Springbank 18 Year

46% Big minerality, salt, and a musty woody note I can’t quite place. On the palate, zippy briny vanilla and black pepper. Short medium finish with that oily seaside breeze.

I might need to raise this score upon further reflection. It smells and tastes divine: springbank barnyard funk rested for 18 years in bourbon and sherry casks. It tastes old. Musty. Ripe red fruits. Juicy and long aftertaste. The price for this is all over the place which is the only qualifier in my review. If you can get this at retail anywhere less than $200 it’s a steal. But if you are thinking of paying more, I’d buy 2 12yr cask strengths or 3-4 10yrs instead. It’s a big step up from the 15 but the price is getting ahead of itself in the US at least.

So @pkingmartin sent me a handful of lovely Scotch samples that were nicely labeled. Being against pre-conceived notions I’m tasting this one before reading the label. Pale straw with a thin appearance in the glass - nothing much sticks to the sides. Light and fruity with a hint of wet, earthy peat. Pears, clover, ginger, wet stone, freshly cut apple, new leather. The peat isn’t the faintest bit smokey or ashy. Methinks Speyside or Cambletown? Not the smokey Islay and doesn’t burst with malt or heather, no sherry here to speak of. Soft and light. Peat hits first, then a blink of malt and then almost a Italian Pino Grigio or NZ Sauvignon Blanc-esque mixture of stone with grapefruit, pear, and floral elements that subside into a saltwater taffy and peaty finish that lingers but not intrusively. This is light and dang near refreshing. There is no burn to speak of and ABV I’m guessing is 43-44%. Age? In Scotch years maybe 12 but could be more. It has just a slight bit of medicinal iodine and sulfur component on the finish like @ContemplativeFox points out about Highland Park. This is honesty more dry than HP though which leaves me wondering, what is this?!? Drumroll… Springbank 18!!! Love these guys. Was way off on the age. Was also slightly low on the ABV. This honesty could be 40% given how little heat it puts off. Don’t get much, if any, of the sherry barrels - maybe I’m daft or maybe the barrels were spent. Pure malty goodness, and @ContemplativeFox read my mind with the mention of a “peated Irish whiskey.” Soft, fruity, and perhaps more acid and mineral than an good Irish pour though. Score is tricky - it deviates from my love of viscous, high proof whiskys. Great in the summertime but in early fall it’s a bit lacking. Considering the price difference between this and the 10 year I likely won’t make the jump. I say that having just picked up a 15 year though so more to follow…

4.5 버번 88 포트 12 퍼센트 향 – 뭔가 꼬릿하다. 그래서 글렌스코티아 더블에 당한게 생각나 그건가.! 싶다가 색깔을 보니 아닌거 같다 신기한 향인데 뭔가 종 잡을 수가 없었다. 다채롭고 복잡한 향이 난다 ( 포도, 갈변한 배 등등) 올로로소랑 버번 같은데 모르겠… 맛 일단 도수는 확 느껴졌다. cs급이라고 느낌 맛이 기대 보다 훨씬 맛있다. 향에서 느껴지던 계열과 다르게 열대계열의 풍부한 과일이 입에서 굴러다니는 느낌 근데 이거 색깔 때문에 쉐리캐 맞나 싶음 마셔본 버번캐가 거의 없기에 버번 cs에서 이렇게 다채로운 향을 낼 수 있나 고민하다 낸 결론이 나두라 퍼필이였다. 미약한 피트느낌 쉐리가 섞였다고 느낀게 포트 때문인가 싶기도 하다 ㅋㅋ 여튼 블라인드 재밌었고 존맛탱..

I ran down my whisky collection and took a break for a bit to give my stomach lining a break but when I saw the latest releases of SB 18 and 15 I cracked and bought them. The last year or two people (and unfortunately it seems collectors) have woken up to the joys of SB. Add COVID supply issues in the mix and the 18 yr and special releases sell out very fast down in NZ. The CS 12 yr release suffers the same fate and you can't dawdle even with the 15 yr shockingly. Anyhow i had read the reviews and I knew it was a boubon cask release with a tiny bit of port casking but given the 2015 release i had hoarded blew me away and got into rare .2% territory (the number of drams i have given a 4.75 and above rating to) I had to have it. Sadly the 2020 release just isn't in the same league...at all...i go between a 4 and 4.25 but I think i prefer the rougher yet more flavourful 15 yr 2020. So 4 it is. It's got the usual refinement, beautiful vanilla sweetness but personally without any sherry influence it seems incomplete and a bit soulless. I really am getting zero port but at 12% of the casking not surprising i guess.Having said that I just remembered that I have had amazing cs strength special release bourbon casks from them so its more than just missing sherry. It just doesn't have a lot of complexity and is just...good. Still in the age of stupid whisky prices you have to commend SB. 4 years later and I paid only 5% more. That alone is why SB deserves respect. They could go Octomore or Highland Park level stupid with pricing but they don't. And they employ waaay more local staff than the big boys. I could go on but despite the slight hero worship this one just didn't blow me away. You should still like this drop if you are a SB fan but definitely don't feel sorry if it passed you by.

Let this sit in the glass for a good 15 minutes before starting this journey. Continue to learn that patience is well rewarded. Pear, honey, the lightest whiff of a distant fire. Maybe like a shirt you wore the day before while smoking a Brisket. Some candy sweetness Spice on the start with honey again and then a wonderful menthol almost minty flavor. Salty with some nice cereal notes. Finish is great neat and spectacular with several drops of water. Water brings out more spice, menthol & Brine. Really loving this glass.