The 12 years is an exploration in ex-Bourbon, but the Springbank 15 Years is a deep dive into what sherry does to its floor malted spirit. What’s that? You didn’t know that Springbank still used a traditional floor malting method? Well now you do.
In fact, they do as much of the process as possible on the distillery grounds. From Malting to bottling they do it all in-house. The only thing they don’t do is grow and harvest the barley themselves. Though they get incredibly close to that process in the local barley series.
Now, let’s get to drinkin’!
Springbank 15 Years – Details and Tasting Notes
Whiskey Details
Non-Chill Filtered | Natural Color
Style: Single Malt (Scotch)
Region: Campbeltown, Scotland
Distiller: Springbank
Mash Bill: 100% Malted Barley
Cask: ex-Oloroso
Age: 15 Years
ABV: 46%
Springbank 15 Years Price: $160
Related Whiskey
Springbank 10 Years
Springbank 12 Years Cask Strength
Springbank Local Barley 16 Years
Longrow Campbeltown Single Malt
Glen Scotia Rum Cask Finish – Campbeltown Festival 2019
Springbank 15 Years Tasting Notes
EYE
Ruddy copper
NOSE
Leathery-dried dark fruit, Honey Nut Cheerios, freeze-dried strawberries, cocoa, malt, and some notes of banana Quik and that signature “Spingbank funk”.
It’s dark, it’s sweet and comes through multi-faceted and balanced.
PALATE
Leathery-dried dark fruit, malty graham, cocoa, smoke, roasted nuts, x-mas cake, and a bit of candied citrus and Springbank funk.
Strong earthiness runs through it, perfectly balancing out the sweeter aspects of it.
FINISH
Long -> Dried dark fruit, leather, and cocoa fades to graham and smoke.
BALANCE, BODY and FEEL
Well-balanced, med-full body, warm velvety feel.
Springbank 15 Years – Overall Thoughts and Score
The way the dark earthy notes play with the sweeter notes and get punctuated by the smoke and brighter notes (citrus and spice) makes me happy. Hands down it’s my favorite of the core, at least in the “afforable” range that is. The 18, 21 and 25 ain’t exactly slouches, they’re just well beyond my price range.
This whisky has always bordered on a 4.5/A-/90 for me. It’s full, it’s complex and multi-faceted, it’s just a delight all around. The only thing it’s missing is a bit more depth. I imagine if they released the Springbank 15 Years at CS instead of the 12 it would be a dangerously good, stunner of a whisky and fans might not want to drink anything else. And maybe that’s why they don’t do it. Who knows.
SCORE: 4/5 (good, definitely recommend ~ B+ | 87-89)
Springbank 15 Years Review $160
Overall
4.3- Nose (4.5)
- Palate (4.5)
- Finish (4)
- BBF (4)
User Review
0 (0 votes) Comments Rating 0 (0 reviews)
