Rating: 16/23 Bottled at 42.5% ABV? That's odd. I can't decide whether I should interpret that as a sign that this was proofed down or an indication that it lost alcohol much faster than water. I'm a bit wary either way, but it's 23 year old Springbank, so that doesn't seem like anything to be particularly worried about. N: Heathery grassiness with some light malty sweetness that's supported by lightly toasted grain, a waft of floral vanilla, possibly a hint of tangerine, and a little buckwheat. I definitely get that farmy character, but not a lot of smoke. Also a little mineral with sweet water. It's surprisingly light and not incredibly complex, but I do find that the flavors churn nicely, giving it depth. P: Hmm. It's not that full and there's also this distinctly wrong bitter layer. My initial observation about the low ABV may have been right on the mark. It's that same bitter flavor that I get when I add say too much water (not highball levels, but too much) to my whisk(e)y or leave 10ml out in a glass for several hours. It's that watery barrel dregs flavor. To be clear, this isn't just watery barrel dregs, but there's no escaping that that flavor is here. It isn't as strong as pure watery barrel dregs, but I don't think I've had another dram that had anywhere near as high of a level of that character. There is still some nice toasty grain mixed with earthy, heathery, dry grass, lightly meaty (a tiny bit of smoke, I guess) farminess. There's a touch of astringent waxiness too that leads into some nice cinnamon with hint of clove and starts to bring in the barrel flavor. A hint of rich, bitter mint with herbal and vegetal characters. That bitter layer is really a problem, but once I get past it, there's a nice core profile here. It's classic Springbank 10 with some added maturity. Some of the funky flavors seem to have mostly vanished, so that's unfortunate, but it still has a satisfying Springbank core. F: Fairly rich. That bitterness persists, along with some toasty grain, dry grass, a hint of buckwheat, and a little bit of sweet cinnamon. Not a bad finish seeing as there is often a lingering bitterness in them, but it's not great. - Conclusion - This was very interesting to try and it wasn't a bad dram overall, but I would have taken any Springbank distillery release over this (though the 15 is not tremendously better). The aging here just did not work out, unfortunately. This is a classic case of one bad flavor messing up the whole dram. The flavors here are also too muted. It's OK to be restrained a bit, but this is too much. Following something like Springbank 15, it's mainly the bitterness that stands out here while the other flavors swirl in a muddled ball. It's still not bad, but not what I'd expect from 23 year old Springbank. The way Springbank 18 really grows the depth and complexity while smoothing out the rough edges is completely missed here. Lismore 21 (19) has much more definition, which really accentuates how muddled this is. Considering all of this so far, I think a 17 is the high end of the range I'm looking at. This might be competitive with Highland Park 16 Wings Of The Eagle (17). The Highland Park is less complex, but it's flavors are better and more pronounced. Loch Lomond 12 (16) is definitely in range of this too though. It really is going to come down to how upsetting I find that bitter flavor. I could go as low as a 15 because of it, I think, but I think this still surpasses a 14 with its nice complex maturity hiding inside. I came back a few days later and thought that the bitterness here might be less offensive and the dram might be more balanced and complex, but I rescinded that opinion after trying this side by side with Highland Park 16 Wings Of The Eagle and Loch Lomond 12 (16). I think I'm landing on a 16 here, though I could be convinced it's a 17. It's a shame because the age is quite present here and it's apparent that there are some great flavors buried underneath that one problematic note. Thanks for sharing this @ctbeck11 . I feel like you undersold it, but I unfortunately must agree that it's nowhere near as good as I'd expect just from reading '23 year old Springbank'. Regardless, it was a privilege to to try it.