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!
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!
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