Whiskybroker's 21yo Springbank

You don't see that many independent bottlings of Springbank but somehow @whiskybroker managed to get their hands on a cask.

This one is a 21yo distilled in 1999 and matured in Sherry Hogshead 412.

Martin and Jane Armstrong formed Whiskybroker in 2010, buying, storing and selling casks for clubs, individuals and other bottlers. Their huge warehouse storing thousands of casks.

They have their own bottling plant and see individual bottles via their website.

I don't know the story behind how they obtained the cask but they went to pick it up in early December and bottled it soon after.

Rather than just going on general sale on their website it was restricted to a "combination of customers who have ordered the most, most often and have been buying from us for the longest."

Unfortunately I didn't make it on to that list but a good friend of mine did and shared a sample!

Bottler info:

Very little!

 

Distilled : 22nd Oct '99

Maturation : Sherry Hogshead

Bottled :7th Dec '20

ABV : 41.8% 

Natural colour, non-chill filtered

My thoughts:

Appearance: Dark bronze in the glass - we're in sherry bomb territory here. Swirls cling to the glass as a thick line quickly beading up and falling as slow thick legs.

Nose: Dunnage warehouse notes - Strawberry jam, dried fruit, dates, figs, gentle smoke and a maritime salinity. A little time in the glass and some air offers orange zest, dark chocolate and some pine notes.

Palate: Smooth sweet arrival, oily honey with the strawberry and dried fruit notes from the nose are here. It develops with dry salty notes, cherries and dark chocolate with a little oak. The palate develops with some orchard fruit and citrus notes.

Finish: Long drying sherry notes, a little oak and some citrus.

Thoughts: A lot of peat smoke in this one so a Longrow rather than a Springbank maybe? It's sherry hogshead maturation has imparted huge dunnage warehouse notes but this hasn't masked the oily, maritime, fruity notes typical of Springbank, but at the same time it doesn't taste like a typical Springbank - cherries and dark chocolate are new for me. 

I really liked this one, the next nearest whisky I've had to this was an 12yo Cage bottle, also sherry, reviewed here, that was only 12yo and a much higher ABV but that hadn't had too much of it's Springbank character stripped away. Maybe Springbank is better younger or from ex-bourbon - what do you think?

 

Many thanks to Dom for the sample!