Springbank 16 Years Old Local Barley 54.3% 1999

Professional reviews

Serge Valentin (91)

All the barley came from one single farm in Kintyre, and was floor-malted on location at Springbank. The casks were kept and disgorged/bottled on location as well. Some will say that this is genuine ‘single malt’, while so many are totally international ‘operations’ and carry almost nothing truly ‘local’. Colour: pale gold. Nose: same family, and that’s very obvious on the nose, even if this one has a bit of varnish, possibly from the higher strength. Similar metallic/mineral profile, with perhaps a little more grapefruit and lemon, but the soot and ashes are well there. The shoe polish as well. With water: takes water extremely well. In other words, more quality shoe polish ;-). Mouth (neat): this is really very good, and totally up my alley. Sharp, sooty, very zesty, slightly pungent, with a perfect minerality and a grassy side that reminds me a bit of that Spanish white wine that can be very good (and sometimes awful, to be honest), verdejo. With water: oh yes it swims well. Perfect lemon, soot, paraffin (the good side of paraffin), ashes… What it’s not quite got, and which was in the 1978, is salt. Finish: long, lemony, grassy, and sooty. In other words, perfect. A medicinal side in the aftertaste (iodine, antiseptic). Comments: I was hoping this wood be great, and I’m not disappointed. Old school and just perfect.

Words of Whisky (90)

Gal Granov (91)

Nose: wham! This is a springer alright. Big. Bold. Peppery and dirty, with kerosene , wet rope , sea spray, a nice peat reek with a lovely vanilla sweetness underneath all the manly notes . There is a wide spectrum of aromas you can sit with and discover as time passes. Give it time and it shall open up and reveal even more. Splendid.

Palate: big and chewy. Starts sweet and vanilla centric, with big honeyed notes, then it gets more Coastal with sea sorry, brine and even seaweed-y at times , earthy with lovely peat, pepper and a fruity backbone , mostly of pear switch is dominated by the peat and earth, bitter sweet caramelized biscuits as well ending on lovely oak. Brilliant.

Finish: a long finish, with pepper, peat smoke wood, and vanilla and a bit of apple peel, vanilla and shortbread.

This is an awesome whisky, it is big, bold, manly, complex, and has real depth, character. It feels concentrated, and it is very very well made. Everything we’ve come to expect from a springbank whisky.

Whisky Notes (90)

Nose: pepper, wet ropes. Sweet malty notes (sweeter than in other Springbanks, or so it seems) with some honey, vanilla and lemon candy. Hints of engine oil and very light peat. After some time it develops nice mirabelle notes and lemon sherbet, which gives this a rather unique edge.

Mouth: thick, pretty sweet with a similar vanilla, apricot and sherbet combination. Earthy notes, hints of brine. Hints of biscuits, some pink grapefruit and pear. Lovely fruitiness really, with a light floral touch as well. Light heather honey.

Finish: medium long, just slightly drier, with subtle earthy smoke, apple peel and lemon.

The current-day Springbank profile is unique and rather excellent already. This one has all the classic notes, yet it adds in a nice fruitiness and buttery roundness. Great balance.

Malt Fascination (91)

Sniff:
The nose focuses almost solely on the malt. It’s a tad dirty like any good Springbank, slightly more than normally so. Some oak, some salinity. Apple cores, including the bitter seeds, pear skins, straw. A touch of menthol in the slight smokiness, not unlike cigarette smoke.

Sip:
The palate is dry, sharp, sweet and slightly woody. A touch salty and quite oily, with a lot of grains being present too. Some peppery heat with a bit of vanilla. Mostly barley malt though.

Swallow:
The finish is sweet with quite a lot of alcohol kick. Some menthol. Quite long with vanilla and light smoke. A true Springbank.