Whisky Review: Springbank 14 Years Old 2002 Rum cask

• Category: Campbeltown single malt scotch whisky
• Origin: Springbank distillery
• Bottling: J & A Mitchell & Co Ltd.
• ABV: 52.3%
• Cost: £60

What they say

Distilled 12th December 2002 and matured in a Fresh Rum Barrel for 14 Years before a sample bottle was collected for the cage at Cadenhead’s Campbeltown store in 2017.

Bottled at Cask Strength 52.3% ABV

What I say

The perfect foil for our recent Hazelburn 14 year old Rum Cask review is this Springbank expression from a couple of years later but remarkably similar maturation.

So mildly peated and 2.5 times distilled as opposed to un-peated triple-distilled.

Distilled in 2002 this Springbank distillate has been matured in a fresh rum barrel for 14 years.

My tasting notes:

• Appearance: Eiswein gold (7/20), quick, medium tears leave medium legs
• Nose: Golden syrup, stewed fruits, apple, peach, a little funky, brown sugar, bbq bananas and toasted vanilla, malty, biscuit, pastries, custard tarts.
• Taste: Spicy and sweet, black pepper, cinnamon and ginger, sour lime citrus, liquorice root, dark treacle, a little herbal, burnt, engine oil
• Finish: Long, liquorice root, treacle toffee, golden syrup and roasted malt.

Overall

A touch spicier and more bitter, I did prefer the Hazelburn though not by much. This has some lovely funk and engine oil dirtiness I associate with Springbank but just enough sweetness from the spirit and the rum cask to keep it palateable. I feel the more rum-casked whiskies I have the less that Rum-cask maturation brings to the party – to the point I am not actively seeking any more.

Score 83/100

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