Springbank

After passing through a shell and tube condenser the 20-25% abv spirit is sent to the Low Wines Receiver. 80% of that collected spirit then passes to the Low Wines Charger which has its second distillation in Low Wines Still No1, which is fitted with a worn tub condenser and results in a spirit of around 76% abv. This distillation is called a blank run as no cuts are taken so none of the volatile compounds, alcohols and esters have been removed. I suppose you could call it an amplification of the wash still. The resulting spirit is collected in the Feints Receiver, and it is mixed with the heads and tails from in Low Wines Still No2 to create a spirit with an overall abv of 30-35%. I hope you are still following me as there will be a test at the end!

Anyway, on to the final bit. Remember that 20% portion of the spirit in the Low Wines Receiver? That is then mixed with 80% of the spirit from the Feints Receiver and charges Low Wines Still No2, which like the wash still is fitted with a shell and tube condenser. Fractional distillation is carried out as normal and resulting spirit is collected in the Spirit Receiver at 71-72% abv. It is then cut and casked at 63.6% abv. Unsurprisingly the new make spirit is pretty complex with a lovely balance and oily character. Personally, I think 10 years of age is the right time to bottle it, younger it can seem a little ungainly and raw, but this unique distillation process really sets up the spirit to take on a lengthy maturation in wood and the guts to stand up to being hammered with ex-sherry casks.

Hazelburn is a little simpler in its production process, starting with unpeated barley it is triple distilled, starting with the wash still, followed by a blank run through the Low Wines Still No1 and a final distillation in the Low Wines Still No2. Unlike Auchentoshan, which aims to create a lighter, highly rectified spirit by using only the higher strength heads from the second distillation and a narrow cut on the final distillation to collect a finished spirit at around 80%, the Hazelburn spirit finishes at the same strength as the Springbank spirit. This is why it has more weight and density than Auchentoshan.

The final spirit produced at Springbank has the simplest production. Barley peated to 50-55ppm is simply double distilled in the wash still and Low Wines Still No1. You could argue that Longrow is the closest in style to the type of whisky that was being produced in Campbeltown back in the 1800’s when the distillery was founded. As we know, the Victorian blends featured heavier peated spirits and the peat used at Springbank is sourced from the Machrihanish blanket bog, which being located close to the sea has a composition similar to the peat bogs on Islay, rather than the mainland bogs. This is why I often get a slight medicinal and herbal-peat reek note in Longrow, but it also has a drier, earthier character which is reminiscent of peated Highland or Speyside malts.

Finally, no writing on Springbank would be complete without a mention about wood. If you have read any of my other scribblings, then you probably can guess exactly what I’m going to say next, yes, that’s right. Personally, I prefer my Springbank to have been fully or predominantly aged in ex-American oak. However, as I may have mentioned earlier, Springabnk has a good weight and character to stand up to maturation in sherry and if the truth be told it somehow seems to extract a huge amount of tannin from the wood, which makes sherry matured Springbank quite gritty and a little rough and, you what, if I was in the mood for a bit of sherry then I’d go for a Springer, as they say, because I much prefer a bit of rough than the polished homogeny of say a Dalmore or a Macallan.

Now I will grant you that there have been one or two finishes, mainly ex-Italian wine casks that have been, oh, what’s the polite way of saying this?………. Challenging and one or two stinky, sulphurous bottlings, but I would say that over the last ten years their sherried releases have been a lot cleaner than the past. So, there you have it, Springbank is such a lovable whisky and so full of character that you really must taste it, at least once and preferably several times more. Weird, wonderful, sometimes a bit iffy, but the whisky world would be a much poorer place without it!