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| The three single malts from the Springbank distillery | 30 Dec 2012 | |
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The Springbank distillery, one of the few remaining destilleries in Campbeltown, distills three different recepies of single malt: The classic Springbank (medium peated, 2.5 times distilled), Longrow (heavily peated, double distilled) and Hazelburn (lightly peated, triple distilled). This is a review of this year's bottlings of Longrow and Hazelburn as well as the standard bottling of Springbank.
Longrow (46%, bottled 2012, no age specified):
Malty, nutty, peaty nose with notes of engine oil, orange and mint. Unfortunately also a note of rubber. A little too young;
lacks balance. The palate is fairly rich and sweet, malty and cereally with honey and orange marmalade. Young and quite
peaty. Nicer than the nose but still not convincing. The finish has peat, iodine, cereal and oak. Disappointing after the peat
fades. All in all young and rowdy, peaty and powerful. Lacks balance and maturity. Cheap for a Longrow but poor value.
(80 p)
Hazelburn 12 y.o. (46%, bottled 2012):
Oak and brown sugar on the nose, also dried fruits (sherry wood) and a hint of peat. Rather nice.
The palate is sweet with notes of honey and orange marmalade. Develops malt, spices, oak and peat.
Oaky, peppery, fairly dry finish. Notes of peat and sherry but they don't work well together.
Disappointing after the nice bottlings from 2009 and 2010. Best with a drop of water.
(85 p)
Springbank 10 y.o. (46%, bottled 2012):
Big nose with honey, malt and peat, also a note of engine oil. Youthful and a little vulgar yet nice. The palate is more
mature and more balanced. Sweet and fairly rich with notes of orange marmalade, fruity candy and malt. Nice finish
with notes of honey, malt and a little peat. All in all youthful and a bit rough yet playful and entertaining. (12/73)
(86 p)
Related links:
All my tasting notes of Springbank, Longrow and Hazelburn
My review of the first four bottlings of Kilkerran
More articles:
World whisky
A review of single malts from the Czech Republic, England, Germany, India, Sweden and Taiwain. Six Irish whiskeys
A review of Green Spot, Yellow Spot, Tullamore Dew 12, Redbreast 12, Powers John's Lane and Midleton Barry Crockett Legacy. Index of all articles
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