Springbank 17 Year Old Sherry Wood

This 17 Year Old Springbank matured solely on sherry casks and was bottled at cask strength. It appeared early 2015 and is quite hard to find nowadays (there were only some 9000 bottles worldwide after all). Luckily, I was able to secure a sample. Oh, boy, this nose is grand and great. Clearly Springbank with its typical mineral traits and soft peat, but the sherry cask easily takes the lead. All kinds of fruit like raisins, melon, red berries, mango and peach, but also blood oranges and plums. Even krieks. Leave it to breathe for a while and the typical farmy elements emerge at last. The arrival is big, for this is a muscled malt. Spicy on pepper, nutmeg and cinnamon. The fruit still takes the lead and becomes quite dark with krieks, plums, dades and mashed banana. But the smokiness is quite grand too, making this a nice, interesting and especially tasty whisky. Midpalate it shows a bitterness as if from coffee and liquorice, while black chocolate kicks in as well. The finish is long, spicy and a veritable contest between sweet and salt. Mildly drying towards the end. The smoke, in the meantime, lingers. A grand and great Springbank indeed, that does not lose its character despite the influence of the sherry cask. Recommended (despite the heave price tag).

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