Rating: 20/23 I finally got something done at work today. It was a big accomplishment, but it took far too long. Looking around for what to celebrate with, I found this Hazelburn, which is both an exciting luxury dram, and one that I've heard is fairly underwhelming. That seems just about perfect for this occasion. Not important, but a side note before I get started: Springbank, the lords of ugly labels, have set a new record here. That green on an already awful label? Absolutely disgusting. Hiring a freaking graphic designer. N: Quite a bit of sherry, but it isn't overwhelming. Oops, I forgot that I'm not a huge fan of sherry-matured Springbanks. Except at young ages, so I guess this could work. It's not the biggest, fullest nose, but it has plenty of sherry character, with that Springbakn musty sort of seashell funk underlying it. There's a nice oloroso oiliness with a balance of cherry and lemon. There's a nice very subtly smoke to this and I'm not picking up any sulphur whatsoever. There's quite a bit of depth to the sherry and it transitions nicely into the Springbank funkiness. I'd generally wish for more of the Springbank character - and, well, I still do - but I think that the plentiful sherry helps to make up for the light spirit that results from the triple distillation process. After a few minutes, some nice, mild farmyard starts coming out, really enhancing the depth. P: Sherry sweetness with Springbank funk alongside it. My initial reaction is quite positive. This is a nice delicate balance of the two profiles that works in a way I haven't experienced before. At old age statements, I find that the sherry squashes the Springbank character, but in such a youthful expression, I'm finding that it enhances it. From the sherry, I get cherry and a bit of nutty (faint English walnut) oiliness. A little decadent raisin syrup. I'm now detecting bourbon barrels as well and getting some great cinnamon and vanilla. Of course, the Springbank funk comes through with smoke, farmyard, seashells, faint iodine, hints of sea spray, and an additional hint of mineral salinity. The malt brings some browned butter caramel richness. The balance is quite deft, making for a very enjoyable dram. F: Lingering cherry with some full nutty oiliness. Some bitter rancio, and underlying iodine with occasional notes of seashells. - Conclusion - I was honestly very worried about this bottle, so I'm thrilled to find that it's actually quite excellent! Somehow, this is (in my mind at least) sort of the quintessential Springbank. It really melds that natural Springbank character with sherry and bourbon casks very well. It might be a bit heavy on the sherry, though I think that most would prefer that. The balance and overall quality of execution here are substantially better than in my bottle of Springbank 12 Cask Strength (19/23). That is a great dram, for sure, but this really combines all of its flavors in a much more sophisticated way. And it also lacks the sulphur of the Springbank 12. Lismore 21 (19/23) is very complex, but is a bit muddled in comparison with this and does show a bit of sulphur. Just when I think that this is a bit heavy on the sherry, the bourbon comes back out to balance it. And, of course, that natural Springbank flavor is always there underneath it all. This is at least a 20. Which makes it difficult to rate because I don't have many drams in this range. The nuance and balance here remind me a lot of the 2018 bottling of Springbank 18 (22/23) that I loved so much that I nearly gave it a perfect score. So Glenfarclas 25 (23/23, but this bottle having now experienced a lot of oxygen) has a rich Christmas cake decadence that this really can't compete with. It also has a bold layer of tannic oak with big vanilla. It's just tremendously full and rich. In contrast to the Glenfarclas's maturity, this is youthful with ethanol and it burns. Considering that this bottle of Glenfarclas has oxidized to the point that it might be down to a 22, the gap here seems to push this down to a low 21 at best. I'm frankly thrilled by this bottle. I bought it because I kept hearing so much praise of Hazelburn, so it just figured that a week later reviews panning it from people I respect started landing. I was pretty worried, but I think this is like with that Springbank 18 where my tastes differ from theirs - at least when it comes to Springbank. This is perhaps a little bold, but I'm going to go ahead and give this a 21. Yeah, the youthfulness and alcohol are showing more since I've tried it alongside Glenfarclas 25, but there's still so much going on here and so many delicious flavors. And it still certainly isn't thin. I feel like this is about as much better than the Springbank 12 as the Glenfarclas 25 is better than this. Since the Springbank 12 is a definite 19 and the Glenfarclas 25 is a 23 that might have fallen to a 22, it seems like a 21 makes the most sense. Actually, in a finally side-by-siding, I'm finding this a bit closer to the Springbank 12 than to the Glenfarclas 25, so I'm going with a 20. Still, I am very satisfied with this dram - and I can definitely imagine going up to a 21 in a subsequent review (though a 22 seems unlikely). What a relief.