Springbank 10 Year

It’s officially 2022 and I’ve decided to “Spring”bank into it with a series of samples. Continuing on my Springbank series, I have this sample of the 10 year from @ctbeck11. The nose starts with a mix of light hay and vanilla cream puff followed by light fruits of baked apple, sun baked orange, and charred lemon that then brings some light minerality and mild oak spice with light ethanol burn. The taste is a medium mouthfeel that starts fruity before quickly veering towards a moderate and slightly drying spice that slowly fades to hay bales along with light fruits of baked apple, salted sun baked orange, and lemon drop candy that then brings some light minerality, black pepper and medium oak spice with light ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with poached pears, baked apples, light minerality, slightly burnt hay, and mild oak. This is a very enjoyable drink that brings that Springbank funk along with spice, fruits and minerality that is well balanced but has a higher spice and ashier influence than I personally care for. A huge thanks to @ctbeck11 for the sample.

Rating: X/23 This is from a comically aerated bottle, so it's not very representative. N: Herbal, vegetal, a bit earthy. There's far less richness and fullness than there is in the Springbank 15 I have next to it. This is lighter and grassier (dry grass). There is a fair amount of depth floating through though as the particular vegetal and herbal flavors morph. Raising the glass to my lips to take a sip, I get a wave of smoke. P: This has clearly lost a lot of its alcohol. It isn't quite the dregs that I'd feared it would be, but it's been severely affected. That said, despite being light and kind of watery, there is some really nice balance and complexity here. Dry wood, dry grass, a little bit of live grass, some cinnamon, some vanilla. Toasty grain, a rich layer of smoke. The malt blends very nicely with the toasty grain to produce a rich sweetness. The balance here is impeccable, though it could be a bit too mellow (ignoring the obvious waterines caused by the reduction in ABV). A bit of minerals like shells on the beach. There's a faint bitterness like I expect from the ABV being lowered, but not as much as I might have expected. F: Dry wood, dry grass, toasty, sea shells. There's a surprising degree of nuance here and it's quite nice. - Conclusion - According to my refractometer, this has fallen to a mere 33.5-34% ABV! Not at all representative of the usual Springbank 10 46% ABV. I'm really shocked that this is still at all good. I'm not going to rate it considering the circumstances, but I enjoyed these dregs.

Notes of sherry, vanilla, jasmine tea, smoke, peat, cinnamon and candied apple. The finish is long with more pronounced oil/smoke and sweetness

overall nice