Springbank 1992 24 Year Cask #212214 (The Maltman)

I fished off my last 1 ounce of this. One ounce sitting for months in an otherwise empty 750ml has got to have some oxidation impacts. I noticed the profile much more extreme this time around. I took 1/2 an ounce and added a small amount of ice, and took the rest with a drop of water. It’s like the Miley Cyrus of the whiskey world. One sample was the wild butt naked gritty Miley swinging on a wrecking ball, the other was the pretty, Sunday brunch dressed Miley barefoot in her backyard singing Jolene. You find both attractive, depending on the mood. So...the one with ice was much more grittier than before, with burned coffee and pure cacao overwhelming in the forefront. The one with a drop of water was milk chocolate and orange, lighter than months ago. I guess that’s the magic of oxidation’s ionic breakdown.

Magnificent. Polished wood, chestnuts, pears poached in caramel ... and that’s just the nose. There’s a peppery zing to the first sip, followed by walnuts, chocolate, coffee and toffee. The mouthfeel is beautiful and the finish incredibly long. Thanks as always @PBMichiganWolverine

I was able to sample this rare, sublime single sherry cask 24 year old from Springbank thanks to my friend @PBMichiganWolverine from NJ. He graciously added this one as an extra on our tour group. I want to say this is a $500 bottle if you can find one on the secondary market. This was bottled by The Maltman in 2017, is 47.1% ABV and is obviously NCF’d and has no added color. It’s a deep gold/amber in the glass, oily and makes heavy droplets with thin legs when you give it a spin. The nose has deep, sherry undertones with a smoky backbone. Given adequate time you can clearly taste notes of coffee and espresso, apricots and juicy oranges. The oranges became more prominent as time went by. I could just sit and inhale this one until all the liquid evaporated and be perfectly happy. Amazing nose. The palate echoes the oranges and coffee up front. Slightly overpowering upon the first sip, but by the second pull I get the sherry flavors and some spicy, oak woodyness. Smoke wafts throughout the entire sip. There’s a thick mouthfeel that just forces all the flavors to cling to every corner of your mouth and tongue. It’s unrelenting, but oh so fabulous. The finish just lingers on and on, thanks in part to the heavy mouthcoat. It spreads a welcoming warmth, as well. The oranges factor in heavily here again before a bit of oak ends things on a slightly dry note. What an amazing experience from start to finish. Overall, when an obvious flavor makes its presence heavily known throughout the entire sip, like the oranges do here, I tend to deduct points or even (sometimes childishly) proclaim it to be one-dimensional, but that isn’t the case here. The orange notes are like putting on a jacket when you get a chill- they settle everything down and act as a comfort at just the right time. The oranges just wrap this whole dram around itself. It’s nice. It’s hard for me to find any fault here, other than I only had 2oz to drink. For that, I have to give it 5 stars. It’s so damn tasty, complex and beautiful. Thanks again, Mr Pranay. This may have been the best pour of the SDT for me.

Excited to get in this glass! Springbank is in my top three favorite distilleries, but this is only my second time trying a Maltman. The nose makes me think high end Japanese whisky already. Cherries, strawberries, powdered sugar, marshmallows, faint peat smoke and celery. The palate brought out the same fruit with candy gumdrops, light brown sugar, faint tobacco. The leathery trademark comes through on the medium finish, along the sweet mouth coat keeps the flavor with caramel chews, mocha, and Heath toffee. @PBMichiganWolverine you find the best bottles, my friend! Thanks SO much for the opportunity to taste this glorious dram. 4.75. This is liquid gold, so the theme of this dram is "Gold Dust Woman" by Fleetwood Mac.

One of my realities as a pastor is that much of what I do resides in the realm of the mystical. So does this dram, as it frankly transcends the boundaries of what whisky most often is. How can something simultaneously be so full of darkness and brightness, earthiness and airiness? The nose is a smoky, gritty seaside quay...and also home to fruit and flower vendors, with a chocolatier and a coffee roaster down the way. The palate somehow manages a tightrope act of being simultaneously smoky, salty, fruity, dry, and bitter without ever feeling confused or jumbled. Every note of flavor has its place; nothing is too loud or out of balance. Hands down one of the most memorable whiskies I’ve had the pleasure to taste; my deepest thanks to @PBMichiganWolverine for sharing this one with me! I can only hope that the rest of Holy Week goes down as smoothly as Springbank.

My experience with Springbank is limited to the 12 year cask strength. I really did not care much for that one and have had mixed feelings about trying other expressions. Thanks to the SDT I’ve had that decision made for me. This 24 year old, distilled in July 1992 and bottled in April 2017, comes from the independent bottlers at The Maltman. Coming from a (probably refill) sherry cask (cask #212214), this Campbeltown single malt is bottled at 47.1% ABV and is non chill filtered and natural color of an orange amber. One of 244 bottles. The nose starts with soft sherry and oak with a detectable peat. Warm baked bread, baked apples & cinnamon. A chalky minerality and earthy peat. Sherried fruits, peaches, oranges, plums, apricots, and pears. Honey, malt, slightly salty. Some chocolate notes, light tobacco and a very light mint. Some vanilla cream makes its way in, strange for a sherry matured scotch. The palate is elegant. Some sweetness that is balanced out with peat. Very similar to the nose. Sherried fruits, apricots, peaches, apples and plums. Earthy, salty. A medium bodied mouthfeel that is oily and mouthwatering. The finish is medium long with earthy peat, apricots, peaches, honey and malt. This really is a wonderful scotch and even though it’s not an official distillery release it has renewed my faith in Springbank. The peat holds up well after 24 years. I feel I could have picked up more if I had more than 1oz to work with, but at $500 per bottle I’m happy to have gotten a tase at all. 4.5 and thanks to @PBMichiganWolverine for the lovely sample. Cheers

This is a unique Springbank. Either you’ll love it or hate it...all depends on your tastes. As soon as I opened the bottle, I got huge aromas of coffee and tobacco. Palette follows with more coffee, dark 80% cocoa chocolate and oranges. The nose is the best part in this. I can whiff it all day. The love it / hate it part will come at the palette. If you’re a fan of coffee/tobacco/oranges, you’ll love the depth and slightly bittersweet complexity. One thing for sure to others that’ll have it: DO NOT ADD ICE OR BEYOND A FEW DROPS WATER. I tried it with a few drops water, and it was amazing. I then tried it with a cube of ice, and the coffee taste became drastically bitter, like two day old airplane coffee.