Springbank 10 Year Old
Tastes Like Scotch
0 184
Review by @AKGcandlefish
- Nose20
- Taste21
- Finish20
- Balance23
- Overall84
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Distribution of ratings for this:
- Brand: Springbank
- Type: Scotch
- Region: Campbeltown
- ABV: 46%
This is my first Campbeltown whisky, but with the exception of its light peat influence, I would have said it had a classic Speyside profile, similar to (but better than) the Glenlivet or Glenfiddich 12 and not altogether dissimilar from a Glenfarclas.
Color: dull gold.
Nose: apples, pears, and barley, with the slightly musty sweetness of dead flowers (that's the peat). Wet and mossy, like the woods after a heavy rain.
Body: medium and creamy.
Palate: oaky, malty, and salty, with a tinge of cinnamon spice and nuttiness. Water mellows it and brings out a sweeter vanilla quality. Not much peat here. Just the mildest suggestion of char.
Finish: medium-length with a lingering flavor of salty, chocolate almonds. A little bit of the peat influence returns but disappears quickly.
Again, had this been a blind taste test, I probably would have pegged this as a peated Speyside of some kind. This was a solid whisky, though a bit over-priced ($70). I've heard Springbank improves dramatically with age, and this was satisfying enough that I'd definitely be willing to invest in an older bottle down the road.
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You noted salty in the description. The 'salty' in Springbank is another quality which separates it from most of Speyside. Springbank distillery does indeed have 'salty' going on, but in terms of peat it has the whole range from unpeated to moderately heavy peated represented in its Hazelburn, Springbank, and Longrow whiskies, respectively.
I don't find "Campbelton" a worthy separate region. This is just about historical taxing jurisdictions, you know. Springbank might just as well be classified as a 'Highland' whisky, in terms of its taste profiles. Actually the saltiness is the characteristic which most defines Springbank to me, along with "maltiness"...but then again we are talking about malts, after all. I think of Springbank whisky, per se, to be closest in house style to Clynelish/Brora, much farther to the North.