11/11/2022 Springbank

Springbank 10yo 2011/2021 (51.6%, OB Local Barley, Bourbon Casks, 15000b, 21/207): nose: here is a raw, distillate-driven (argh!) nose if I ever smelled one. Dry green grapes are first, white wine (Chenin blanc), and apple cider for a starting whiff that evolves to become something warmer and somewhat more welcoming. Smoked apples, wood fire, ashes are all subtle, yet contribute to a lovely feeling that the initial impression did not let on. Green grapes make a comeback, now softer, sweeter, and lukewarm, maybe augmented with a spoonful of plum jam. Very far away, a gentle smell of harvest hovers (hay, straw, dust), reminding us that it is a Springbank we are having. The second nose adds vegetation -- reeds, gorse, bulrush, saltmarshes in a drought. A drop of water reveals pink toothpaste -- either one for kids, strawberry flavoured, or an abrasive, eco-friendly one. Mouth: woah! Woah! Woah! Woah! Dry as an old limestone wall. Sauvignon blanc, then teriyaki sauce on charred chicken skin. We also have a copious dose of salt, overly-baked terracotta, and burnt rubber. It is certainly interesting, but pretty hard. Too dry for tOMoH. The second sip cranks up the bitterness with dandelion stems. Even the buttercup petals, and a late-coming mentholated honey do not turn this around. It is more mellow with H₂O, perhaps it adds a dash of chocolate, yet it is still rocky, and hard like a dry white wine. Finish: it redeems itself a little, here, as it regains some complexity. It is still dry and bitter, showcasing charcoal, burnt rubber and charred nigella seeds, but the finish also brings back a subtle fruitiness -- charred grape pips and a drop of grape juice. Further sips are increasingly numbing and chewy in equal measure, very much like a visit to the dentist's: on one hand, we find anaesthetics, on the other, it is that putty used to mould a cast of one's teeth. Both seem sprinkled with droplets of too dry a white wine. Water gives it the feel of a drywall that has been rained on, and is superficially humid as a result. Hm. I cannot understand why this is so popular. 6/10 (Thanks for the sample, WK)