Cage Bottling Cage Match!

Winding up the Springtime Springbank series of reviews with three Springbank cage bottles - going out with a bang. Three unicorns, two brands, one distillery, three cask types, one first fill, two refill. This will be fun!

Doesn't look like much, does it? 

I wasn't sure if I should even post this review - these three whiskies are irreplaceable, and all but unobtainable. The 'cage bottlings' from the venerable Springbank Distillery in Campbeltown are the stuff of legend. Exclusive to visitors / pilgrims who make the considerable trek to Campbeltown itself, previously to the Cadenhead's store or now to the distillery itself - yes, the cage now resides at Springbank itself, which is fitting. Unfortunately there are also a multitude of these revered rarities listed on the European auction sites every month, and most do go for silly money, but that's just part of the whisky world we live in - sadly. I'm probably not helping the situation by writing about them either, which was another reason for my uncertainty about posting this three-way review. And these already-impossibly rare bottlings have become even more scarce over the last couple of years, as their reputation grows and their secondary market values go through the roof thanks to scarcity, pandemic-induced madness, and the general explosion in demand for all things Campbeltown, and all things whisky. But in the end, after mentioning it to a few friends, and also because I had samples of three different cage bottles staring me down from the shelf, and also because these unicorns need to be shared and enjoyed (even if it has to be vicarious), it had to be done! 

For the uninitiated, a 'cage bottle' is essentially a 700ml cask sample of Springbank, Longrow or Hazelburn, taken straight from the cask at Springbank distillery, adorned with a simple white label and some basic information written in shorthand. "Duty Paid Sample, for Trade Purposes Only". To a Springbank fan, those words are pure poetry. Then you'll find, hand-written in pen no less, the warehouse number that the cask is/was stored in, the rotation number, the type/brand of the whisky, the cask type and cask size, and the ABV, the date that the bottle was filled, and the age of the whisky at the time of filling. The type of whisky is of course either the unpeated and triple-distilled Hazelburn, the lightly peated and 2.5-times distilled Springbank, or the heavily peated and double-distilled Longrow. All single malts produced entirely at Springbank Distillery. Since Hazelburn and Longrow each only make up 10% of the distillery's already small production volumes, these are certainly the more scarce of the three types, although Hazelburn can often be under-appreciated and sometimes goes unloved. Cask types are written in shorthand codes - F for "Fresh"- Springbank-talk for first-fill, or R for Refill. Then B for ex-bourbon, S for ex-sherry, R for ex-rum, P for ex-port, and so on - occasionally there may even be a wine cask such as Claret, Burgundy, Chardonnay etc. Typically it is the first-fill sherry or port cask samples that collectors go nuts for, but in my experience, the refill and/or ex-bourbon casks can be absolutely brilliant, with more distillery character and that delicious Campbeltown dunnage "funk" on show. The last piece of the shorthand puzzle is the cask size - BRL for barrel (200-ish litres), HHD for hogshead (225-250-ish litres), and BUTT for... butt (500-ish litres). I'm yet to see a small cask, port pipe or puncheon cage bottling, but they could exist as well. What about the rotation number? No it's not a cask number, it's an operation number - basically just a warehousing & inventory system number assigned when casks are emptied or moved between warehouses, or when samples are taken. These numbers reset every year, but there's no rhyme or reason as to the timing. 

These are essentially the next level of distillery exclusive bottling, since while you don't get to fill the bottles yourself from the cask, all of these are essentially one-off bottlings, a snapshot of the contents of one particular cask at one particular time. Those casks may be aged further, or tipped into a larger vatting, or bottled as single casks. But they're specially selected by the distillery team, most often Production Director Findlay Ross, without any publicised reasoning or method. And no, you do not get to try these hidden gems before buying, and you should be counting yourself lucky that you were able to buy at all! And from the handful of examples that I've been lucky enough to sample, they're incredibly special whiskies. Those casks have been singled out by the distillery staff themselves, and lucky fans who get their timing right when they visit the "wee 'toon" may get the chance to take one home and try it themselves. And they'll have to get their timing right, because adding to the allure of - and demand for - these cage bottle Springbanks is their fleeting nature - it's entirely possible that you'll make the 4-hour drive west from Glasgow to arrive in Campbeltown, and then walk through those iron gates onto hallowed ground, to fix your gaze upon... empty shelves. That's right, when & if you do get to visit the distillery and the cage, there's a very real chance that it will be completely empty. As much as the Springbank shop staff try to spread them out - and also try to avoid selling to flippers - there's no rhyme or reason as to when these bottles will be available for sale, sitting pretty behind their chicken wire enclosure. That photo above with about a dozen bottles on the shelves? That would be considered extremely lucky these days. Especially during the pandemic shutdowns and the resulting staffing and logistics issues and also the currently-exploding demand for everything Campbeltown, your chances of finding one of these elusive gems sitting in the shop are quite low. Which almost makes them magical. And for god's sake, don't buy them from auctions. Not only are the prices ridiculous, but anyone who lists recent cage bottles for resale on the secondary market, save those who have actual, real emergencies perhaps, does not appreciate what these bottles are or how special they are, nor how lucky he/she was to get their hands on them. 

For this review, we have samples of three different cage bottlings. One refill ex-bourbon hogshead Hazelburn, and two Springbanks - one refill ex-rum barrel and one first-fill sherry hogshead. Two of these samples came from generous friends and fellow-whisky geeks, and the third is the last vestige of my own cage bottle that I purchased on my so far only visit to Campbeltown, back in 2018. Time to get to it. Oh, and I apologise in advance for the photos below!

First up, the Hazelburn. Triple-distilled and unpeated, of course. This is an 18-year old refill ex-bourbon hogshead, filled in September 1999, matured in warehouse 15 and bottled circa 2017 at a cask strength of 53.4%.

Colour: Pale gold. 

Nose: Fruity, spicy and surprisingly funky. Baked red apples, ground black pepper and buttery shortcrust pastry. Dusty, lightly musty and lightly woody. Touch of warm clay and spun sugar toffee. Sandalwood, lemon rind and a few discarded seafood shells. 

Texture: Medium weight, rich & oily, spicy and earthy. Touch of heat but barely noticeable. 

Taste: Delicious. Soft & sweet entry, then building ground black pepper, olive oil, and a lovely wave of that gorgeous Springbank "funk". Musty and dank old wood, dusty dirt floors and old hay - very farmyard. Some demerara sugar and lemon rind. 

Finish: Long length. Ground black pepper carries through, more olive oil, spun sugar and dry old wood. The red apples come back but they're more dry and powdery here. And the Springbank oily, earthy character is here in spades. Dried lemon and dusty malt to finish. 

Score: 4.5 out of 5. Close to a 5 out of 5, though. 

Notes: Absolutely delicious. Without doubt the finest example of Hazelburn that I've nosed & tasted to date. Surprisingly earthy & funky for a Hazelburn too, this could easily pass for an old (e.g. 90s era) Bruichladdich or even a Springbank. Some Hazelburns do seem to show that side to them, and it's clearer here thanks to the refill cask and the extra age. It's not easy to find a Hazelburn that is older than 13-14 years, and even harder to find an older example at cask strength. Which makes this cage bottle all the more special, since it shows just how great Hazelburn can be! It's often the last cab off the rank, the forgotten and left behind Campbeltown spirit compared to it's two peated Springbank stablemates, and now also it's cousin Kilkerran. But there are some great bottlings out there, and this cage bottling is an absolutely stand-out example. A huge thanks to the owner for sharing this very special whisky!

Next, the refill cask Springbank. Lightly peated and 2.5-times distilled, of course. This is a 14-year old refill rum barrel, filled in February 2004, matured in warehouse 5 and bottled in late 2018 at a cask strength of 56.3%. 

Colour: Gold with amber tinges.  

Nose: Sweet, tropical and fruity. Brown sugar, rich vanilla bean - make that crème brulee actually. Dirty engine oil and baked tropical fruit. Some dried mango skins, fried green banana and a touch of dried herbs - tarragon? Oily paint and old grease. Russian caramel fudge, petrol, and more crème brulee. 

Texture: Medium weight, very oily, sweet & funky. No heat at all. 

Taste: Banoffee pie (banana & toffee caramel) with spiked cream. Mango skins again, more oily paint and dirty engine oil, and vanilla bean. Touch of black pepper and soft caramel fudge. Touch of drying salt and damp driftwood. 

Finish: Long length. Spicy, sweet & earthy. Black pepper, brown sugar and fried banana, touch of petrol and oily putty. Engine oil and dirty grease, earthy and muddy "funk" but in a sweeter style than the usual farmyard / dunnage variety.

Score: 5 out of 5. 

Notes: Just a stunner, really. Is it technically perfect? No, of course not. But the amount of character here is just wonderful. And the balance between spirit/distillery character and cask influence is bang on, if you ask me. There's certainly some rum influence, but it hasn't overwhelmed the spirit - which is what happened with the 2019 Rum Wood release, in my opinion, so it's lucky that this was a refill cask. Instead the rum barrel has worked in harmony with the spirit, adding more sweetness and fruitiness, and giving a more rum-driven petrol & engine oil edge to the "funk". Based on this bottle I can't help but wonder how great that aforementioned Rum Wood release could have been if there were more refill casks in the vatting, or if they'd been the majority of the vatting. Something spoke to me when I spotted this bottle sitting in the cage three years ago, as soon as I decoded the "RR", I knew it had to come home with me - and I was proven right. Now that it's gone, I miss it so much that it hurts! But I have no regrets when it comes to opening it and sharing it - that's what these unicorns are for. 

And last but not least, the first-fill (fresh) sherry cask Springbank. This one is a 16-year old fresh sherry hogshead, filled in November 2002, matured in warehouse 7 and bottled circa 2019 at a cask strength of 49.8%. 

Colour: Dark bronze with rusty red tinges. 

Nose: Rich, clean sherry. Rum & raisin fudge, Christmas plum pudding with extra raisins and brandy sauce. Orange rind and roasted nuts, hints of ashy smoke and dank earthy peat. Rusty old machine shop - dirty saw blade coolant. 

Texture: Medium weight, rich, sherried and medicinal. No heat at all. 

Taste: Sweet syrupy entry, delicious clean sherry with raisins and currants, more sweet rum & raisin fudge and some melted ice cream. Warm dry-roasted nuts and dirty old engine oil. Touch of leather and drying wood spices.

Finish: Long length. Clean, rich, sweet sherry. More dry-roasted nuts - peanut, hazelnut and walnut. Rich dried fruity and candied orange. Then out of left-field, old bandages, ointments and crushed tablets (medicine) and a touch of brine. 

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: Delicious sherry bomb, but with a surprising medicinal side. Cleaner and brighter in character than the sherry cask Local Barley, and while I don't usually mind the dirtier, slightly more sulphurous side of sherry cask whiskies in many cases, this cleaner, sweeter and lighter take is really working for me today. It's sweeter than the Local Barley as well, but also much more medicinal - particularly on the nose and finish, which is quite the surprise - you won't find those notes in your average Speyside sherry bomb! The sherry-heavy cask treatment does give this cage bottle a lighter and cleaner feel than you may expect, but that's also the beauty of these one-off cage bottlings, they're all unique! 

So there you have it. Three irreplaceable cask samples from Springbank Distillery that are essentially one-offs. And all are extremely special and very delicious. I suppose the takeaway message here is, don't overlook refill cask Springbanks / Longrows / Hazelburns, they can be fantastic, and they don't attract the collectors & flippers to the same extent. Distillery character and spirit character are the name of the game here, combined with just the right amount of cask influence and "reductive" maturation, resulting in truly great whisky. And that applies to just about every distillery, not just the Campbeltown legends. 

At the risk of repeating myself, if you've been lucky enough to grab a cage bottle of any description, I hope you treasure it, and I hope you appreciate how lucky you've been. And for god's sake, don't sell it. And if you haven't been lucky enough yet, don't encourage the flippers by paying 3-4 times the retail pricing. But if you somehow get the chance to try one, don't hesitate. 

Cheers!

Cadenhead's Longrow 11 Year Old Port Cask Whisky Review!

Part three of the Springtime run of Springbank reviews. Is an independent bottling of a single malt whisky from a distillery's sister company still an independent bottling? Frankly, when it's this delicious, I couldn't care less!

This Cadenhead's bottling of Longrow single malt could have easily become a single cask official bottling, dressed in fancier clothes and destined for some lucky (meaning, definitely not Australia) retail market. Or it could have easily become part of a larger vatting in the distillery's core range, or part of the "living cask" single malt bottlings which were exclusive to the Cadenhead's flagship store in Campbeltown, but have since shifted over to the distillery shop at Springbank. But it didn't. For some reason, this Longrow ended up as a Cadenhead's bottling instead. It's not such a strange scenario these days where a reasonably large independent bottler owns, buys or even builds a distillery of their own. Gordon & MacPhail purchased and largely rebuilt Benromach in Speyside in 1993 and have a second Speyside distillery in the planning stage, Signatory Vintage purchased Edradour Distillery in 2002, Wemyss built Kingsbarns in Fife a few years ago now (which has just landed in Australia), and Elixir Distillers (Port Askaig, Elements of Islay etc.) have plans to build their own distillery on Islay. In the case of Springbank and Cadenhead's both companies come under the privately owned umbrella of J&A Mitchell, as does nearby Glengyle Distillery (producing Kilkerran single malt). Cadenhead's was purchased by J&A Mitchell in the early 1970s and subsequently relocated to Campbeltown, but the company was originally founded in 1842 which makes them Scotland's oldest independent bottler. Cadenhead's bottle both grain & malt whisky sourced from all over Scotland and internationally (Tasmania and India, for example), and also produce their own blended whiskies, as well as dabbling in other spirits such as gin, rum and cognac on a regular basis. 

Most independent bottlers do not bottle their own distillery's whisky under their independent bottling label/s. There have not been any Gordon & MacPhail bottlings of Benromach since their purchase and re-opening of the distillery, although Signatory Vintage do regularly produce a bottling of Edradour as part of their "Un-Chill Filtered Collection" that is really more of a core range distillery bottling with different packaging. On the other hand Cadenhead's frequently bottle both Springbank Distillery and Glengyle Distillery whiskies as single malts, including the Hazelburn, Longrow, Springbank and Kilkerran labels/brands, mostly as cask strength single cask single malts under the 'Authentic Collection' label that is exclusive to their own stores. They also occasionally include those spirits in some of their "Cadenhead Creations" blends, or as their Cadenhead's Warehouse Tasting bottlings which mainly feature other distilleries from other regions. They're not often found as part of the company's main 'Small Batch' collection, which could be a good thing since those were once bottled at cask strength but have now been reduced to 46% ABV across the board. Anything Campbeltown has exploded in popularity and demand over the last couple of years, and all of the Cadenhead's bottlings from Springbank or Glengyle disappear as soon as they're released - or even before they're released in most cases. Naturally many of those then re-appear on whisky auction websites in short order, although that does seem to happen less often than it does with the Springbank official bottlings. In this case I shouldn't complain about the situation too much, since while not exactly a cheap proposition, if this particular bottle hadn't been resold on an auction website I would never have been able to buy it on this side of the planet! Quality does seem to be very high with these bottlings, as it is with most Springbanks and Kilkerrans of course, and this Longrow is no exception. Age statement, non-chill filtered, natural colour, and basic, minimalist packaging - that's all Cadenhead's standard MO. 

Longrow is the double-distilled, heavily peated spirit produced at Springbank Distillery that makes up only 10% of their already-tiny annual production that doesn't come close to meeting demand. That double-distillation means that Longrow spirit comes from only the first and second pot stills, the former being direct-fired and the latter being equipped with a worm tub condenser, and different (later) cut points are used in the Longrow spirit runs compared to the cuts for Springbank or Hazelburn spirits. That results in a delicious rich, oily, dirty, funky spirit with loads of character. Despite being heavily peated, up to around 60 ppm in fact, in reality Longrow is not particularly peaty compared to the famous names made across the sea on nearby Islay. That's partly due to the fermentation and distillation regime used at Springbank, but also due to the fact that while the barley is floor malted on-site at the distillery the peat itself (used in Kilkerran, Springbank and Longrow production) is sourced from the northern mainland of Scotland rather than locally. There are conflicting sources here, but that's apparently because the local Machrihanish peat bog is too sandy and also too difficult to harvest in the small quantities required. The long-dead Victorian-era Campbeltown distilleries would all have used local peat though, and Springbank certainly would have in the past, although there are also rumours that they've sourced Islay peat at times. Perhaps that was used in Springbank production (which is only lightly peated) so it flew under the radar, or perhaps it was used in earlier Longrow production that began in the early 1970s, but I'm yet to find any overt Islay-style peatiness in a contemporary Longrow, and neither do the reviews that I've read from other sources. Regardless, Longrow is still a peaty whisky, albeit in an earthy, dirty way as you'd expect from peat sourced from the mainland, but it's also still a very coastal whisky as you'd expect from Springbank and from Campbeltown. 

The majority of attainable (so not the 21-year old!) contemporary Longrow releases tend to be quite cask-forward, whether they've been fully matured or finished, often in sherry or wine casks as is the case with the 'Red' wine cask series. That can often resulting in a level of (intentional) sulphur that many drinkers find challenging - the 14-year old Sherry Cask Matured from 2018 for example, which I and many others loved, but some hated. The spirit does stand up to cask influence very well and seems to work with any cask type, but if you do come across an ex-bourbon cask or a refill cask example, grab it with both hands! Speaking of which, let's get into this review. This Cadenhead's bottling is an 11-year old single cask, distilled in 2007 and bottled in 2019 and fully matured in a refill port pipe (550-600-litre cask) with a yield of 708 bottles at a cask strength of 57.8%. Being a product of J&A Mitchell, Springbank and Cadenhead's it is of course non-chill filtered and naturally coloured. Tasting time!

Cadenhead's Longrow 11-year old Port Cask, 57.8%. Campbeltown, Scotland.

Heavily peated & double-distilled from Springbank Distillery. Distilled 2007, fully matured in a single refill port pipe, bottled 2019. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 708 bottles. 

Colour:  Amber. 

Nose: Smoky, oily and citrusy. Touch of smoky oily peanut butter, cold fatty bacon, tart blueberry and buttered burnt toast. Blow-torched orange rind and thick dirty smoke. Dried raspberry, builder's putty (e.g. gap filler) and muddy, earthy peat. Lemon zest around the edges too. 

Texture: Heavy weight. Big & oily, dirty & loaded with character. Very slight touch of heat and it works. 

Taste: Flavour explosion! Big oily, dirty smoke, more smoky peanut butter and tart dried berries. Blow-torched orange rind again, more dirty smoke but it's quite ashy now and there's a touch of dried smoked red chilli flakes (chipotle). Beautiful sharp & bitter salted lemon, old greasy machinery, dank & damp dunnage (earthen) floors. Something medicinal in there too, like dusty old compressed tablets (pills) - disprin maybe (dissolvable asprin).   

Finish: Medium-long length. Sea salt, ashy dirty smoke carries through, touch of oily fish. Dried citrus peels (bitter rather than sweet) and more earthy, muddy peat. Touch of old industrial oils, greasy putty and damp dunnage (earthen) floors. Lovely sharp salted lemon again. 

Score: 4.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Delicious. A great example of a refill cask adding just the right amount of influence while also allowing the reductive part of the maturation to fully do it's thing. No semblance of the wood itself either - a big cask would help with that of course, and they don't get much bigger than a port pipe, but being a refill cask has definitely helped there. This is a big, dirty, rich whisky that is loaded with character - and what more could you ask for! This Cadenhead's bottling could well be my favourite Longrow to date, and it's one of the best examples I've had that shows off the muddy, earthy, dirty peat and the dirty "old school" or even industrial character that Longrow is renowned for - and loved for. In this case those nutty, tart dried berry and sharp citrus notes are just delicious, and I'd assume that the refill port pipe was responsible for the former while the spirit brings that bitter & burnt citrus and of course that thick oily smoke. This is certainly no shy or delicate whisky, it's big & brash, and beautiful!

I do wish we saw more higher-strength refill cask Longrows where the distillery character and spirit character can really shine, since in my experience most of the Red series tends to be quite wine-forward and/or cask heavy, and they're the only higher ABV Longrows that we see in Australia. Actually having said that, I just wish we saw more Longrow in general! There's only so much of it to go around, and despite this 'brand' still flying under the radar of many whisky enthusiasts, that amount just is not enough - but this Cadenhead's bottle is a great example of just how great it can be! 

Cheers!

Springbank 10 Local Barley Sherry (2020-2021) Whisky Review!

Part two of what's turning out to be a Springtime run of Springbank reviews. This time, the now-infamous and controversial recent addition to the Springbank Local Barley line-up.  

I passed on this whisky when it landed in Australia. I had been excited about it given the favourable reviews from Europe, and the collector in me wanted to keep the Local Barley line-up complete, although the decision to fully mature this one in first-fill sherry casks did seem a little odd. Then it landed at $399 AUD, with some resellers adding another $100-150 on top of that already huge price tag - remember that this is a 10-year old whisky with 8,500 bottles released. While it's beyond my usual comfort level for a bottle of whisky, I have paid that amount or more for younger and/or NAS whiskies before, and that's around a $100-150 increase over the 2019 10-year old Local Barley release. So why did I decide to pass on this Springbank? Across the Tasman around six months earlier this whisky sold to retail in New Zealand for $148 NZD ($143 AUD), and it currently retails in the U.S (with more buying power and of course a larger allocation than both Australia and New Zealand) for the equivalent of around $220 AUD. And he original retail pricing in Britain was around 90 pounds, or $170 AUD. Yes, shipping from Europe/Britain to Australia is expensive - but not dissimilar to shipping to New Zealand. Yes, our excise/duty on spirits and tax rates are obscenely high, but they're not hundreds of dollars per bottle high, and those international prices clearly show that it's not the distillery who's to blame for the expensive pricing in Australia. There just has to be a massive chunk of profit in that mark-up, and unfortunately we can only assume that it's due to the importer watching the secondary market in Europe while they waited for delivery, knowing that they didn't secure enough stock to satisfy demand in the current climate, and deciding to cash in. Businesses need to make profit of course, and many distributors and resellers do watch secondary market pricing and adjust pricing accordingly, but in this case I felt it was excessive. Unfortunately this whisky still sold out almost instantly, despite it arriving when things had begun to slow down following the madness of mid-2020 to early-2021, which has essentially proven that they made the right decision from a business point of view, or at least that their decision was justified. We also need to mention the European secondary pricing here - these bottles are now going for over 500 pounds on the usual British auction sites, which is absolutely insane for a 10-year old single malt with 8,500 bottles released nine months ago. 

Pricing and secondary market pricing aside, this is still a controversial whisky because this is a local barley Springbank, where you'd want to barley itself to show through in some way, or at least be discernible from a regular release. It's the sourcing of local Kintyre barley, floor-malted at the distillery in Campbeltown of course, that separates this series from the rest of this legendary distillery's whiskies. The other five releases in the modern Local Barley series have mostly been matured in ex-bourbon casks, albeit usually with a small amount of sherry or port casks in the mix. So this latest release, which was initially released in late 2020, is a complete departure since it has been fully matured in first-fill Oloroso sherry casks. And as you can see from the dark (natural) colour - which sadly would've been partly responsible for the huge demand and subsequent secondary pricing of this whisky - they've been quite active over those 10-years. Springbank's spirit is no light & ethereal wallflower and we've seen that it can hold up well to just about any cask influence, but first-fill sherry cask maturation is almost always going to hide or dull some of the presence of spirit character, distillery character and barley character in any whisky, even at a young age. Even the big Islay heavyweights aren't immune to being completely overwhelmed by first-fill sherry cask maturation, often turning even the mightiest of heavily peated malts into "sherry bombs". So it seems an odd move for Springbank to release this 100% sherry matured Local Barley when it could've been vatted with other cask types like the majority of bottlings in the series. Maybe there wasn't enough aged stock remaining for them to do that, or maybe they just needed this release - the third release of a 10-year old in the six Local Barley bottlings so far - to stand out from the rest. Obviously the sherry maturation alone does not mean it won't be a good, great or incredible whisky, and I do enjoy a sherry bomb when the time & mood is right, but it's undoubtedly going to show less spirit & distillery character than the preceding bottlings in the Local Barley series. 

This sixth 2020/2021 release was also controversial because there was never meant to be a sixth release in the series - the fifth, the 2019 10-year old (reviewed here), was reported to be the final release in the modern Local Barley series. But this latest release, filled into casks back in June 2010 - six years before even the first modern Local Barley (the incredible 16-year old) was released, shows that there was a change of plans very early on, and I'd say these pretty labels which hark back to the original Local Barley series from the 1960s will now be a regular fixture in the Springbank limited releases. All six releases to date have been bottled at cask strength, with age statements and without chill filtration or added colouring, and of course all were lightly peated and 2.5-times distilled in the normal Springbank fashion. In the case of the 2020 release the barley variety used was Belgravia, grown on Glencraigs farm which is located on the A83 halfway between the Kintyre west coast and the "wee toon" on the eastern side. Cask strength in this case is 55.6% ABV with 8,500 bottles released. The sample for this review came from a generous fellow whisky nerd. On to the big question, then. Am I going to regret my decision to pass on a bottle? Might as well find out!

Springbank 10-year old Local Barley 2020, 55.6%. Campbeltown, Scotland.

Belgravia barley grown on Glencraigs Farm, Kintyre. Distilled June 2010, 100% fully matured in Oloroso sherry casks, bottled December 2020 at cask strength. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 8,500 bottles. 

Colour: Dark bronze. Not as dark as it looks in the above photo. 

Nose: Rich, deep & spicy. Raisins soaked in dark rum, fruit & nut chocolate, orange peel, molasses/treacle and baking spices. Touch of sea salt adds a little freshness, reminiscent of salted honey. More salted roasted nuts and touches of cured meats (rancio) further on. 

Texture: Heavy weight. Big, rich & very oily. No spirit-y heat on the palate, but it's quite the warmer. 

Taste: Rum & raisin ice cream, salted roasted nuts, touch of rum/brandy-spiked heavy cream. Brown sugar, Russian caramel fudge, orange peel and baked stone fruit. Black pepper, touch of salt and more cured meats (rancio). 

Finish: Long length. Soft earthy peat behind chilli flake & clove spice, touch of dank musty dunnage warehouse (dusty old wood & damp earthen floors) and orange liqueur. Rum-soaked raisins, orange peel and milk chocolate to finish. 

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: Yes, it's a sherry bomb, and no, as predicted there's not a lot of distillery character or spirit character in comparison to the earlier Local Barley releases - and there's no barley character to be found. But this is still a very tasty whisky, make no mistake. If you're a fan of sherry-heavy whiskies this will be right up your alley, particularly if you're also not a big fan of Campbeltown's dirtier side. Thankfully this isn't an overly sweet dram, and it doesn't feel like those "modern" rushed-job seasoned sherry bombs from Speyside that will often blow your head off. There's still a good amount of character and maturity in this Springbank, although it definitely sticks out from the rest of the Local Barley series as the most cask-forward and least barley/spirit characterful. Yes the above is a solid score, but I'd also put it under the Local Barley 16-year old and 9-year old, on par with the other two 10-year olds, and I still haven't tasted the 11-year old. I would've preferred more (or all) refill sherry casks in the mix myself, but that's just me. Maybe we'll see one of those in the future?    

Do I regret passing on a bottle at $399 or more? No, I don't, I'm happy to let this one go. There are plenty of sherry cask whiskies out there that offer the same level, or a higher level, of experience for under half that price. Benromach Peat Smoke Sherry Cask and Kilkerran 8 Year Old 2021 come straight to mind there, and I'd add that both of those have more distillery character on display than this Springbank does, despite also being first-fill sherry cask maturation. But if you managed to get a bottle of this Local Barley Springbank for the original retail pricing in Britain, Europe, New Zealand or the U.S, you've done well. Sadly a good proportion of those bottles will probably never be opened and will be treated as "investments", and many have already been flipped for profit here in Australia despite the very high starting point. As for the European auction pricing, it's just as insane as it was before I'd tried the whisky.  

Cheers!

Springbank 17 Year Old Madeira Finish Whisky Review!

The whiskynet was awash with rave reviews of - and hype for - this limited Springbank when it was first released. But that was nearly a year ago now, taking around 10 months to arrive in Australia, with very high local pricing to boot. So it'll be interesting to see if some of that lustre has worn off!

This 17-year old Madeira Wood is not the first time Springbank have dabbled in this reasonably uncommon type of cask. The first was released back in 2009 as part of the old brown label 'Wood' range of Springbank bottlings, and it was an 11-year old that was fully matured in fresh (Springbank-ese for first fill) Madeira casks and bottled at cask strength. This 17-year old 2020 version is bottled at 47.8%, and has been finished in ex-Madeira casks rather than being fully-matured. And 9,200 bottles were released, which is quite a large number. So why the hype? I'd say it was partly down to timing, with the pandemic-induced mayhem of mid-late 2020 kicking in around the same time, seeing demand skyrocket, and subsequently affecting retail and secondary pricing for almost all "luxury products", including the limited releases from from this iconic Campbeltown distillery. It was also released before the 2021 bottling of Springbank Local Barley was announced, with the originally-announced five bottlings in that line-up winding up with the second release of a 10-year old example (reviewed here) in 2019. But I'd say that the main reason is simply the semi-recent explosion in popularity & demand for Campbeltown malts, and chiefly anything from Springbank Distillery, also including the unpeated Hazelburn and heavily peated Longrow whiskies. This small, hands-on, old school distillery simply can't produce enough whisky to meet this new demand, which in many cases has driven up their prices at resellers, and has resulted in a large chunk of their previous audience being unable to source any of their limited releases. They've always been in high demand of course, but they were much easier to find - and also more affordable - only a couple of years ago. This situation is amplified down here in Australia, where not only did this release take ten months to arrive on our shores, but it also hit the sites at a very, very steep $319 AUD RRP, with many retailers charging over $400. For reference, the initial retail pricing in Britain was around 80 GBP, which is around $150 AUD. Yes, shipping to the other side of the planet is expensive (even more so in the last few months), and yes, our duty/excise and tax rates are ridiculous, so it was never going to be that low. But that's a massive difference and a huge jump over the previous releases in the series, and it's obvious that many of our retailers are watching the secondary pricing activity overseas while they wait for the stock to land in Australia. Unfortunately the demand is so strong at the moment, and our allocation was that tiny, that it still sold out very quickly. 

This 2020 release is the latest of the modern Springbank 'Wood' series that kicked back into life in 2015, a few years after the last of the older brown-labelled series hit the shelves. 2015 saw a 17-year old Sherry cask matured, 2016's entry was the brilliant 12-year old Burgundy cask matured (reviewed here), 2017's showing was the equally brilliant 14-year old Bourbon cask matured (reviewed here), with a gap in the line-up in 2018 before 2019 saw the 15-year old Rum cask matured (reviewed here) hit. Personally I wasn't blown away by that one, with a little too much cask influence beating back the spirit and dialling back that distinctive Springbank character, although it was still a very enjoyable whisky. The 12-year old Burgundy and 14-year old Bourbon were outstanding though, so it'll be interesting to see if this 17-year old Madeira follows that trend. The ABV is significantly lower here than in all of the afore-mentioned releases, but the most obvious difference is in it's maturation. This is the first release in the modern coloured-label 'Wood' series to merely be cask finished rather than fully matured, spending three years in unspecified first-fill Madeira casks. Which is fine, there's nothing wrong with that, it's just an interesting change in tactics. And curiously, rather than being matured in refill or ex-bourbon casks prior to the finishing period, as is more often the case, this 17-year old was matured in a combination of ex-rum casks and ex-bourbon casks before being filled into the Madeira casks. I haven't checked the maths on the timing or number of bottles here, but I would guess that some of those rum casks were initially intended for 2019's 15-year old Rum Wood release before they found their way into the Madeira casks used for this release.

Madeira cask whiskies are slowly becoming more common over the last few years, no doubt influenced by the massive global demand for sherry casks of all iterations and the resulting jump in pricing. But that's a positive if you ask me, it's good to be different! Great distilleries like Kilchoman, Bruichladdich (Port Charlotte), Glendronach and Kavalan have dabbled in fully-matured limited releases in the past, with plenty of others playing around with Madeira cask finishing, including some of the larger players like Balvenie and Glenmorangie. Apart from it's place of origin, Madeira isn't hugely different to sherry or port in its production, being a fortified wine, and like sherry there are a number of different varieties of Madeira, ranging from dry to sweet. The main deviation is in the traditional ageing method where the casks of Madeira wine were 'baked' in the sun and/or matured in higher floors of the warehouses, with that oxidisation resulting in better resistance to spoiling, and also a change in flavour - Madeira tends to be more acidic than an equivalent sherry, which helps to balance the sweetness where applicable. That acidity and also the inherent nutty and/or caramel flavours in Madeira seem to work very well with whisky maturation, particularly in my experience where there's also some peat smoke involved in the equation. We don't know which type of Madeira these casks have held before being put to work by finishing this 17-year old Springbank, and it could've been a mix of different varieties. But Springbank know what they're doing, so we needn't worry too much. So, a 17-year old, lightly peated and 2.5-times distilled Springbank that was matured in ex-bourbon and ex-rum casks before being finished in ex-Madeira casks for three years, and bottled in October 2020 at an ABV of 47.8%. As with all single malts from Springbank and owners J&A Mitchell, there is no added colouring or chill filtration involved here. The sample for this review came from a generous fellow-whisky nerd. Let's give it a whirl!

Springbank 17-year old Madeira Wood, 47.8%. Campbeltown, Scotland.

Lightly peated, 2.5-times distilled. Matured in ex-rum and ex-bourbon casks for 14-years, finished in ex-Madeira casks for three years. Bottled October 2020. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 9,200 bottles. 

Colour: Bronze. 

Nose: Obvious Madeira influence straight off, after breathing time. Roasted nuts, dried fruit & caramel toffee. Quite fresh in feel though, with a touch of peppermint, a chunk of fruit & nut chocolate and a refreshing winey & citrusy acidity. Walnuts & hazelnuts, dates, dusty green apples and sweaty dunnage mustiness. Earthy clay and a touch of sea salt. 

Texture: Medium weight. Rich and quite wine-forward again, and lightly sour. Warming, but no heat. 

Taste: Nice winy & citrusy acidity again, verging on sour at times - and I like that in a whisky. But that's balanced by more roasted nuts - hazelnuts in particular, and a surprising touch of coffee ground bitterness. Black pepper, date caramel and earthy, muddy peat. Touch of ashy smoke, toasted oak and dried orange behind. 

Finish: Medium-long length. Subtle ashy peat smoke, more date caramel, acidic white grapes and a dash of baking spices. Orange rind, brine and black pepper. Dark tea with a drop of lemon juice, and soft ashy smoke to the end. 

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: Certainly cask-forward, but very nice stuff. Unlike the 2019 Rum Wood release, the Madeira casks have still let the distillery character shine through, rather than being overshadowed by cask influence. I'm no expert, but if I had to guess I'd say those casks must have been Malmsey - the sweeter, richer variety of Madeira. The trademark caramel and date richness is here in spades, balanced nicely by the acidity from both the wine and the citrus, plus the salt and light peat influence, and it all goes together very nicely. Clearly Springbank and Madeira casks work well together, and that 3-year finishing period has had plenty of influence - I'd say full maturation in these obviously rather assertive casks would've been too much! As said above, the finishing rather than full maturation is not a negative at all, it's just an interesting change in tactics and clearly the right choice in this particular case. 

Is this a $350-400 AUD whisky though? That's a very tough, and entirely subjective, question. But for me personally, it's a no. And I did pass on a bottle. There are a huge amount of whiskies out there for half that price or less that offer as much quality, as much flavour and as much fun as this Springbank - including the same distillery's 12-year old Cask Strength, which thankfully is still reasonably priced at under $200 AUD, although just as difficult to find. But if you managed to get a bottle of the 17-year old Madeira Wood at closer to the European retail prices, you've done very well and should be happy with your purchase. But if that's the case, for god's sake open it and enjoy it, or at least keep it aside for future opening and enjoying. Don't send it straight to an auction site. 

Cheers!