Springbank 12 Year Cask Strength

Nose - oily peat, dark chocolate, charred orange, lemon, red berry, strawberry jam, nutmeg, yeast, hay, apricot, hazelnut, glazed ham, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - red berry, ginger, lemon oil, charred orange, oily peat, allspice, brine, green apple, red wine, burnt chocolate chip cookie, ginger, tangerine, rich malt, spicy oak, moderate to high alcohol bite, finishing medium long with oily peat, citrus pith, ginger, and spicy oak flavors. The last of my Springbank 12 Years is this Batch 21 matured in 45% sherry, 25% bourbon, 25% burgundy, and 5% port casks and bottled at 56.1%. Whereas my last two were simpler combinations of sherry and bourbon, there’s much more going on here. The wine casks come through loud and clear on the nose. If I didn’t know better, I’d likely guess this was a tamer Longrow Red expression. The Springbank DNA is intact, but jammy red fruits and dark chocolate are showcased alongside the more traditional aromas. The palate is similarly darker and fruitier than its earlier counterparts’. Unfortunately, it also tastes a bit hotter and more bitter as well. Overall, this is excellent whisky. While not my favorite batch, it is a strong contender and offers more jammy complexity than you usually find with these 12 Year releases. At the $115 price point I paid for this bottle, I’d happily do it again.

Nose - oily peat, charred orange, lemon, chocolate, fig, butterscotch, sulphur, spiced apple, apricot, vanilla, cinnamon, moderate to high ethanol burn. Taste - oily peat, tangerine, charred orange, lemon zest, brine, powdered sugar, leather, clove, vanilla, green apple, ginger, apricot, spicy oak, moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium long with oily peat, overripe fruit, brine, and ginger flavors. This next Springbank 12 Year is from Batch 19, matured in 65% bourbon and 35% sherry casks and bottled at 57.1%. The nose isn’t completely dissimilar to Batch 17’s, but it seems richer and creamier. Overripe charred orange, oily peat, and sherried fruits dominate. The palate is punchy and citrus forward with that semisweet, barnyard funk, ginger, and more sherried fruits. This isn’t dramatically better than Batch 17, but it is a step up, which is no easy feat. The profile is richer and slightly more complex. It’s youthful enough, but lacks the more oppressive sourness and bitterness found on its earlier counterpart. This is outstanding whisky, and I’m extremely happy to have a bottle. Next up is the last of my Springbank 12 Years.

Nose - oily peat, toasted oat, dark chocolate, charred orange, marshmallow, lemon, sulphur, apricot, sultana, fig, hazelnut, mango, white pepper, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - oily peat, charred orange, rich malt, lemon pith, chocolate, brine, spicy oak, fig, apricot, powdered sugar, sulphur, green apple, honey, ginger, underripe banana, moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium length with sulphur, sherried fruit, and lemon pith flavors. Over the coming days, I’ll be reviewing three different Springbank 12 Year batches. This is Batch 17 from 2018 which is a vatting of 70% sherry and 30% bourbon casks, bottled at 56.2%. The nose is what I’ve come to expect with these 12 Year releases. Toasty, oily, slightly rotten, but with rich maltiness carrying the citrus, chocolate, and sherried fruit aromas. The palate is punchy with briny, honeyed, citrus and sherried fruit front and center. There’s a rich, peaty oiliness, leading to a decent finish that veers slightly into bitter territory. This is great whisky and a solid Springbank 12 Year release. There is the expected youth that manifests some sourness and bitterness, particularly on the finish, but overall this is an excellent dram and a bottle I’d be happy to own. Many thanks to @ContemplativeFox for providing the generous sample!

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 three different batches of the 12-year Cask Strength. Batch 17 comes from @ContemplativeFox and was matured in 70% ex-Sherry casks, 30% ex-Bourbon and bottled at 56.2%. The nose starts with light funk, toasted barley, dark chocolate covered raisins and dehydrated apricot followed by a smoldering campfire by the ocean that fades into the background of fruits of persimmons, charred tangerine and red grapefruit that transitions to candied ginger, light leather and moderate oak with high ethanol burn. The taste is a medium mouthfeel starting with light funk, toasted barley, dark chocolate covered raisins followed by a moderate peat smoke with light drying spice that slowly fades to fruits of apricots, charred tangerine and red grapefruit juice that transitions to ocean brine, light minerality, candied ginger, light leather and moderate oak with high ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with shortbread cookies, dark chocolate covered raisins, ocean brine, candied ginger, light leather and mild ashy oak. A very enjoyable dram with the sherry barrels front and center, but they play well with the traditional Springbank funk, fruit and smoke without overpowering or giving too much of a sulfur influence followed with the bourbon barrels adding some enjoyable creamy citrus notes. Final Score: 4.0 Batch 19 comes from @ctbeck11 and was matured in 65% ex-Bourbon casks, 35% ex-Sherry casks and bottled at 57.1%. The nose is big and rich starting with a mild funky butterscotch pudding and caramelized apples followed by light sherry then a soft and delicate pipe smoke that fades to the background of creamed corn, maraschino cherry, and sun baked salted orange that transitions to ocean sea waves crashing over seaside rocks and antique leather wrapped oak furniture with high ethanol burn. The taste is a rich creamy mouthfeel starting with a mild funky butterscotch pudding and caramelized apples followed dark chocolate raisins then a mild spice that quickly fades to soft and delicate pipe smoke, creamed corn, maraschino cherry, and orange creamsicle that transitions to ocean sea waves crashing over seaside rocks and antique leather wrapped oak furniture with high ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with orange creamsicle, dark chocolate covered raisins, shortbread cookies, light ocean brine, and antique leather armchair. Wow, this one is incredible! The flavors are bold, rich and creamy with a near perfect balance that can easily beat bottles that cost several times more than it. The bourbon influence really brought a lot to these with the sherry flavors adding additional complexity to slightly elevate it to near perfection without either overpowering those traditional Springbank funk, fruits and moderate peat smoke. Final Score: 4.75 Batch 21 was matured in 45% ex-Sherry, 25% ex-Bourbon, 25% ex-Burgundy, 5% ex-Port casks and bottled at 56.1%. The nose starts with bales of hay and dark cherry cordial followed by a moderate peat smoke with fruits of fresh picked strawberries, caramelized apples and Sunkist raisins then ocean sea waves crashing over seaside rocks, light leather and moderate oak with high ethanol burn. The taste is a viscous mouthfeel starting with big and bold orchard fruit followed by burnt bales of hay and dark chocolate cherry mocha followed by a moderate peat smoke and drying spice that then fades to fruits of fresh picked strawberries, caramelized apples and oatmeal raisin cookies then ocean sea waves crashing over seaside rocks, light leather and moderate oak with high ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with burning hay, a dark chocolate cherry mocha, ocean brine, cinnamon oatmeal raisin cookies, strawberry jam, leather and moderate oak. Overall, a great dram that manages to bring in citrus, dark berries, along with Springbank funk, moderate peat and minerality, but the balance seems off to me with a higher spice on the palate and finish overpowering some of the flavors. Side by side with the 10 year old, I like this one slightly more for its bolder flavors and red berry fruits, but I could easily prefer the 10 year on days I don’t want a high proof whisky and want an easy sipper instead. Final Score: 3.75 Conclusion: What a fun experience to try three different batches and compare them to each other. Springbank seems to keep you on your toes with these different batches and each one brought a unique spin to complement those traditional Springbank notes. Personally, I found that the high bourbon influence with a light sherry for additional complexity to be my Springbank match, but I can see how either one of the other batches could fit a person’s palate better. Overall score for all: 4.25

Strong flavor with bitter sweet taste, Pierre’s

Rating: 19/23 N: Sulphury farmyard with chocolate, baking spices, and fruit syrup featuring plums and oranges. It's an enjoyable, decadent nose, but the youthful sulphur is a bit too much. P: Rich and full with that farmyard hitting and unfortunately bringing a wave of sulphur. Juniper, baking spices, mellow wood, chocolate, cooked plums, and a bit of candied orange peel. I like the bit of waxiness and dungeness crab that this has. as a whole, the palate is nice and I like the richness and fullness, but the sulphur is a bit much here. Some vanilla bean in here too. A bit of oloroso nuttiness, I think. There's this nice papery grain flavor in the back with the vanilla as well. There's a lot happening. Springbank 15 and Springbank 21 suffer from having too blatant of sherry characters, with clear oloroso flavors standing out. This clearly has some sweet red fruit going on, but it isn't tart or syrupy and its sweetness only supports the Springbank funk. This also avoids the sort of timidness of Springbank 18 by being cask strength. This definitely isn't as refined, but it does a great job of showcasing the Springbank character with minimal rough edges. That said, the sherry and bourbon barrels add a big layer of sweetness that covers up some of the nice nuances. F: Farmyard, juniper, residual sulphur, chocolate, plum with a bit of a more bitter and tart nature. A little of that oloroso nuttiness too. - Conclusion - Look, this is a darned fine dram in all situations. That said, it isn't the gem that I remember. I've been savoring this bottle for a couple of years and dreading the day I run out and need to pony up the cash for a replacement. Well, based on this tasting, maybe I won't be buying a replacement. Now, it could be that the oxygen has negatively affected this, but oxygen is normally a positive influence on Springbank, young whisky, and cask strength offerings. This checks all of those boxes and the level of oxidation isn't comical, so I highly doubt that oxygen is to blame here. Furthermore, my main complaint is too much sulphur, which oxygen definitely helps with. Secondarily, I find some aspects a little imbalanced, but that's another thing oxygen helps with. My third issue with this is that some of the subtle flavors seem to be missing. That could be the fault of oxygen, but it's clear that the barrels are also a bit strong (this is definitely personal preference though considering how much I liked the bourbon-barrel-aged-only Springbank 2018, while most found it underwhelming). I can't really say that I think a different release of this would be better though because downplaying the barrels reveals more sulphur. The things I can think of that might help would be sourcing spicier bourbon barrels and maybe trying out some cognac ones. The one caveat I'll give here is that it's possible the oxidization altered the flavors in such a way that the oloroso came forward and melded with the smoke and other flavors to create the illusion of sulpur. I say this becuase I really don't remember much sulphur in this before and now it's quite strong (though not quite dominating). So where am I landing on this? Well, it's better than my bottle of Longrow (17/23), but it certainly isn't the 22 I gave it previously. A 17-21 is high praise for a whisky that I've criticized for having sulphur flavor. Sulphur is one of those flavors that repulse me, so it usually causes me to drop my rating several points. After more comparisons, I've moved into the 18 to 20 range for this. It just doesn't quite have that character to push to a 21, but that sulphur isn't always so overwhelming. Honestly, I'm surprised that I didn't notice that sulphur sooner in my tasting journey. For anyone tasting this and thinking "what sulphur?", I recommend Craigellachie 13, which I enjoyed in a similar way to this. This is still substantially superior to the Craigellachie - much like how Future Diary is superior to Deadman Wonderland - but they both have a lot of that interesting barnyard funk, but are hamstrung by sulphur. Also check out the regular Longrow if you like this. I placed this side by side with Ardbeg Uigeadail (19/23) and was really surprised by how much the Uigeadail tasted. I feel like that experience (despite the difference in spirit characters) caps my rating for this at 19. It isn't just the Uigeadail: this has been underwhelming me at the 20-21 level fairly consistently. So an 18 or 19 this is. OK, after more comparisons, my doubt that this is in the 18-19 range is minimal. OK, I'm going with a 19. Theres' a lot to love here. Still, that sulphur is a problem. This is a 19 for now, but it could fall in the future. I want to love this as much as I used to, but I just dont. This makes me really sad because considering the price I'm not sure when I'll be buying another bottle of Springbank. OK, after a mild moment of inspiration, this is a 19, but it's still hard to justify at this price. This is more like the type of unusual (but still quite good) thing I'd keep around to add variety at times. I wouldn't regret a bottle at $120 too much, but I sure wouldn't seek it out.

Very rich and spicy, just a bit sweet. Added a little water to knock the cask strength down. If I see a bottle of this I should grab some...

Smoked meats, like walking into a bbq shop on the nose. Vanilla sweetness with a few drops of water.