Springbank 1967 Prestonfield 20 Year Sherry Casks 3131/3136

Interesting. The only whisk(e)y which I have ever sampled which I would rate at 99 pts was also a Springbank, but that sample was so long ago that I would have to retaste it again now to confirm that rating. I hope that you find your bottle of this one!

Great review. Where did you get the sample, by a friend/private collector?

Hope you find your bottle, but this seems to get really pricy... on a short search I found this: thewhiskyvault.com/springbank-1967-20-years…

@Victor, thanks. This thing was a real gem. Graceful and beautiful. There is something to those magical Springbanks.

@Wills, thanks, too! This sample was from a shop that sometimes sells samples of rare whiskies. This was the only sample that they had left a few months ago; I just sad on it for the right moment. Turns out that the right moment was when I decided to open it. The link... well, time to get back to reinvesting in the lottery. Different cask, but the Prestonfield line seems to be exceptional.

Yeah this was another cask. The bottle you are searching was sold this month for 840€ here: whiskyauctionhistory.com/auction/…=

Still expensive, but less digits ;)

You could also ask here, if you didn't find this already: whiskyparadise.com/dettaglio-whisky.asp/…

@Wills, Whiskyauction is a great site. I wish only that other people would quit bidding on the things that I want. :P Suddenly, I wish that I had opened the sample a while ago; then maybe I'd have known to look for the bottle then!

Unfortunately, Whiskyparadise doesn't ship to the US, or at least the shop didn't as of last year. I'm going to keep looking for this bottle, or something like it. The last time that I rated something this highly and couldn't find it, I reached out to hotels around the world that still allegedly had some at their bars. :P

Oh yes - the Prestonfield Springbanks from 1967 are truly outstanding. I recently had a great Springbank Tasting with a sister cask Prestonfield and I also sampled the very same cask you reviewed about a year ago. I think that the local barley series from 1966/67 is in the same league as the Samaroli 12yo 100 Proof from 1982 and my personal favourite the 33yo 1965/1998 Murray McDavid, C#580, 1st Fill Sherry. This particular bottle is in my top five list it - heaven in a bottle ( and about half the price of the Prestonfields). These old Springers tend to evolve endlessly on the nose and on the palate.

@maltster, that sounds like a superb tasting. I had the UK release of the 12yo 100 Proof, which was excellent, and I thought that this Prestonfield was even better. I have an unopened US release, but have yet to try it. How much variance is there in the local barley series? It's got a legendary reputation. You're absolutely right about the old Springbanks. When they're on, there's little like them.

@numen, all the local barleys I was able to taste (5 in total) belong to the malt royalty - besides their presence and meatiness they all had some ethereal notes - some are minty with eucalyptus whilst others are more flowery with herbal influences and one was very waxy. Generally the barley used in older Whiskys (60's or older) has a significantly different taste profile to me than the barley used from the 80's to now - the old is more complex, and layered . Especially 60's whiskys from the Islands (Springbank, Scapa, Talisker, Caol Ila, Ardbeg, Bowmore ...) have a different kind of depth than most of their modern siblings and tend to combine these different nuances more elegant and balanced than newer spirits - and of course the bottle ageing is enhancing this even further.