Springbank Single Cask 18 Year Fresh Port

Mine is 52,2%, so maybe not the same exact cask even though the age and everything else seems to be very similar. Un très beau nez fruité rappelant une gelée de fruits, avec touche fumée en deuxième moitié de gorgée, du beau miel, et un léger “char” menant vers une longueur très agréable. La complexité est évidente lorsque se rajoutent des subtilités florales aux accents d’eau de rose, avec une touche de cire à chandelle au nez même, puis de la confiture de fraises avant la finale poivrée. Décidément, Springbank est de la grosse qualité peu importe l’itération!

Great stuff. Nose: Strawberries, Rasberries, Cherries, Dark Chocolate, Salted Toffee, Iodine, Plums, Vanilla, Bananas, Blueberries, Lavender, Dates Palate: Dark Chocolate, Raisins, Smoke, Cherries, Toffee, Prunes, Dates, Pepper, Hazlenuts, Nutmeg, Almonds, Sea Salt, Diesel Finish: Dark Chocolate, Cherries, Strawberries, Sea Salt, Toffee, Iodine

OK so I screwed up, this is an 18 year, not 19 year. Stupid cell phone (OK I should have caught it). Anyway, apologies. nose - this is dark and dank. It's fruity but again all the fruits are so dark. There aren't those lighter even say raisin notes, it's more aged fruit, stuff left out in vat over night. Sweet, there's molasses and some grape notes, heavy caramel. There's oddly no real burnt elements. It's a very clean sweetness with just a lot of darker elements. It's actually really inviting and I feel like this would be popular at least the nose with even people who are new to scotch. Taste - the taste removes any chance of this being inviting to a newbie. This is insanely complex. It's bitter, sour, oaky, alcoholic, salty, funky...it's like being in a dank basement with port elements all over it. This is springbank malt with a cask made to showcase how funky springbank can get. The port cask is clearly dominating the malt but it's giving off so much funk that I brings me right back to springbank. I'm noticing in this, the fresh sherry, and even the 25 year I have, they all give off a bit of a grape like note on the nose. I'm getting this more and more with higher end bottlings, Deanston 30 year also gave me that note. I really dig it and it's coming through more and more often which I love. A common note in all these heavily cask influenced springbanks is a bit more oak than I find ideal and there's a harmony between that oak and the springbank slightly peated/salty character. I think I've gotten it on honestly on just about every age stated whisky they have done that was at least 18 years. It's not a bad thing by any means, but a distillery consistency that helps me identify that we're drinking springbank. I keep saying it but it's just so true. This is another extremely unique bottle. Rarely do we see 18 years in first fill port barrel. The results are really cool. FYI - water brings out some more sweetness but also really spices up the oak, the finish becomes really heavy tannins. I'm kinda digging it and I don't tend to want that much tannin. 4.0 - another killer single barrel from springbank. This one gets huge credit for how unique it is, I'm not sure if this will appeal to everyone, the intensity of the port finish and even the oak barrels is going to chase some away. For me though, this is a good time in a glass.