated ex-bourbon cask releases will know that all tend to have a similar backbone to the spirit; a fruity, almost bubble gum-like character alongside a robust maltiness. This floor malted release does not have those familiar notes, it's different, which I suppose we have to put down to that floor malting process and also the cask selection for this bottling. That's not to say that it isn't just as delicious as "standard" Chichibu, because it is! 

These are expensive whiskies, no question, and they're not easy to get your hands on in any market. But with Chichibu the quality and character is there as a reward for your patience and hard-earned funds, which isn't always the case with Japanese whiskies these days. Plus it's priced at $200-300 AUD less than some of the single cask bottlings, so this one is definitely worth hunting down!

Cheers!

Ardnahoe Inaugural Release Whisky Review!

Finally getting around to trying the first release from Islay's newest distillery! Not such an easy task in Australia, since there's no official importer or distributor down here, and it's been over six months since the inaugural single malt was released "globally"...

Islay's newest distillery debuted in April 2024 with 70,000 bottles of 5-year old whisky released at an ABV of 50% ABV. Pricing wasn't amazing at £70 in the UK, which would probably equate to something like $175 in Australia with our ridiculous taxes. Not great, not terrible. But it seems we're finally getting over those hype-heavy days of every new whisky distillery trying to shift 1,000 bottles of a 3-year old first release at $300 a bottle, at least in terms of Scotch whisky. Relatively new distilleries like Isle of Harris (Hearach whisky), Strathearn, and Lochlea, all followed in the reasonably-priced footsteps set by Ardnamurchan back in 2020 with their first single malt release. Despite being the first new Islay distillery since Kilchoman in 2005, Ardnahoe have taken the same approach here in 2024, and it's great to see - any local distribution issues aside. One key difference with Ardnahoe's inaugural release is the age statement, which at 5-years old would've been considered very unusual in the recent past. Not the age itself, mind you, but the actual age statement. These days many Scotch whisky distilleries aren't afraid to release a young whisky with a single digit age statement, it's still quite a rarity. 

While Ardnahoe was the ninth Islay distillery to open, there's since been a tenth - although billed as a reopening, it's really an entirely new distillery with an old name; Port Ellen. The only original buildings remaining were the two warehouses and the old kiln, while everything else is brand-new, albeit designed to closely replicate the original. So there are now ten malt whisky distilleries operating on Islay, with an eleventh in the early stages of construction (Portintruan), and more in the planning stages. That'll make anyone who has visited Islay a little nervous, because this relatively small and quiet island doesn't have the infrastructure to support much of an increase in visitors, let alone residents and freight. There's been a major housing shortage on Islay for years now, there are still multiple single track roads that are in rough condition, and there are only two ferries and a small regional airport to provide transport between Islay and the mainland. The ferries are the most immediate problem, since even if both are operating normally, the entire island relies on them for heavy freight. 10-12 working malt whisky distilleries need a lot of deliveries, with malted barley, casks, and other incidentals being shipped across from the mainland, and bottles, casks, and/or tankers going back in the other direction. Only three of the current distilleries malt any of their own barley, only two distilleries source any of their grain from Islay, and Port Ellen Maltings is now focussed on owner Diageo's three Islay distilleries before they even consider supplying external customers, so the vast majority of the island's malted barley has to come from the mainland. At the other end of production there are only two bottling plants on Islay, found at Bruichladdich and Kilchoman, and both are small, while warehousing space is also relatively limited. Most of the spirit and/or whisky made on Islay is shipped to the mainland - using those two ferries - for maturation and/or bottling. Then you have to consider groceries, building supplies, residents, tourists, and everything else required for human life on a remote and relatively small island. Let's hope that Islay doesn't become a victim of it's own success!

Ardnahoe - Gaelic for "height of the hollow" - is owned by Hunter Laing, the Glasgow-based independent bottler behind smaller brands like Old Malt Cask and Scarabus. The distillery broke ground in late 2016 on the north-east coast of Islay between Caol Ila and Bunnahabhain, taking advantage of the same incredible views across the Sound of Islay to the "Paps" of Jura. The photo above was taken in late-2018 on my most recent visit, before the distillery had actually opened to visitors. It was still largely a construction site at the time, but production had started a few months earlier and I was able to take a quick look around, even lucky enough to taste some of their wash. The first cask was filled with spirit only a few weeks later, in early November 2018. Excitement levels around this distillery were high for three main reasons. Firstly, it was a new distillery on Islay, the first in 13-14 years. Secondly, legendary Islay distiller Jim McEwan was involved in setting up production. Thirdly and perhaps most importantly for us whisky geeks, they were using a more traditional piece of production equipment that had not been seen on Islay for a very long time. Worm tub condensers! The two relatively large copper pot stills at Ardnahoe have very long lyne arms running through the back wall of the still house to two wooden vats sitting out in the fresh air, containing coiled copper pipes submerged in cold water, which see the spirit vapours condensed back in to a liquid. Worm tubs give less copper contact than a more modern shell & tube condenser, meaning the resulting spirit is heavier and potentially more sulphurous. Worm tub condensers have not been used on Islay for a very long time, to the point where most of us will have never tasted an Islay whisky that was made in this way. Since this is a peated whisky it's unlikely the worm tubs will have as profound an effect on the whisky as they do with the likes of Mortlach or Craigellachie in Speyside, and the very long lyne arms at Ardnahoe - the longest in Scotland in fact - will partially counteract the worm tubs by adding more copper contact, but it'll still be very interesting to watch how this potentially heavier Islay whisky evolves over time. This could also be a factor in why they chose to wait until the spirit was 5-years old rather than the minimum age of 3-years before they released an official bottling, since heavier spirits will generally take longer to mature than their lighter counterparts. 

Aside from those worm tubs, this whisky is largely your typical peated Islay malt. The malted barley is sourced from the mainland and is mostly heavily-peated to around 40 ppm, although there are plans for both lower & higher peating levels in future. There's no official word on where the peat and/or malted barley was sourced from, but since Jim McEwan was involved I'd assume it was Bairds Maltings in Inverness, which means peat from the mainland. Fermentation takes place in wooden washbacks, and runs for 65-70 hours. Distillation is slow but relatively standard aside from the lyne arms and condensers, with most spirit filled into either first-fill bourbon or first-fill Oloroso sherry casks. Only a small portion of those casks stay on Islay though, with the majority of spirit sent to the mainland for maturation and bottling. All Ardnahoe single malt produced is non-chill filtered and natural colour. 

This inaugural release 5-year old was peated to 40 ppm and has been matured in both ex-bourbon and Oloroso sherry casks, prior to bottling at 50% ABV. The distillery has recently announced a second release, a core range bottling named "Infinite Loch", which on paper seems very similar to the first release that we're looking at here, but without the age statement and with a slightly lighter colour. That could mean younger liquid or more ex-bourbon casks were used in comparison to this inaugural bottling, or it could mean nothing. I have to admit that the packaging & labelling on this inaugural release are quite attractive, although details are a little scarce. The sample for this review came from a generous whisky friend. Let's see how it goes!

Ardnahoe Inaugural Release, 5-years old, 50% ABV. Islay, Scotland.

Peated to 40 ppm, matured in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 70,000 bottles. 

Colour: Amber. 

Nose: Definitely Islay. Cold fatty smoked bacon, sweetened lemon & lime juices, smoked oily fish. Tar & ashy peat smoke. Quite heavy peatiness in fact, very Laphroaig or Ardbeg in style with the sweetness to match some of their contemporary bottlings. And despite being the same age, we're miles above Wee Beastie here! Black pepper, slightly herbal, fresh green olives in oil. With more time candied lemon & orange peels, and sweet malted barley. 

Texture: Medium weight. Peaty, coastal, smoky, still oily but a bit less-so than the nose suggested. Very slight heat but great maturity for the age. 

Taste: Thick, chewy, powerful peatiness, a chunky, dry & vegetal peat. Ashy smoke underneath, with a bit of dying beachside bonfire for good measure. Spicy & fruity green chillies, candied lemon & orange peels, and a bit of that oily green olive. A bit "simpler" on the palate than on the nose perhaps, but this is a 5-year old first release!

Finish: Short-medium length. Still quite oily & peaty, but that fades a little with sweet orchard fruits & malted barley with more lemon peels coming through. An icing sugar sweetness, and a bit of vanilla custard underneath. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Very much southern Islay style, despite the assumed use of mainland peat. There's something very Ardbeg to Ardnahoe's first release, but we're adding a dash of a sweeter Laphroaig and a dash of Port Charlotte from the early days - as in the dirtier, heavier style of Port Charlotte that doesn't show up much anymore. This is a sweet, peaty & oily Islay whisky, which is great, but I can't say that it sits head & shoulders above any of those produced on the island. Or even that it stands out from any of them, despite being a new Islay distillery with some unique features on paper. But for a young 5-year old malt and for a first release, that's nothing to complain about. I'm sure we'll see Ardnahoe further differentiating itself from its neighbours in future, hopefully with a more spirit-driven style so we can more clearly see what those worm tubs are bringing to the table. Or maybe, like some other (less peaty) worm tub employers, that will be more clearly evident when there are some sherry casks involved. Time will tell!

Since writing this review it's been announced that an Australian subscription service is getting the entire first allocation of Ardnahoe's Inaugural Release, imported directly from Scotland, and there's no further word on a local importer or distributor. Which is a shame, because as mentioned above the distillery's second official release has already been announced in the UK & Europe. As usual, all we can do down here is hurry up & wait! 

Cheers!

Old Master Spirits 1945 Cognac Review!

1945! Roughly 79 years ago. World War II had recently ended, atomic bombs had been used for the first time, my father was turning one, and in one corner of the Cognac region in south-western France, a field of Ugni Blanc grapes was being harvested and fermented in order to be distilled in to cognac. And now, 79-years later, we're about to taste the result! 

While I've been lucky enough to try a couple of very old whiskies, I can count the 50+ year old examples on one hand - using four fingers, to be exact. This cognac sets a new record for the oldest spirit that I've ever tasted, beating the previous titleholder by three years, and it's also the earliest-distilled spirit that I've ever tasted, beating the previous titleholder by one year. I've never tried a brandy of this sort of age, with the previous winner being the 63-year old from the same independent bottler as this V45 bottling; Melbourne's Old Master Spirits. As far as I can tell this is also the oldest single cask spirit ever bottled exclusively for Australia, which is one hell of an achievement for a pair of whisky & spirits geeks behind a brand that has only existed for four years. But they've done it, and it's being released to celebrate their fourth birthday! This 1945 vintage cognac comes from Cognac Tiffon, a family-owned cognac house that was founded in 1875. Tiffon is located on the banks of the Charente river in the town of Jarnac, around 15km east of the town of Cognac in south-western France. This cognac house currently has vineyards in both the Grand Champagne and Fins Bois appellations of the Cognac region, the six growth areas that are known as crus, but this 1945 vintage cognac originated in the Petite Champagne cru, which covers roughly twice the geographic area of its more prestigious neighbour the Grande Champagne cru. One quick technical note here, the vintage in this case is more like a wine vintage, referring to the year that the grapes were harvested, rather than a whisky vintage which typically refers to the year of distillation. 

As per the legal requirements for cognac production, this brandy was double-distilled in copper pot stills, and was matured in refill French oak for over 60-years until being transferred to glass demijohns in the mid-2000s. It stayed in these inert glass vessels until bottling in late 2023, with an absolutely tiny yield of just 24 x 500ml bottles at a cask strength of 45.2% ABV. Given that there's only such a tiny amount of this precious liquid, those 24 bottles are being sold by ballot (enter here), to be drawn on October 31st, 2024. If we were talking about whisky that period in glass wouldn't be considered part of the maturation, but we're talking about cognac here. Many older cognacs and brandies are transferred into glass to stop them taking on further wood influence and to stop further evaporation. Whether or not this storage period in glass has an effect on the spirit is controversial, but in this case that storage period was almost 20-years, so you'd have to assume that it has. This period spent in glass is why this cognac doesn't have an age statement, since Old Master don't agree with most mainstream brands which include this glass 'resting' period in their age statements. That's a commendable piece of integrity there, because an age statement of 76-77 years would've made this positively ancient cognac fly out the door. Instead they've gone with a simple "V.45" in reference to the year that the Ugni Blanc grapes were harvested, much like a vintage is used in the wine world, rather than referring to the year of distillation. It was distilled in 1946 and bottled in 2023, 

Once again, as with the other old cognacs and armagnacs bottled by Old Master Spirits, we need to talk about pricing. Back in 2015 I was lucky enough to try a 1946 vintage 52-year old Macallan single malt which had been bottled in 1997 with an original RRP of roughly $5,000 AUD. At the time that I tried this phenomenal single malt it was valued at $30,000 AUD. Now almost ten years later, and given what has happened to the global whisky market since, I shudder to think what that bottle would be worth. In 2015 Gordon & MacPhail released their 75-year old Mortlach single malt, which at the time was the oldest single malt whisky ever bottled. It had an RRP of £20,000, which equates to roughly $52,000 AUD today. More recently, Macallan's 81-year old - complete with ridiculous bronze sculpture - went for $125,000 USD. So with this 1945 vintage Tiffon cognac being of a similar age, if you include the time in glass at least, and with it being extremely scarce with just 24 x 500ml bottles available, it might surprise you to learn that the retail pricing from Old Master Spirits is just $1,299 AUD. In some social circles that would be considered an absolute bargain! As mentioned above, those 24 bottles are being sold by ballot, to be drawn on October 31st. Like all Old Master Spirits brandies, this cognac has had no flavouring or colouring added (see here for more information), and is non-chill filtered and bottled at cask strength. Let's get to it!

Old Master Spirits 1945 Vintage Tiffon Cognac, Bottled 2023. 45.2%. Cognac, France. 

Distilled 1946, matured in refill French oak for 60+ years, transferred to glass demijohns in mid-late 2000s. Bottled 2023. 24 x 500ml bottles. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Rich red amber. 

Nose: Surprisingly bright & lively for something so old! Fruity & zesty, plenty going on here. Raisins & dried currants, dried & fresh orange peels, warm coffee grounds, and soft leather. Some furniture polish, sweet apricots & nectarines, caramelised figs. Very complex! Warm oak & wood spices with freeze-dried pineapple & raspberry. Touches of vanilla & lemon yoghurt and dried tea leaves. 

Texture: Medium weight. Silky, luscious, mega-fruity, lightly creamy. No heat whatsoever. 

Taste: A little drying wood spice & tea leaves at first, then a big wave of fresh tropical fruit! I've never tasted a brandy like this! Under-ripe mango, tart pineapple, apricot & nectarine. That vanilla & lemon yoghurt note again which is delicious! Hints of freeze-dried raspberries & strawberries & orange furniture polish around the edges. 

Finish: Medium-long length. Dried herbs - rosemary & sage, maybe a couple of lime leaves? Chocolate-coated dried orange slices, soft leather, more of that lemon & vanilla yoghurt. Fresh stone fruits again (apricot & nectarine). Slight touch of gravy powder, and sweet pickled ginger. 

Score: 5 out of 5. 

Notes: Absolutely delicious. Luscious. Without doubt the finest "malternative" spirit that I've come across. Very fruity, bright & citrusy, balanced and complex. This is no one-trick pony, even after more than sixty years in French oak. Clearly it's been expertly managed during maturation, and I can see why it was moved to glass for the remaining 20-ish years - evaporation aside, it'd be a shame to lose any of that tropical fruit balancing against the wood influence (reminding anyone of some Bowmores?). It does have those herbal, spicy & tea leaf notes that we can expect in a well-aged cognac, but those fresh fruit & dried citrus notes keep that in check, and those flashes of vanilla & lemon yoghurt creaminess are fascinating. Very moreish too! This V45 cognac is an absolute mic-drop from this small independent operation, which is only four-years in - and what a way to celebrate their fourth birthday! For two gentlemen from Melbourne to pull of something like this is quite the achievement! 

Thanks to the generous chaps at Old Master Spirits once again for the sample for this review - it cannot be easy to part with anything this scarce, let alone a 75+ year old single cask cognac! They've really outdone themselves here, this is one is going to take some beating! Get in on that ballot folks!

Cheers!

Carn Mor Williamson 8 Year Old Whisky Review!

An affordable 8-year old unnamed Laphroaig from Carn Mor's "Strictly Limited" range of small batch independent bottlings. Probably one of the cheapest ways to taste a spirit-led & natural Laphroaig!

Williamson is the most common "trade name" for anonymous independent bottlings of Laphroaig, much like Kildalton is for Ardbeg, or Staoisha is for peated Bunnahabhain. These trade names are used by independent bottlers and blenders where the cask owner/seller/broker does not have the rights to name the distillery on the bottle, so they use a widely-known pseudonym instead. This is a step above independent bottlings that can only name the region that the distillery is located in, like the countless anonymous Speyside and Islay single malts that are out there at the moment, which can be a bargain but are often something of a gamble. Generally speaking these labelling issues do not correspond to the quality of whisky that is inside the bottle, which like all independent bottlings - and official bottlings for that matter - can vary wildly. Find a bottler that you trust with a particular distillery, look up reviews, or ask the question on social media, and the odds will be more in your favour. These anonymous bottlings can sometimes be cheaper than they would have been otherwise since they're cheaper for the cask buyer, although that's obviously not necessarily passed on to the customer. The answers to many of these mysteries are usually a quick google away, while some are left as mysteries - which can make for fun and very challenging guessing games. 

Prolific Islay distillery Laphroaig needs no introduction on these pages, but it's not an easy task to find an official bottling that is naturally presented, i.e. no added e150 artificial colouring and no chill filtration. It's even harder to find an official bottling that has been matured in refill ex-bourbon casks, which are generally the best representation of a distillery's character. Laphroaig's official bottlings tend to lean heavily on casks and are often dosed with caramel colouring - despite the green glass used in the majority of cases - while the flagship 10-year old, the old 15-year old, and the entry-level Select / Select Oak / Oak Select bottlings are also chill filtered. The higher strength official bottlings are very enjoyable of course, Quarter Cask and PX Cask for example, but even those do not allow the spirit character to show itself fully - both are finished in small 125-litre ex-bourbon casks and the latter in additionally finished in PX sherry casks, which is a lot of wood influence, even for a spirit as robust as Laphroaig. As is often the case this is where the independent bottlers step in to save the day, finding a gap in the official line-up and giving the whisky geeks what we want. While examples labelled as Laphroaig are certainly becoming harder to find as the distillery owners reduce their supply of casks to external customers - as is the case with all Islay distilleries - there are still plenty around for the time being. Many of these are at significant ages that are a fraction of the price of an equivalent official bottling - Belgian bottler The Whisky Jury comes to mind here. Why is Laphroaig bottled under the trade name "Williamson" then? That would be a nod to a surprisingly progressive piece of Laphroaig's history! Ms. Bessie Williamson, former distillery manager and owner of Laphroaig Distillery, was one of very few female distillery owners in the history of the Scotch whisky industry. 

The "Williamson" Laphroaig that we're looking at here is from Scottish independent bottlers Carn Mor, the independent bottling arm of Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers, the company formerly known as Morrison Bowmore Distillers which once owned Bowmore, Glen Garioch and Auchentoshan before selling all three to Suntory in 1994. Morrison is also responsible for the Mac-Talla brand of anonymous single malts and the Old Perth blended malt, and the company built its own distillery, Aberargie Distillery, in 2017 in the town of the same name south-east of Perth (Scotland). Carn Mor's "Strictly Limited" bottlings are mostly small batches / vattings of 3-5 casks, generally bottled at 47.5% ABV but occasionally at cask strength, and are non-chill filtered and natural colour. The name Carn Mor means "Great Peak" in Gaelic, named after a mountain in the Western Highlands. This particular Carn Mor Williamson / Laphroaig is an 8-year old that was distilled in 2013 and was matured in refill ex-bourbon hogsheads (250-litre casks). It was bottled in 2021 at 47.5% ABV, with a yield of 780 bottles - so four or five hogsheads vatted together. RRP here in Australia is a reasonable $175 AUD, although it and the rest of the Carn Mor range can occasionally be found at sharply discounted prices from online retailers. This one is still available in Australia at the time of writing. Happy hunting!

Carn Mor Williamson (Laphroaig) 8-Year Old, 47.5%. Islay, Scotland.

Distilled 2013, matured in refill ex-bourbon hogsheads, bottled 2021. Non-chill filtered, natural colour, 780 bottles. 

Colour: Very pale gold, white wine. 

Nose: Fatty & greasy, sweet & peaty. Fatty smoked bacon, damp fresh-cut grass, black & green peppercorns. Touch of melted salted butter, fresh herbs - dill & tarragon. Some de-seeded fresh jalapenos (most of the spice & heat removed). 

Texture: Light-medium weight. Silky, quite peaty, spirit sweetness. No heat whatsoever. 

Taste: Sweet peaty entry, building to bitter & dry, almost acrid peatiness. Coke bottle / cola cube lollies. More fatty & greasy smoked bacon, melted salted butter, oily smoked fish with fresh herbs. Fizzy lemonade, burnt toast, root ginger. 

Finish: Long length. Chunky bitter peat, acrid & pungent running all the way through. Burnt toast, a little aniseed, powdered ginger. Touch of lemon juice & olive brine to finish. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Lovely spirit-driven, "clean" Laphroaig without any heavy cask influence or saccharine sweetness getting in the way. And there's no obvious signs of immaturity here, thanks to that punchy peatiness filling in the voids. Fantastic "breakfast whisky", provided you're in to this style of course. That'd be the SMWS name for this one too; "Scandinavian Breakfast Dram". That pungent, acrid peatiness never fades away in this dram, balancing that lovely malty sweet spirit without the huge vanilla & artificial wood sugar notes found in most of the official bottlings. There's no need for that sort of thing with this lovely peaty spirit! Just put it in refill bourbon casks and let it sing, like most of the good independent bottlers do. This youthful & punchy Laphroaig is in the same camp as Port Askaig 8-year old (a.k.a Caol Ila), Lagavulin 8-year old, and maybe Kilchoman Machir Bay with less cask influence. Some may draw parallels to Ardbeg Wee Beastie as well, but to my tastes this is far more mature and eminently more drinkable. Unfortunately it's nearly double the price of all those named above, which is a shame, and that's going to make it a hard sell. Probably why it's still readily available I suppose, that and the relatively obscure bottler, and the trade name. Still, for fans of Laphroaig this is an easy win. 

Cheers!

Springbank 12 Cask Strength Batch 1 Whisky Review!

A blast from the past that I've never tried before! Batch One of the excellent Springbank 12-year old Cask Strength, bottled way back in 2010. They're currently up to Batch twenty-five!

This older Springbank is from the days when the 12-year old Cask Strength and all Springbank was much easier to get your hands on in Australia, which was the case right up until 2020 or so when all things J&A Mitchell went insane. Surely that was the worst thing to happen to humanity that year, right? The entire Springbank core range, the local barley releases, and the limited release cask finishes all lasted much longer than they do these days, and a lot of Hazelburn and Longrow releases barely sold at all. Nowadays even the standard core range rarely makes it to shelves at all, whether those shelves be physical or digital. The distillery are doing everything they can to help with availability during this insane spike in demand, and their pricing has barely shifted at all despite the huge increase in sales and the many retailers and importers that are price gouging on anything Springbank. Unfortunately for those of us who remember the before times - I'm going to get "I was into Springbank before it was cool" t-shirts printed - the 12-year old Cask Strength seems to be the worst hit by this massive surge in popularity. Ignoring the Local Barley releases, at least, although they seem to have calmed down a bit now. If you ask me the "12 CS" was always the sweet spot for an excellent Springbank at a very reasonable price - commonly selling under $140 AUD back then, when the "entry level" 10-year old was around $90-100. Unfortunately it now retails for $250 or more, if you can even get your hands on it at all, and our importer does not receive stock of every batch released. But considering that the entry level 10-year old Springbank is now retailing for a ridiculous $200 AUD, that's still not such a raw deal. Obviously availability is more of a hurdle than pricing in this case, unless you're insane enough to entertain the price-gouging "retailers" who are attempting to get over $400 for one of these bottles. The importer should not be entertaining them by selling them stock. 

Just to clarify, this Batch 1 Springbank 12-year old was not the first cask strength Springbank official bottling, far from it. Nor was it the first 12-year old official bottling, there have been quite a few including some at 46% and some at 57% (100 Proof). Obviously those earlier bottlings are now the stuff of collectors, and even these earlier batches of the 12 Cask Strength go for ridiculous money on the auction sites, often over £300 plus fees & shipping. Which after shipping to Australia and being reamed by the customs department, you'd probably be looking at around $900-1,000 AUD. Absolutely mental. Back in these early batches the 12-year old Cask Strength was 100% sherry cask matured in both first-fill and refill Oloroso sherry casks. This was the case until 2015's Batch 10 when ex-bourbon casks were added, initially in a proportion of 30%, which then changed to 50% in late 2018 which Batch 18. The cask make-up has continued to fluctuate since then - including a fantastic 100% ex-bourbon cask Batch 23 (reviewed here), with one instalment even having some red wine & port casks in the mix with Batch 21 (reviewed here). The 12 Cask Strength has never had a batch code printed on the label, so the laser-printed bottling date on the bottle and the ABV are your only guides as to which batch you're actually looking at. You then take that info to google and/or whiskybase.com, and you'll get your answer. J&A Mitchell have now made the same change to sister distillery Glengyle's Kilkerran Heavily Peated range, which from Batch Ten onwards will no longer have a batch code printed on the label. With the Springbank 12-year old there was one major change back in 2014, when the labels were modernised slightly from the old black label with red 'S' as pictured below, to a solid red label with white 'S' inside a red circle. So if you're looking at a black label Springbank 12-year old it's Batch 13 (released early 2014) or earlier, and if it's the (slightly) more modern red label it's Batch 14 (released late 2014) or later. 

This very first batch, released over 14 years ago now, has always been on my wishlist. Batch One of Springbank 12 Cask Strength, released in March 2010 with an outturn of 6,000 bottles at a cask strength of 54.6% ABV. Obviously it's natural colour and non-chill filtered, as with all single malts bottled by J&A Mitchell. Batch 1 was a vatting of 60% first-fill sherry hogsheads (250-litre casks) and 40% refill sherry butts (500-litre casks). As you can see from the colour though, those first-fill casks can't have been particularly active, which is definitely a good thing! This mix of first-fill ("fresh" in Springbank-ese) to refill sherry casks stayed constant until that introduction of ex-bourbon casks with Batch 10. The actual bottlings still varied a great deal of course, as has always been the way at Springbank. Consistency isn't a goal here, and nor should it be! Both character and quality do vary in these fantastically old school whiskies, which just keeps things interesting for us geeks. Speaking of which, the sample for this review came from a very generous fellow whisky nerd over the water in New Zealand who has shared some extremely special samples with me over the years. While I do try to return the favour, I still can't thank her enough when it comes to drams like this. Let's get to it!

Springbank 12 Cask Strength Batch 1, 54.6%. Campbeltown, Scotland.

Bottled March 2010. 60% first-fill sherry hogsheads, 40% refill sherry butts. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 6,000 bottles. 

Colour: Pale copper. 

Nose: Yep, it's proper Springbank! Salty, rich, fruity, quite savoury. A little softer than I expected, but then it's been a long time since I last tasted one of the 100% sherry batches. Ripe red apples with a little dust, dark & thick caramel fudge sauce. Sea salt flakes, apricot jam, a little fresh white peach. Lime juice. Old oily rags & sooty fireplaces, greasy old metal, damp dunnage warehouses with gravel, packed earth, and dusty old wood. Salted nuts & aniseed around the edges. 

Texture: Heavy weight. Chewy & thick, rich & savoury. No heat at all. 

Taste: Chewy & thick caramel fudge sauce, heavily salted caramel this time. Touch of that apricot jam, and it's on some buttered burnt toast now. Damp malted barley around the edges. Sooty fireplaces & dirty old rags. The red apples are stewed now, with some currants and baking spices mixed in. Dried bitter orange peel. Sooty & oily peat smoke with that damp & musty dunnage warehouse "funk". 

Finish: Long length. Big sea salt, stone fruit, spiced butter caramel chocolates. Dirty old diesel fuel, oily & sooty. More bitter orange peel and more sea salt, slightly drying. Dirty, dusty, musty. Lime juice, salted caramel, and dusty red apples to finish. 

Score: 4.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Just delicious. I'd almost hoped that it wouldn't be. This 12yo ticks all of the Springbank boxes that you could wish for, without focussing on any one area in particular. That said, aside from that salted caramel fudge sauce this is quite a savoury dram, with more sea salt & peat smoke than I remember finding in any recent batch of the 12-year old Cask Strength. Arguably less cask influence than most of those, too. Which is certainly no complaint. You do have to work hard to find a batch of the '12CS' that isn't a good dram, but some are merely good, while some are great, and some are excellent. And this, the very first batch, is one of those. As usual, tasting something like this is sadly a little bittersweet! 

The modern Springbanks, Hazelburns, Longrows, and Kilkerrans can be just as good though. The magic of Springbank, and the magic of Campbeltown, is certainly real. The big question is, are these older bottles worth hunting down at auction and paying exorbitant amounts for? It's a tough call. I just wish I'd had the foresight and the cashflow to buy more of it back in the "before times"...

Cheers!