Hazelburn is the triple-distilled and un-peated spirit produced by Springbank Distillery in Campbeltown, named after the Hazelburn Distillery which closed in 1925. A few of the original distillery's buildings still stand, the majority of which now form a business park 300 metres down the road from Springbank. Hazelburn only makes up 10% of Springbank's annual production, while 80% goes to the namesake Springbank spirit which is lightly-peated and 2.5-times distilled, and the heavily-peated and double-distilled Longrow takes up the remaining 10%. Bear in mind that Springbank have a maximum annual production capacity of around 750,000-litres of spirit, a positively tiny amount compared to most operating Scottish distilleries, so there really isn't a lot of Hazelburn produced. There's also less spirit produced thanks to that triple distillation, where the un-peated wash is run through each of Springbank's three stills (pictured above) in series, starting with the direct-fired wash still, then the worm tub condenser-equipped first low wines still, and the shell & tube condenser-equipped second low wines still. Which means it's a lighter and more refined spirit, at a higher alcohol level with a spirit / heart cut average of 75% ABV when it leaves that third still. Triple distillation is associated more with Irish whiskeys these days, and only a few Scottish malt distilleries have dabbled in the practice, with Auchentoshan in the Lowlands being the only Scottish distillery to triple-distill the entirety of their production.
As a result of triple distillation and also the lack of peat used in the kilning of the applicable malted barley, Hazelburn tends to be a lighter, cleaner and more refined whisky than the Springbank and Longrow malts. So there's generally less Campbeltown "funk" to be found in these bottles, but if you play your cards right (cask strength required, in my experience) you'll still find it. Personally, and like many Springbank fans I suspect, I do tend to prefer Springbank & Longrow, so my experience with Hazelburn isn't on the same level, but I have had a couple of excellent expressions in the past. The winner so far was a refill Sauternes cask-matured Springbank Society bottling, which I'm not likely to ever come across again, unfortunately. It's hard to argue with the statement that the finished product tends to be less "Campbeltown-y" than the other Campbeltown malts (Kilkerran and Glen Scotia included), but it's still a Springbank, which means that everything other than growing the actual barley itself is done on-site. From malting, milling, fermenting, distilling, maturing and bottling, it all happens at the distillery. And for 100% of the distillery's production. Which is certainly not something you see everyday!
This particular Hazelburn is the third and final instalment in Springbank's Rundlet's & Kilderkins releases, following on from 2012's 10-year old Springbank release, and 2013's 11-year old Longrow release (reviewed here). A rundlet is a 68-litre (approx.) cask, and a kilderkin is an 82-litre cask, compared to the 200-, 250- and 500-litre casks commonly used for Scotch whisky maturation. Smaller casks equals more surface area contact equals more cask influence, so these whiskies tend to drink well beyond their modest age statements. This 10-year old Hazelburn (not to be confused with the regular 10-year old expression) was bottled at a cask strength of 50.1% ABV, and of course is non-chill filtered and naturally coloured like everything that comes out of Springbank's narrow driveways. While both the Springbank and Longrow releases consisted of 9,000 bottles apiece, there were 12,000 units of the Hazelburn released, which is a significant number, but I was nevertheless surprised to see this whisky still available in Australia here in mid-2019. Why? Because it was bottled over five years ago, way back in early 2014! It's still quite reasonably priced as well at around $165 AUD, and while Hazelburn doesn't quite have the cult following of the distillery's other two products, I can tell you now that it is a serious bargain. Get in quick folks, and tell them Peated Perfection sent you!
Un-peated triple-distilled single malt from Springbank Distillery. Fully matured in re-coopered 68-litre rundlet and 82-litre kilderkin casks. Cask strength, non-chill filtered, natural colour. 12,000 bottles, released 2014.
Colour: Gold.
Nose: Oily, lightly cheesy, slightly herbal & earthy. Olive oil, baked red apples, semi-sweet herbal honey. Some brine, damp earth (dunnage) and white pepper. Lemon oil, and some light fresh oak - reminds me of balsa wood. Some damp malt and a little marzipan with more breathing time.
Texture: Medium weight, oily & surprisingly savoury. A little peppery, but not in a harsh or overly spirit-y way.
Taste: More olive oil, more white pepper, and more light fresh oak. A lighter version of the classic Campbeltown "funk"as well, that damp earthy dunnage warehouse & old dusty farmyard / barn note. Dryer than the nose, not a sweet whisky by any means. Still has that lemon oil note in the background.
Finish: Medium length. Getting quite dry here with more pepper and light oak, before that olive oil, lemon, baked apple and dunnage earthy-ness come through. Those apples are powdery now though. More clean olive oil and light brine to finish.
Score: 3.5 out of 5.
Notes: A very tasty dram, and probably the richest and most 'Campbeltown-y' Hazelburn that I've tasted to date. And also one of the best. It's definitely miles above the standard 10-year old, although at cask strength and with small casks involved that could be expected. Considering the relatively small jump in price over that entry-level bottling, and considering that this one was bottled over five years ago, it's a bit of a hidden gem. If you find Springbanks too funky and a little too wild for your tastes, give Hazelburn a try. And if you prefer a dryer, oily, richer style of malt then this Rundlets & Kilderkins is the one to go for. Personally it's not on the same level as the Longrow version, but since the base malts are so different that's probably just down to personal preference rather than overall quality.
Yet another tasty single malt from Campbeltown's finest, and a real bargain at the still-current pricing here in Australia. Just don't expect the remaining stocks to last long. It's still a hidden gem at the moment, but people are catching on to that sort of thing very quickly these days!
Cheers!
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