Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington
Hazelburn 13 Year Oloroso Cask Matured
Single Malt — Campbeltown, Scotland
Reviewed
October 8, 2021 (edited March 27, 2022)
Lovely golden color. Plentiful, medium speed legs. Loads of malt sweetness on the nose, slight clover, maybe PX (maybe Oloroso) sherry and rancio, milk chocolate, banana bread, canned peaches.
Viscous campfire smoke, then a burst of earthy leather and chocolate, then sherry and nuts. Wow, that smoke was a surprise. Maybe there’s some wet wood on the nose or an old pipe. There is definitely cavendish tobacco coming through on the finish.
Serious Glendronach vibe here. Highland malt + sherry + tobacco. No bitter or astringent, black walnut-eaque notes as with the 18. The leather is more subdued. Is this the 15? It doesn’t have any additional heat to suggest this is a cask strength batch but I’m sure this is Glendronach….
WRONG! Campbeltown strikes again! Sticking my nose into my almost-empty glass I can pick up some sea spray that I missed (or that I’m just making up). That slightly (but not overly) peaty smoke should have been a tip off. Also a bit of peaty, almost hoppy acidity in there.
Wow. I’ve wanted a shot at this for a while. Ie and owe @pkingmartin a big THANK YOU! I would put this above Glendronach 15 (and might nickname it peaty GD15). Giving it the same score at 4.5 but would be 4.65 if that was a thing. Might be 4.75 but trying to hold back because, we’ll I’m not sure why but just not ready to commit. Bottle has officially been ordered and now to hope it actually arrives! 😬
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@cascode how you figure all of this out is beyond me, once again humbled!
@Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington These occasional batches of 9-14 year old Hazelburn are generally all sherry of some type, or at least heavily sherried. Consistency for its own sake is not the goal at Springbank and the special lines like Longrow Red, Springbank 12 and these Hazelburn "teenagers" are where they play around and vat from a selection of the available casks.
@pkingmartin I think we all have some sort of undiagnosed hoarding issue… and I’m ok with that so long as my cabinets don’t collapse and kill me, or spill my whiskey. Both would be real bad.
@ContemplativeFox it seems like @cascode suggested some wobble in the Springbank 18 profile and I would guess these aren’t immune. Assuming I wasn’t just scammed (although site sells various reputable barrel picks) I’ll have to get you a sample.
One of my favorites and glad you liked it! It’s a great balance of peat, sherry, Springbank funky fruits, sea salt and rock minerals. I’ve bought 4 bottles of this to keep my fix going but the second bottle is getting close to empty. I also just ordered some samples of the 2021 release to try out if they ever arrive.
I liked this but didn't love it. I keep seeing rave reviews though so I might just get a bottle so I can try it again.