Whisky has had quite a long history, and the world has fallen in and out of love with it many times.
When things are going great, many will try to profit from it by selling whiskies at prices dear- and sometimes ludicrous.
Whisky isn’t the simplest kind of product to make, however, and it isn’t a simple task to simply make more of it when needed. Equipment – the spirit stills, the mash tuns and the buildings to house them need to be built. Barley, water, and oak casks are also precious resources that are not easy to come by. Even if by some stroke of luck, one manages to get all the requisite materials, one still needs to age the whisky for almost a decade (while it’s technically possible to age a whisky for only 3 years, the spirit produced is often raw and unpalatable). Yet, when whisky fever is burning high and hot, new distilleries will be built by enterprising opportunists.
Inevitably, however, the capricious nature of the free market catches us with whisky production, and suddenly, there’s just too much whisky being produced, but no one buying them. That’s when distilleries are mothballed – put on hold, as it were, or closed entirely. Stocks are sold and whisky makers look for other jobs.
If there’s a place which embodies this phenomenon, it’s the (now) sleepy Scottish burgh of Campbelown. Once home to 30 distilleries, the whisky bust cycles have hit it hard. After the disasters of the First World War and Prohibition, there were just two distilleries left- leaving it a pale shadow of its former self.
Springbank was one of those two survivors.
There are many theories to the secrets of Springbank’s survival. A combination of prudent investment and sound finance, perhaps? Or luck?
My personal belief is that it comes down to a commitment to quality. In the early 1900s, Campbeltown was well known for making whisky- but not good whisky. In a rush to produce as much malt as possible, Campbeltown distillers often made foul-tasting swill. Springbank, however, was a family owned distillery and remained true to its roots- focusing on making good whisky in the traditional way.
Even today, the distillery is owned by the Mitchell family, and things are still done traditionally; every single step is done by hand- malting, distillation, bottling. It’s actually a point of pride for the makers that they are one of the most labour-intensive distillers in Scotland. As inefficient as it is, this stubbornness seems to have paid off. Springbank has acquired something of a cult status among whisky aficionados for its flavourful, well-crafted drams.
There is a drawback to handcrafted whisky, though; there isn’t much of it to go around. Springbank can’t hope to rival industrialised whiskymakers in sheer volume, and it doesn’t aspire to that. What it means for us is that Springbank whiskies- particularly the older expressions, are in short supply. The distillery itself doesn’t have that much of it lying around- certainly not enough to make much of the 25 year old.
I was thus quite fortunate to have had the chance to taste a range of Springbank whiskies at the soon-to-be-unveiled Quaich Bar, under the guidance of David Allen, Springbank’s ambassador.
Springbank 10 Year Old
- Nose: Fruity. Peach, mango and a little bit of pear. A very faint smoky note.
- Palate: Sweet and fruity- mango and peach, with a bit of cucumber. The faintest hint of brine and peat comes toward the end.
- Finish: Dry and oaky, with slight tannic flavours.
Springbank 15 Year Old
- Nose: Sherry notes, nuts and salt, with some raisins and stewed apples
- Palate: Raisins, stewed apples, moscato, nectarine and peach, evolving into a pleasant nutty flavour
- Finish: Stewed pears and oak, with a touch of peat
Springbank 18 Year Old
- Nose: Clear sherry notes, but this time with hazelnuts, chocolate and butterscotch
- Palate: Chocolate, peaches, dried figs and dates. A touch of orange and roasted bananas appear when a few drops of water are added.
- Finish: Long and dry, with nuts and chocolate dominating- almost like nutella!
Springbank 21 Year Old
- Nose: Jackfruit, Cempedak. Apricots. Caramel and honey.
- Palate: Creamy, white stone fruits – peach and nectarines again. Raisins, honey and vanilla.
- Finish: Vanilla and honey with a bit of oak tannin. Refined and light on the tongue, but lingering.
Springbank 25 Year Old
- Nose: Vanilla Ice cream. oats. Honey. Develops into plums and blackberries. Takes a very long while to develop in the glass, but eventually unfurls into a sweet wine scent- an icewine or a late harvest Riesling.
- Palate: Incredibly smooth. Plums, sweet honey, nuts, dried orange. Dark chocolate and vanilla. Aniseed develops, with a herbal grassiness towards the end.
- Finish: Long and dry. Chocolates, honey and a slight woodiness.
Springbank 16 Year OId Local Barley
- Nose: Grainy, wheat- a little like a German Weisbier. Vanilla and honey. Blue cheese and brine. A hint of “greenness”- damp trees.
- Palate: Dried peaches, honey, banana, blue cheese, peat.
- Finish: Unlike the other Springbanks, this leaves behind a strong flavour of peat.
After having all 6 drams, it struck me how different the expressions were from each other. While the core of vanilla and white stone fruits was present in most of the expressions, there were pronounced differences in each dram tasted. Even with those distinctions, a discernible high quality united all of them. I’d happily recommend any of the whiskies that I tasted that evening.
I guess the magic that Springbank has survived in Campbeltown all these years is really just the whisky!
