Springbank 9 Year Local Barley

풀바디 향 : 옅음 맛 : 젠틀스모키&스모키우드, 아주 약한 피티함 피니쉬 : 스파이시, 곡식을 먹은 듯한 중후한 피니쉬, 들판피니쉬

Nose - I'll start up with there's a huge amount of alcohol to get through here. That abv is no joke. Lemon lime and salt. A bit of meaty notes. I'm going right into water and a decent bit. Water tames the abv but I'm not getting much new here. Taste - Lemon, salt, meaty peat. Very salted meat forward which is not something i generally get in springbank peat. Touch of vanilla. This 9 year seems like a showcase of the new make spirit aged just long enough and in some really well used barrels. I like what they're doing here, but it doesn't come close to living up to the 10 year. I got this for a pretty good price of about 130 but I've seen it for 170. I can't really recommend it for all but the biggest springbank geeks.

I’m one of those people who struggles to make decisions when presented with too many choices, so my first visit to Jack Rose in DC last night induced as much anxiety as pleasure. Confronted with more than 2,000 options, I wrestled with how to even frame the parameters for a selection. Should I order something rare from a favorite distillery? An interesting independent? A distillery I haven’t tried before? One of their barrel selections? After many minutes of agonizing, I settled on the latest local barley from Springbank, on the grounds that it was on my wishlist and wasn’t something I’d find in many bars. I wasn’t disappointed. Though I didn’t take notes, I did commit to memory a pleasant lactic quality on the nose and a savoriness on the palate. It’s complex and different enough from the previous two releases to make it worth your time, and no doubt I’ll revisit it at greater leisure in future. As for my next visit to Jack Rose, I think I’ll need to plan well ahead, perhaps by getting there an hour early to peruse the menu. The thought is already stressing me out.

Neat in Glencairn Nose: Honey, tart cherry pie filling, hint of cereal milk Palate: Scorched Pear, a green apple tartness as if in a fine Sancerre Finish: oily, rich, lemon tart lingering With a few drops of alkaline water: Tartness drips away a bit revealing more cereal milk, creme brulee-esque notes.