Springbank 10 Year Old Palo Cortado Cask Strength

Brilliant pour with notes of raspberries, salted caramel, mackerels, figs, peaches, piña coladas, raisins, sultanas, almonds, hazlenuts, cherry cola, and ginger.

Springbank 10 Year Palo Cortado is bottled at 55.0% ABV. It was distilled in July 2013 and bottled in September 2023. It is a limited release of 10,200 bottles. I do not know what the MSRP is, but you will likely not find it at MSRP unless you know people. I bought my bottle for $190, and this is going for $400+ on the secondary market. This needs to be said: Springbank is becoming Macallan. They may still be “making whisky the right way”, but there has been a drop off in quality, collectors have sucked this well dry, and nonsense whisky Youtubers are jerking off nonstop to these releases, asking questions like, is this best Springbank ever? No. This Palo Cortado, or any Springbank recently released, is not the best Springbank ever. Not even close. I haven’t had a good Springbank since their Local Barley series were on the shelves in the $100-200 price range. I may have been more enthusiastic about this Springbank release if I had not tried one other palo cortado matured whisky before: an independent bottling of 15-year-old Bruichladdich released by North Star. This release was limited to 264 bottles, bottled at 57.1%, and retailed at $300. I bought multiple bottles, and this is one of my top 10-20 all-time bottles. This Springbank 10-year palo cartado is simply okay. It makes me miss the Bruichladdich, that’s for sure. It is different, of course, from the standard Springbank 10-year-old, but it’s about the same in overall whisky enjoyment. If you can still find a regular Springbank 10-year-old at $100, it’s a safer bet than paying whatever premium to acquire this bottle. Younger Springbanks just do not do well with wine finishes. Bruichladdich seems to be the distillate for such casks; and if we’re calling Springbank the new Macallan, then Bruichladdich may as well be the new Springbank. However, I do wonder if this palo cartado finish would have been better suited for Springbank’s more rugged Longrow distillate, as in another addition to the Longrow Red series. As is, this Springbank just feels too young. You get an amplified earthy, briny Springbank 10, which is good; but then you get an awkward red fruit and peanuts; and the moderate peatiness is a third dimension that also feels out-of-place in a frustrating composition that seems as though the sum is less than the parts. It makes you wonder if they would’ve been better off just bottling the regular Springbank 10 at cask strength. Even for their Springbank 12 cask strength releases, I’ve found that I enjoy the releases that are more ex-bourbon more than the releases that are more ex-sherry. I think, over the next few years, it will be more and more acceptable to put down Springbank in a review. How a whisky is made is only interesting and important if the whisky actually tastes amazing. So, for now, the public service announcement is this: don’t suck someone’s dick for a Springbank. It may not be worth it.

So review already up on top shelf whisky, but lets see. Nose - Dry, higher alcohol, and salty (really salty). Light sweetness, wine notes, and well springbank 10 notes. I know a cop but lets keep this simple, you're not reading this if you haven't had springbank 10. Taste - Nose is simple but the taste is really fun. This gives me bannana, malt, white grapes, salt, more salt, light smoke, touch of grape, and really nice vanilla sweet. Yeah rich peat is coming through as I sample it. Weird sour notes don't work great for me and it's a big issue. I love springbank and this is springbank. But this is a poor finishing on younger whisky. 2.75...a crazy score for springbank.