Batches : Springbank 12yo Cask Strength

Distilleries often release whisky in batches, the same name but subtly different recipes, ABVs, maturation periods etc. In this new, occasional series, I'm going to review a number of different Batches in my Side-by-side format to see if I can detect any differences, does each batch get better or are they to all intents and purposes the same?

This time I'll be reviewing batches #17 and #19 of 12yo Cask Strength from @Springbank1828 distillery, what differences are there?

Springbank distillery is located in Campbeltown at the bottom of the Kintyre peninsula. Founded in 1828 it's still fiercely independent. I've visited a few times and a bottle of 12yo CS usually finds its way home with me!

Springbank say:

Our 12-year-old edition, always bottled at cask strength, is a wonderfully balanced dram that boasts a smooth buttery body and rich fruity palate. Add a drop of water to release milk chocolate and vanilla notes.

Cask Strength 12yo is usually released in batches of 9,000 bottles, twice a year. There has been two major changes in maturation from all sherry (60% fresh : 40% refill) to a sherry / bourbon combination (70% : 30%) to now nearly the opposite with sherry / bourbon (35% : 65%). As can be seen in my table at the bottom of this blog the switch took place between batches 17 and 19 - the two that I am trying here.

Dram	Batch 17 (Jul '18)	Batch 19 (Aug '19)
Characteristics (Shared)	12yo Non-coloured NCF
Characteristics (Different)	56.2% ABV 70% Sherry, 30% Bourbon Casks	57.1% ABV 35% Sherry, 65% Bourbon Casks
Distillery tasting notes	Nose: A fruity and nutty combination; cherries, apricot jam, pistachios and toasted oats. Salted caramel and marzipan begin to emerge. Taste: Sweet and delicious, Scottish tablet, prunes and honey. The classic Campbeltown style develops; sea salt and a light smoke coat the mouth. Finish: A long and warming finish; honeycomb, orange marmalade and liquorice closely followed by Demerara sugar, almonds, oats and prunes.	Nose: Initially you can smell the refreshing herbs of oregano and lavender. This is followed by the sweetness of marzipan, honeycomb and fizzy sweets. In a nutshell, there’s an aroma of freshly baked donuts and orange marmalade. Palate: It’s a lovely, warm butterscotch sponge with chantilly cream, as well as treacle, orange rind and salted pretzels. Then the typical Springbank coastal note of sea salt. Finish: Velvety and refined finish with salted milk chocolate and Maraschino cherries.
My thoughts:
Appearance
	Mid gold in colour, swirls cling to the glass, form an inverted crown of beads and fall as slow thin legs.	Again a mid gold in colour - I can't really see any difference between the two, swirls cling to the glass, form an inverted crown of beads and again fall as slow thin legs.
Nose	Typical Campbeltown salt and smoke notes with hints of orchard fruit - pears, apples. There's some dried banana and faint dunnage warehouse notes - musty strawberry jam in here too. Some icing sugar notes and a spice hint from the ABV.	Orchard fruit and citrus lead - pears, apricots and orange with the salt and smoke following behind. There's some damp grass or hay notes - even a little fresh herb? Lots of vanilla custard. So quite different from #17 on the nose - you can tell it's a high ABV Springbank but the cask change tells you it's not the same dram.
Palate	Thick syrupy arrival - salty but also very sweet, loads of orchard fruit to start with then the sherry's strawberry jam notes come through - it's not a sherry bomb but it's getting there - I wasn't expecting that after the nose! Gentle smoke, burnt out match, and seaweed notes follow with a lovely bite of black pepper spice. A few more sips offer orange peel citrus and some tropical fruit notes. Nice!	Again a thick syrupy arrival but this time the sweet orange citrus leads, no salt initially, there's no sign of the sherry either. Peppery spice and smoke follow and a huge drying note in the mouth. The salt notes then start to come through - seaweed on the beach. A few more sips offer the orchard fruit from the nose and more citrus notes - but the sherry is nowhere to be seen.
Finish	Lingering salt and smoke with a lovely spicy citrus note.	Spice dominates here followed with a long smoky maritime note.
Overall	The Sherry / Bourbon ratio isn't the only thing that has changed - the price has crept up from £40 for Batch 1, through £51 for Batch 15 to £57 for the latest Batch 20. That's probably in line with inflation which is much better than other cask strength batches have done. For me two completely different drams, they may share the same red & black box and name but that's about it. The ABV changes with each batch as the marriage of different casks can never give the same value. The sherry notes are obvious on the Batch #17 but nowhere to be seen on the #19 - I'd go as far as to say it was 100% ex-bourbon. But they are both very nice! The Springbank DNA is there - gentle smoke and salt - but in different ways in each, more on the nose in #17 and the palate in #19. The previous sherry led batches have been a favourite, the switch to bourbon is probably down to cask costs - that completely changes the dram, but maybe Springbank aren't trying to keep it the same? What they are offering is a good cask strength whisky.

Many thanks to @WhiskyNibs for the sample of Batch 19!

Geeky stuff:

Springbank 12yo Cask Strength Batches
Batch	Released	Sherry	Bourbon	ABV
22	Apr '21	50%	50%	55.4%
21	Oct '20	45%	25%	57.1%
		25% Burgundy	5% Port
20	Feb '20	35%	65%	55.3%
19	Aug '19	35%	65%	57.1%
18	Dec '18	50%	50%	54.8%
17	Jul '18	70%	30%	56.2%
16	Jan '18	70%	30%	56.3%
15	Jul '17	70%	30%	56.5%
14	Jan '17	70%	30%	54.2%
13	Aug '16	70%	30%	56.3%
12	Feb '16	65%	35%	54.1%
11	Aug '15	70%	30%	53.8%
10	Feb '15	70%	30%	53.2%
9	Jul '14	60% fresh & 40% refill	0%	54.3%
8	Jan '14	60% fresh & 40% refill	0%	52.3%
7	Jul '13	60% fresh & 40% refill	0%	50.3%
6	Jan '13	60% fresh & 40% refill	0%	53.1%
5	Aug '12	60% fresh & 40% refill	0%	52.2%
4	Feb '12	60% fresh & 40% refill	0%	55.1%
3	Sep '11	60% fresh & 40% refill	0%	55.3%
2	Sep '10	60% fresh & 40% refill	0%	58.5%
1	Jan '10	60% fresh & 40% refill	0%	54.6%