Springbank Green 12 Year Old / Bourbon Cask
Mustard
2 286
Review by @markjedi1
- Nose~
- Taste~
- Finish~
- Balance~
- Overall86
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- Brand: Springbank
- Type: Scotch
- Region: Campbeltown
- ABV: 46%
In 2014 Springbank released 2 malts that were distilled from organic barley. However – contrary to some other distilleries – Springbank did not get the certifications to put ‘organic’ on their labels, so they chose for ‘Green’. The first is a 12 Year Old, matured 100% on bourbon casks. The second is a 13 Year Old on sherry casks. I will try the younger of the two. Well, this is definitely a textbook Springbank nose: loads of herbal notes, some salt and chalk, a jut sack and some peat that precedes Granny Smith apples and lemons. On the palate the citrus comes first, followed immediately by soot and salt, yeast, mustard and vanilla. The second sip adds something dirty that I cannot quite pinpoint. Pebbles? Some honey and walnuts. Some pepper and a nice development of smoke. From the third sip forward it becomes surprisingly sweet. Quite spicy with a twig of mint. The finish is wonderfully long, salty and sweet (pineapple!) and fairly smoky. Fades gently with a slight bitterness. Not an easy Springbank, to be honest. This is work, but the joy follows suit. Not so easy to find nowadays.
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Thanks for the review, Mark. This sounds like an extremely interesting malt. I'm a big fan of Springbank, but their whiskies are hard to come by in Ontario. I like that the Springbanks I've tried are challenging whiskies. They tend to be complex, big and bold and they tend to require some effort to unravel. But it's a rewarding experience.
As for the "organic" labeling; I care not a whit about such trivial things. In fact, whenever possible, I avoid anything labeled "organic" as I find the "pro-organic" camp to be driven by ideology and appeals to nature (purity fallacy), rather than scientific fact. But that's neither here nor there.