Some drams need a lot of introduction and some almost introduce themselves. Springbank Ten Year old is one of the latter. We think that this is a dram that all whisky drinkers should make time to try.
Springbank are a distillery based in Campbelltown, which used to be known as the capital of Scotch whisky due to the incredible amount of distilleries (30 at it’s height) that were based there. Springbank is one of only three that remain.
It is often referred to as “The Whisky Drinker’s Whisky”, due to the distilleries almost hand made production processes. As the distillery has been owned by the same family for five generations, all of their production process remains in house and much has gone unchanged for many years. This gives the whisky a hand made quality, that very few distilleries get anywhere near replicating.
They even run an annual whisky school, where paying guests can get a five day experience of the full distillation process. You can see more of the Springbank Distillery in this excellent BBC Scotland Documentary: Scotch! The Story of Whisky.
So on to the review, Springbank 10 Year Old.
Price: (An incredibly reasonable) £30-40
Appearance: Light, golden honey with a touch of an oaken hue.
Aroma: Citrus, smoke and light peating,
Taste: As you take your first sip, the very start of the dram is light, smooth and sweet. This part of the dram is like a golden breakfast cereal covered in syrup, with lashings of full cream milk. These are short notes, but ones that linger in the background of the whole rest of the palate.
This sweetness quickly gives way to a meaty, bacon like smoke. This is citric, salty and rich. like the smoke that you get when grilling bacon and you leave the grill on too hot for slightly too long, only to be alerted to your folly by a blaring smoke alarm. This smoke isn’t over powering, but is light and sweet, with light cake like spicing also present.
As the dram draws away It leaves behind a complex set of flavours, light wooden spice, sweetness, cream and billowing light smoke. All of which belie both the light colouring and incredible pricing of this dram.
Mouthfeel: Sweet, Smoky and Lightly Spiced.
Overall: Its daft that we haven’t featured this dram here before, it is both fantastic value and an incredibly complex and moreish dram. Not only do I think that you should get chance to taste this bottle, we would suggest that this is one of the essential drams for new or fairly new whisky drinkers of all persuasions to buy and try.
Real Dram Factor: 8.4
Source: Bottle purchased from Master of Malt
More Information: Springbank Distillery
Buy Online: Master of Malt: Springbank 10YO 70cl – £36.45 or Amazon: Springbank 10YO 70cl – £41.20