Springbank 2019

A beautiful and quite tasty whisky! A delicacy on a minimal scale! 21 22 22 21+ 86+

to sum up is like smelling PX, tasting fino, and ending with Oloroso.

Very sherry-heavy, although it is not completely lost. The sherry casks contribute both full sweetness (toffee, plum) and tart sherry notes (leather, coffee, dark chocolate, lovage), as well as furniture polish and mineral notes. At five years old, it already has a lot of complexity and depth, but could also be a bit older. 86/100 or 6/10 Including shipping and other costs, the purchase price was 100 euros. I think that's way too much for the whisky.

On the palate it briefly reminded me of the Kilkerran 8 CS Batch #9 Sherry Cask, until it quickly took a spicier turn. Unlike the Society Bottling from last year, which matured as a 5yo 100 proof in fresh bourbon, the maturation in fresh sherry casks is able to mask the youth in the nose and also initially on the tongue. After a very short time, however, you notice clearly that you are dealing with a youngster.

Honestly, it's just cask-strength, but it's so delicious. Adding water is necessary for me, for the best experience.

EYE/NOSE Visually deep mahogany. The nose unfolds layers of blackberry, sweet plum, a hint of dried sweet cherry and a dash of maple syrup, all wrapped in a subtle smokiness that is muted but not masked by the heavy sherry influence. Underneath there is a warm toffee note and the sweetness of brown sugar, accompanied by a tiny hint of clove that brings a pleasant spice. The sherry influence is strong and intense, but it does not mask the typical 'Springbank funk', in fact the opposite is the case. It highlights it and gives it a nice extra dimension. Dark chocolate aromas add further complexity. PALATE It rolls in sweet, warm and smooth before a pleasant bitterness from the oak appears. At the beginning it reminds of strong, black coffee with a pinch of herbal spice. Over time the sherry notes come through, as well as leather and the typical 'funky' Springbank character, which reminds me of the combination of oil-smeared workbenches and Scottish Dunnage Warehouses with their earthy natural floors. The finish is hearty, almost a little 'meaty'. Very nice, deep, intense aromas that made the mouth water. Mmmhmmm! FINISH/CONCLUSION The aftertaste is long and warm, leaving behind harmonious, changing sherry notes that are reminiscent of the full sweetness of ripe Pedro Ximénez grapes, the dry elegance of a Fino and the dry, powerful complexity of an Oloroso. I am sure that I have tasted this special sherry profile before, even if I cannot immediately identify it. Fortunately, all without those sulphurous '666' off-notes that unfortunately all too often spoil the fun for me with heavily sherry-based whiskies these days. More notes and reviews on Facebook: #Maltkanzlei

tried at the rarities tasting at Päddy ;)

With water it rounds off the alcohol but not any more flavors.

Aroma-Moderate；Palate-88/100; Aftertaste-Med-Long；

Wonderful alcohol integration and balance of flavour, especially for such a young age. It feels like oloroso and young Springbank distillate go naturally well together, giving the sharper citric and mineral notes a rich and complex depth. Very enjoyable.

N: Initial strong on alcohol in the nose. Then red berries, sweet brown sugar and pine needles. Feeling of powerful. T: Alcohol, pepper and sweetness. Medium body and a pretty long spicy finish. This whisky needs water according to me. Lots of it... W+: Mitigates the alcohol in the nose. It opens up and become pleasant on the palate. Strong sherry notes. Salty oak and hints of cherries and nuts. Nice long spiciness on the finish. Not my favorite line of Springbank but pretty good at this young age.

I don't know that I've ever drunk more chocolate whisky. A beautiful, dense but beautifully smooth dessert, light minerality at the end

Tobacco, leather, old bookshelves, dusty old furniture, wet autumn leaves, walnuts, strawberries, ash, smoke, mixed salted nuts, rich chocolate, spices, caramel, coffee, molasses, more tobacco. Fantastic.

it is simple, fruity and easy drinkable. I am not a society member, I would expect older whisky from the society, but it is still an interesting bottling. As a Springbank guy, I'd say that the average rating here is very friendly to the distillery

Drinking Date： 5/11/2024

This tastes at least double its age. Rich, deep complex and highly well integrated sherry. The really high is for the impeccable quality balance. An absolute triumph.

Nice young Springbank sherry without any major off notes, but in the mouth and aftertaste it doesn't quite manage to hide the metallic youth behind the barrel aromas. The deep cherry and chocolate aromas are pleasing though. The nose is definitely the big winner here. A malt to satisfy the multitude of society members, but one that will not be remembered by anyone. I hope that the distillery will take a different approach if the barrel stocks recover.

Blind sample courtesy of a friend. Quite chocolatey. At the first impressions the underlying malt is quite complex. Reminiscent of Springbank or Longrow, but too clean both in malt and wood from my memories. Earthy but not damp, more of a dry gravel. After a while it develops a sweet malty note. My guess was more towards an older (but not aged) impression of Caol Ila. Turns out Springbank can put out such clean casks as well. A bit brutish if anything to warrant a higher score.

Springbank is flexing its muscles with this one, proving that good sherry casks are still in existence these days. The aroma coming from the glass shows all elements of classic sherry maturation, but it leans more towards leather, cigar leaves and furniture polish. The palate turns into a sticky mess as soon as we take a sip. Tasty maple syrup, sweet-sour berries, and an incredible dose of wood smoke. Some alcohol hotness on the finish seduces me to add some water, but in general this one is fine to drink neat. With water, more concentrate red fruits. No raisins were hurt in the making of this bottle. Hints of Colombian coffee, some peaches, slight hints of tangerine, but not much. The nose is very concentrated, water did not change much there. The taste however got a whole lot sweeter, which makes me think at least one PX-cask was used. But the subtly dry, leathery exit puts it firmly back onto an oloroso path. The balance is amazing, not unlike some sherry monsters we tried from Ardnamurchan, with whom I cannot escape the feeling Springbank is deliberately trying to compete with here. This is west coast malt for you. With water, the finish is a tad sweeter, without becoming too sugary. Excellent blending of a few casks here, the balance is really outstanding.

It's quite tasty, but in terms of real quality I'd say that this is only OK'ish for a Springbank. Nothing more than that. Medium sweet sherry meets lightly smoked whisky. The nicest part is the sense of good cough syrup you get from the liquorice and thyme vibe. I wonder how empty the cask was when it was filled.

Plum, berry, fruity cold smoke, saltiness, tart sweet. A good combination of young springbank and sherry. 22.5-22.5-22-22

The ultimate proof that age is just a number, give this blind to anyone and they would give it more then double its age. Casks are coming across a little bit more vegetal then usual, to the likes of Signatory casks rather then Cadenhead's Oloroso. Still a banger tho. Edit, after opening up it became less vegetal (in a good way), wow, some tobacco even showed up on the nose, typical motoroils, old wood barnyard, decarbonated cola. Taste has a bit of eucalyptus, lots of dark fruits mixed with some lemons, little bit of wet cardboard, slightly astringent, milk chocolate, Opening up beautifully

Much more personality, body and character than dozens of contemporary so called "Sherry"bottlings with only 5 years of age. There´s nothing more you can expect: engaging Sherry based sweetness, powerful, distillery character and decent coastal influence. Again really convincing and outstandig handcrafted Single Malt. No other distillery shows such a performance at that age.... Stop flipping such gems. Open and drink it !

Well delivered as a 5 year old. Lots of flavour on the nose. Tasting bottle available at www.chameleonwhisky.com

I was expecting this to be too sherried, but the Springbank distillate is very distinct in this dram. To be honest, it certainly shows its youth at times, but it's great regardless, and I have no hype for Springbank. Obviously, this is a divisive whisky, with lots of praise from one side, and the other side saying it's just average. I think this is a very good whisky that is also very young, and has been matured in some excellent casks. And I know for sure that some people don't like these young profiles much, while others do. Whichever camp you fall in, remember that other people will disagree with you, and neither of you are right. Red fruits, dark fruits, molasses, lots of minerality, coastal, paraffin, vanilla, a little wood smoke, slight umami impressions, great balance. The youthfulness is apparent, but it's not an issue. I hope they have more casks like these, or reuse these for an older release.

Great malt, nice sherry intensity. A bit cask-heavy, which masks the youth quite well.

Serge Valentin schreibt dazu: One has fond memories of some very old Springbank 5-year-olds, the ones with black labels. Colour: white wine. Nose: oh the elegance of this distillate, even at an almost forbidden age. New tweed, virgin wool, lemon juice, paraffin, slag, basalt, and finally, strawberry candy. The latter should have disappeared after a few years, but at five, it remains. It's amusing. With water: more austere, with smoked tea, grape seed oil, plasticine, and quite a bit of charcoal. Mouth (neat): simply impeccable. Lemon, engine grease (not something we consume every day), various waxes, a drop of seawater, a bit of kiwi and rhubarb. Impeccable, truly. With water: softer, almost fruitier, with herbs and flowers—borage, pansies, nasturtiums. That's amusing too! Finish: rather long, truly fruity, it's almost moving when you know that this fruitiness will meld between, let's say, 5 and 10 years. Roughly speaking... Comments: it's a bit like a photo of an infant before he/she starts to really grow. A very beautiful photo, by the way. SGP:652 - 88 points.

What a wonderful sherry treat. Rich, thick, overripe, not sweet, with a pleasant smokiness. Not brilliant, but a pleasure to drink.