Springbank 18 Year

very mild nose at first, apple, a little peat. Taste hits you hard, so intense. Apple, salt, peat, so wildly complex. This is definitely a sipper. So many different flavors pop out as time goes by. wow.

Springbank 18 year - 2014 edition. I'm a bit shocked to see that this is a 2014 but 14/301 is what's here and the 14 should be the year. Bought a 2014 longrow 18 not all that long ago as well as a 12 (old packaging) so I guess not that surprising. The box and bottle however look awfully nice to be this vintage. Oh well 301 so end of the year 2014 at least. Nose - classic springbank BBQ peat as I have come to think of it. There's a bit of a wine character not just a sherry note (this is heavily sherried I'm fairly certain). I get a bit of oak but given 18 years not a lot. As it's opening up I'm starting to get vanilla from the bourbon. A very clean springbank nose, much more refined than the 12's and 15's. I'm not sure this is a good thing but it just is what it is. Taste - Opens with a lot of vanilla, transitions to some sherry, then moves into that springbank funk with BBQ and more sherry, spices form, it heats up, and then nicely and gently finishes. There's gentle smoke over the whole experience, perhaps the most smoke I've gotten on a springbank to date. Oh yeah vanilla cream over this nice bitter sherry bite, savory smoke, a touch of meat, a really nice medium finish. Only real negative I have for this one is that it really does drink a bit like water at first before the sherry and peat and sparks of springbank build up and send you on an epic journey. Normally 46% is that almost there but not there spot for a whisky and this might showcase that like no other. 48% would be a game changer. 170 buck, well worth it, and yes I want another bottle or two.