More Springbank 'Cage' Bottles

I've reviewed some Cage bottles before here, this time I'm back with a pair of Springbank, a Hazelburn and a pair of Longrows thanks to the ever generous Callum & Kate!

Let's see what they are like!

Campbeltown Loch

Most will know the famous Andy Stewart song from the 60's Campbeltown Loch, some will know of J&A Mitchell's releases under this name.

This time we're trying this year's release a blend of whiskies from all 3 current Campbeltown distilleries, featuring the three Springbank malts, Glengyle and Glen Scotia.

Review of my whisky year - 2021

Firstly thanks to all of you who have read my blog (c114,000 up from 78,000 last year) and followed me on Twitter (c3,800 up from 3,570 last year).

This blog has been going for 5 years now and this is the 500th blog post! In that time I've reviewed over 1,300 whiskies! Let's review 2021!

Longrow Red

Longrow Red is an annual release of around 9,000 bottles from Springbank Distillery using heavily peated spirit which has been matured in red wine casks.

They choose a different kind of wine cask each year and to be honest I've never really got on with it, the 2015 I tried ended up being thrown down the sink. Lets see how the 2019 compares....

#BTC01 #BlindDrams Tasting Notes

You may have followed one of my #BlindTasting or #MiniTasting sessions over the last few years - a group of friends who swap samples and try to discover what they are - sharing their thoughts on Twitter. 

I've often thought about how this could be expanded to include more people and that's how the Blind Tasting Consortium came about! 

BlindTastingOnTour : Springbank

    

Tuesday morning arrived all to quickly and brought a few sore heads, memories of an empty Cage and the damp weather didn't improve the situation.

#BlindTasting Series 4 - Review

Series 4 of #BlindTasting has recently finished and as usual I'll post a summary. There had been a bit of a gap from Series 3 and this one extended longer than we thought it would - pressures of work!
This one, like all the rest, has brought up a few surprised with the five of us trying to identify 15 mystery drams through smell and taste, having #NoPreconceivedIdeas to sway our opinions.

Mini-review: French No.63?

Blind sample from @GregsWhiskyG

In the glass : Interesting brown coloured bottle so I had no idea of colour before I opened it. But it is quite a dark coloured dram, swirls cling to the glass and not much in the way of legs.... High ABV?

Nose: This seems quite complex - there's a little dunnage warehouse, some damp hay, maybe even a hint of smoke? After a little time in the glass there's some honey and toffee coming through too.

Palate: Lots of honey, very sweet, a little toffee. Not getting any of the smoke from the nose and not much in the way of spice. I think I'll reverse my thoughts on a high ABV - this seems to be a low 40s% ABV. From the honey notes I'd suggest a Speyside or maybe a Highlander?

Finish: A hint of spice on the finish, and again maybe some smoke? Lovely malty finish - very warming. I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest a Benromach ?

#BlindTasting Series 4 - Part 1

Back after an extended Summer break the #BlindTasting gang are all ready to try 15 new drams, if you haven't followed us before you can catch up with the previous series here.

All the samples have arrived

Distillery Visit - Springbank

I visited the Springbank distillery in April '18, around 12 years since my previous visit - not much had changed!

Springbank is in Campbeltown at the bottom of the Kintyre Peninsula, about 3 hours drive from Glasgow.

Campbeltown Whisky Finishes?

Before you all start panicking - no Springbank aren't closing down! I thought I'd write a blog comparing two drams in my collection - an old bottle of mine : Springbank 14yo Port Wood and a recent sample I received from Andy the Amateur Drammer : Longrow Red 12yo Pinot Noir. Both are cask strength malts from Springbank in Campbeltown but with subtly different finishes.

Last whisky from Campbeltown?

Distillery : Springbank
Whisky : Port Wood 14 years old (2004)
Presentation : Card box with clear front, some distillery information; clear bottle with cork stopper, some 'hand written' whisky information.
Source : Distillery Shop (a number of years ago)
Price : No longer available 😥

Characteristics : 700ml, 52.8% ABV, Non-Chill Filtered, Not Coloured
Box/Bottle Information : "12 yrs refill sherry, 2 yrs fresh port pipes, distilled 1989, bottled September 2004, out turn 7200 bottles"

Colour : Old Gold.
Glance : Oily, leaves thick trails when swirled around the glass.
Nose : Wine, port. (Water brings out a nutty aroma)
Palate: Mouth filling, chewy, pineapple and dry apricots, it's huge, obviously the 52,8% ABV gives you that but the mouth feel is fantastic, it hits you then quickly goes dry. (Water brings out bananas)
Finish : Medium oily finish some pear and more of the drying apricot.
Link : Springbank Port Wood.

No just different finishes!

Distillery : Springbank
Whisky : Longrow Red 12 years old (2015)
Presentation : Sample bottle.
Source : @amateurdrammer
Price : No longer available 😥

Characteristics : 52.92% ABV,

Colour : Deep Copper
Glance : Oily, leaves thick trails when swirled around the glass.
Nose : Sweet smoke, chocolate with brazil nuts (Water enhances the chocolate)
Palate: Very dry peaty, overpowering almost gritty in the mouth.
Finish : Sharp bitter burn giving way to a medium winey finish.
Link : Longrow Red

Overall : Two quite different drams from a favourite distillery of mine, the Port Wood has been in my collection for a long time but is nearing the end of the bottle, it's been an irregular go to for cold winter nights and will be missed, you don't really notice the strength. The Longrow is very different : overpowering without the addition of a little water even though it is a similar strength to the Port Wood, I'm guessing the peat is 

making the difference? Both benefit from the addition of a little water, the Port Wood gains a little on the nose and taste - shortening the finish but still excellent! With water the Longrow's nose became even more chocolatey and I didn't like it.

Port Wood & Pinot Noir