Although it is aged entirely in sherry casks, there is a strong briny peat that overrides any of the overt sweetness that usually accompanies such aging. This aged Springbank is still the down to earth, good product of a small Campbeltown distillery. The peat is unique -- not as overriding and dominant as with Laphroaig, Ardbeg or even Talisker. It's a different peat, tasting of fields of worked grains, mixed with astringent diesel and metallic notes. It is not an easy drink. It is not for the Scotch drinker trying to avoid a challenge. There is layer upon layer here, and a drinker can just picture the peating, the turning of the barley, the heat of the roasting floor when sipping a dram of this taste of Scotland. For anyone who has ever been to Scotland: this is a taste that somehow captures -- unromantically -- what it feels like to stand in a burn inhaling the heather and salt sea air in a single breath. This single malt delivers a challenge; with that challenge comes a reward. Much like its younger brother -- the twelve-year-old -- it is a delicious, unpretentious, and unapologetic dram. If you want a true taste of Scotland -- not the overly refined and tamed tastes of Macallan, not the overly cleansed tastes of any of the chill-filtered Scotch malts or blends -- then tip your Glencairn towards Campbeltown and enjoy the immersion into Springbank.