Springbank 21 Year

Cask 297 for ut and brass. Amazing stuff Nose: Raisins, Toffee, Chocolate, Sultanas, Prunes, Dates, Cherries, Pineapples, Apricots, Raspberries, Blackberries, Mangoes, Old Oak, Baking Spices, Cinnamon, Leather, Vanilla Frosting Palate: Raisins, Gas, Chocolate, Toffee, Cherries, dates, plums, pepper, cherries, honey, cashews, walnuts, smoke Finish: toffee, dates, prunes, chocolate, raisins, smoke, pepper, sultanas, blackberries, currants This was aged in a refill sherry cask and interestingly this was darker and better than the fresh sherry 24 year Springbank Florentine cask 409.

Ok a rare lazy moment can anyone tell me where I can find the dates on the Springbanks? I've asked retailers and bar staff but no luck...I suspect it might be like Longrow 18 (we sure hunted for that date) so I might have to borrow the bottle for a while as the whiskey bar staff couldn't find it. Anyhow whatever year (i suspect 2018 as tastes rum and bourbon), lovely dram. Is it worth the money? HELL NO not at $250USD. Buy two Dingles, maybe 3. It's perfect classic SB but maybe too clean, I like a bit of 15 yr sherried sulphur tinted mongrel and this isn't that. Still very very nice. Viscous lovely married bourbon rum.

2018 edition. 70% rum 30% first fill bourbon. 3,700 bottles. 46%. Color - cause you know it's a 21 springbank and they change the casks annually and don't color, it's a really rich gold/straw color. This looks HEAVILY first fill so I'm thinking a good portion of this was "fresh rum" as springbank calls it, but having a 19 year single cask fresh rum at cask strength this is darker so the bourbon has to be the driver of the color. Either way, I think we're getting fresher and younger casks than a lot of whiskies on the market and than say the recent 12 year batches which seem less and less enjoyable. Nose - salted vanilla, fresh oak, cooked vegetables, citrus fruits. The drivers are mostly the oak and the vanilla and salt. Really good nose for these casks but not exactly my favorite profile either. Taste - this is heavily distillate forward, really giving you the springbank malt with the casks just added sweetness to it. Salty, peat is pretty forward here (didn't get it on the nose), a bit vegetably (is that word?), a bit sour and bitter, and certainly some vanilla but it is not forward. The whisky then goes into this fruity and slightly bitter finish that lingers for days it feels like. There's oak and fruits and light spice. One of the absolute best finishes I've ever had in a scotch, especially a non wine cask influences or bourbon one. I do wish it had a bit more sweetness to balance with the bitter notes. I think that's where the sherry casks work best with springbank or perhaps even port. I think pure bourbon and/or rum are a bit too simple for the overpowering springbank malt. That said I'm a bit nitpicking and at 400+ a bottle please allow me to be a picky bastard. Still this is one of the best 21 year old scotches I've had, it's not my ideal profile as I tend to like heavy sherry or other wines and/or heavy peat more (even at this age I'm a peat man). That said this is already a very special bottle in my collection but I have a feeling if I ever see it the 2019 bottling will be more my wheel house. 4 stars but for the price you either need to be a springbank lover (me) or a huge fan of spirit forward older whisky.