Beautiful natural gold color, viscous, non-chill-filtered. The tears hardly come down the walls of the glass, this is bottled at 57.1% ABV cask strength and the surface tension is high. You can sense the alcohol on the nose too, its strong. This would definitely require some water, but I would first taste it neat. The nose is not yet developed, you can tell some caramel, vanilla, and pepper are there with a touch of smoke, but they don’t come out strong yet. Arrival is sharp, citrusy, with notes of butter scotch, tobacco, honey, and smoke. The finish is medium length and a bit sour, probably due to the effects of high alcohol content that dries the mouth. Some oak and vanilla aftertastes continue to linger though. I’m adding a teaspoon of water and let it settle. Scotch mist appears and tells me it indeed was not chill-filtered. Nose develops more fruit notes, raisins, banana, chocolate, orange, vanilla, and caramel. The palate becomes very friendly, with characteristic citrusy, honey, and smoky notes. Finish is still medium to short length, with vanilla and citrus characteristics. Like other Springbanks (or should I say Campbeltown whisky, because I haven’t yet encountered a bad one from that area), this one does not disappoint. The cask strength gives you flexibility to fit your palate and this is great, a lot of room for experimentation. It wasn’t cheap - $117. Though at this ABV you are getting more whisky for the money, it is still more expensive than Springbank 10 when translated to 46% ABV, and honestly, I’m not sure its worth it. Yes, this matured an extra 2 years in the cask, but with the exceptional quality of the 10-year-old you are picking between best and better. Overall, an excellent dram, particularly if you like to experiment with adding water.