Springbank 16 Years Old Madeira Cask
Campbeltown single malt scotch whisky
56% ABV, £160 for 70cl
Score: 85/100
What they say:
What I say:
Sampled at the Glasgow Whisky Festival when this was initially only available to members of the Springbank Society, it was subsequently released to UK distributors and has either sold out or skyrocketed in price since release. An unusual ‘finished’ release spending 6 of its 16 years in an ex-Madeira wine cask after 10 years in a bourbon barrel
Colour:
Golden Amber
Nose:
Very malty, madeira cake, orange and peach fruits, spicy and vaporous, linseed oil, musty cigar boxes, salty, light sweet peaty after aroma
Taste:
Neutral sweet/sour, spicy cinnamon and nutmeg, fruity peach, apple, mango, pomegranate, becomes very syrupy in mouthfeel, malted barley and sweet peat
Finish:
Long tobacco cigar smokes and fruity oak wood
Overall:
A very pleasing dram, like a good well-made cigar, this has plenty of complexity. The time in the Madeira cask hasn’t oversweetened this whisky, if anything it has reined in a lot of the traditional dirty, malty, salty smoke character and woven it into a complex web of delicousness. This is a dram you want to spend hours and hours mulling over. Easily drinkable at cask strength though a little spicy and vaporous, this on waters well also allowing more of the elements to be investigated at more subtle intensity levels.
