After some time off and enjoying the Arran Music & Malts festival, we’re back with another Campbeltown whisky! As the latest batch of the 12 year Cask Strength series has made it’s way to my area, I thought to myself that now was a good time to give this whisky another good look before making my way to the next batch! Batch 28 is made out of 100% bouron casks, so it allows the beautiful Springbank distillate to shine through. Let’s see what notes we’re able to pick up!
Review
Tasting notes
Nose: Earthy, salty peat mixed with mango, papaya and a hint of pineapple. There’s also some industrial oil somehow mixing this weird fruit salad together. A vanilla custard pie also makes an appearance.
Palate: The palate is a bit on the peppery side. I can still taste those exotic fruits we enjoyed on the nose, but somebody has mixed a chili pepper into the salad now. Towards the finish I get some salted caramel and a whiff of smoke.
This is one I’ve personally been drinking with a tad of water, but for the sake of the review I went back to it neat.
After adding half a teaspoon of water:
Nose: The earthy peat is still making its appearance, followed immediately by some butterscotch. Stewed pineapple, stewed in a generous amount of salty butter.
Palate: Our chili pepper is still there, but instead of being the dominant note, it’s much more toned down. That allows the butterscotch to shine a bit more, together with the butter and salted caramel. The exotic fruits are still present, but this time they’re the canned kind. You know, those little cans of fruit in syrup? That’s exactly what I’m getting here. The second sip has me wondering if that syrup has a splash of machine oil mixed into it as well. To end this pleasant dram, there’s that soft whiff of smoke again. It’s subtle and aromatic.
Wrap up
Springbank on bourbon casks is something which really works for me, I like how it allows the tropical fruit notes of the distillate to come through. This release is no different and really sings. I’ve been enjoying my time with this bottle as it’s slowly coming to it’s end…
Score: 89/100