JS and I meet Gunooner for another tasting at Bar Lotus.
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| This one |
Campbeltown Loch 21yo (40%, Springbank Distillers)
Nose: roasted apples, hot tin and a tea shoppe full of bags of gunpowder, dried leaves and even an incense section. The tin becomes louder, jar lids and copper coins. Melted plasticine joins the dance, while JS and Gunooner think of dusty-musty lofts.
Mouth: roasted apples it is, dripping with juice and filled with a tiny bit of smoke. It becomes thinner and metallic at second sip, with cut apple slices rubbed on tin and copper.
Finish: charred apples, smoked quinces, pears, a sprinkle of ground white pepper. JS mentions those Korean juice cans with grapes inside the can.
Comment: a good starter that will be more and more impressive as we get back to it later in the evening. They do not make the mistake of telling us this is really Springbank 21yo under a different name -- there is no Springbank in Campbeltown Loch below the age of 25, according to trustworthy sources.
Score: 8/10
Our host does a little introduction for the bottles in the main line-up. Sadly, he mispronounces Hedley Wright's name, tells us he was manager of the distillery in the 1980s before someone else took over (Wright was never manager; he owned the distillery from the 1960s to his death in 2023). He also tells us that Murray McDavid had a good relationship with Springbank, hence why they bottled the third dram of tonight. In fact, one of Murray McDavid’s co-founders was Wright’s nephew. When he left the family business to set up Murray McDavid, he bottled one of his own casks of Springbank, much to the ire of Hedley Wright. That torpedoed any relationship between the two.
All that to say: there is a lack of research on display.
Springbank 30yo Hedley G. Wright (38%, OB, b.1980s)
Nose: incredibly deep and elegant. It speaks of drinks cabinets, old liqueurs, corduroy sofas and velvet drapes. It feels a little fragile, but it does not suffer too much. A whiff of berry-flavoured cough drops tickles the nostrils, blackberry and blackcurrant. It has a farm-y nuance at second nose, and pickled onions. It becomes incredibly fruity, a few hours in, tropical — pink maracuja and dragon fruit, snake head fruit and kaki in a rubber punnet.
Mouth: smoked-cassis liqueur, a pinch of charcoal, a spray of defroster fluid. The second sip has tree bark bathing in balsamic vinegar, at once acidic and fruity. A woody bitterness emerges, old cinnamon sticks. Coming back to it after the rest of the line-up, it is full-on lychee and pink grapefruit, not particularly assertive, but beautiful.
Finish: much more potent than expected, this rolls out woodworm and dried mushrooms, followed by soot and grated charcoal. A lick of balsamic shows up at second gulp. Later on, the finish is weaker, too subtle, bitter, with ink and fennel.
Comment: this is excellent, if not extraordinary. It should objectively have been bottled sooner. What a treat to try it, though! Emotionally charged. Likely bottled between 1977 and 1988: the volume is written in millilitres (the glass states 75-77cl), which means post-1977, and the Scotch Whisky Act of 1988 dictates that Scotch has to be 40% minimum, so it cannot be later than that.
Score: 9/10
Springbank 15yo J. Archibald Mitchell (46%, OB imported by Japan Import Systems, b.1980s)
Nose: lovely Sherry cask(s), it seems. Prunes, fresh figs and a delicate whisper of smoke that could even be cigar. It also has gentle shoe polish, melted plasticine, suet, cured cherries, maybe mahogany oil.
Mouth: nice and oily (JS), Cognac-y, it has grapes, prunes, rambutans. Chewing adds cured gooseberries, cured plums, wine-soaked Mirabelle plums, a puff of smoke, and a soft note of onion relish. Honey-glazed pearl onions materialise at second sip. Yes: pearl onions coated in honey become really clear.
Finish: weirdly enough, the dilution shows, in this one. It is otherwise a great combination of the above, with gooseberries, plums, pearl onions and sweet fresh figs to balance the tartness of those onions. The second gulp brings together the figs, prunes and onions.
Comment: excellent!
Score: 9/10
There are sixteen of us, tonight, with little interaction between many of the participants. I sometimes get the feeling that some are discovering Springbank on this occasion. There are worse ways to do it, but I cannot say if I find this the best.
Springbank 33yo 1965/1998 (46%, Murray McDavid, Sherry Cask, C#580, 204b, b#149)
Nose: we are shifting gears! This is, of course, in a completely different league, brimming with lychee, gooseberry and carambola. There is a hidden note of pine needles too, and a vague wine influence, despite the host’s assuring us it is from a Bourbon cask (it is not). Next up are warm lettuce leaves, and stewed lemons appear in the long run, albeit not shouty. The second nose brings a pinch of earth.
Mouth: syrupy as fook, this is clearly an ex-Sherry cask. It has honey spilled on earth, cough syrup spilled on lychee, carambola doused in minty camphor, and cough drops. The second sip seems more powerful and wine-y, with prunes, bitter currants (unripe), cherry stems and liqueur poured on mud patties.
Finish: the Sherry keeps it from reaching the heavens for me. It is a little on the loud side. Stewed citrus, marmalade-like but augmented with stewed liquorice. The second gulp is more straightforward prunes and red-wine vinegar toned down with honey.
Comment: the nose alone was a top score. The rest is too sherried for me.
Score: 9/10
Springbank 30yo b.2025 (46%, OB, 25/13)
Nose: fresh watermelon slices, smoked carambola chunks. At some point, incense unexpectedly wafts in. Soft-leather handbags, cosmetic products, then excellent hard candy, melting and fragrant (berry-flavoured), borderline chewing gum-like.
Mouth: yeah, hard candy it is, acidic, fruity, sweet. Chewing cranks up the fruits: raspberry, strawberry, Morello cherry. There is a wisp of acrid smoke, in the back, blink and you miss it. We have a bit of leather at second sip, and a berry paste dragged through earth. This is spectacular.
Finish: wood and fruits. Papier mâché paste, smashed strawberries, cinnamon powder. There are even tropical fruits, after a while, carambola in the lead.
Comment: I certainly did not want to like this, considering the RRP. But I have to admit it is excellent.
Score: 9/10
Springbank 21yo d.1993 (unknown ABV, OB Private Bottling for MGM & SCT)
Nose: vulgar, it has no finesse, compared to the previous drams. Mud, boozy vase water followed by ash and lichen-covered metal pipes. The longer you nose, the more-pleasant it becomes, thankfully, but the contrast with the rest of the line-up is not flattering. The last thing to drive to the nostrils are the plastic cover sheets of comb-bound booklets.
Mouth: it is a bit rough around the edges, with sand and melted glass. It moves to a minty custard a little further on. The second sip brings an unbelievable mix of fish sauce and smoked raspberries. It turns muddier with time and adds ashes.
Finish: big, woody and earthy, it has a strong anaesthetising cinnamon effect. The second gulp is earthier, ashier, yet clean and dry, closer to Sauvignon Blanc or Chenin Blanc than to mud patties.
Comment: a slow-burner. A good whisky, objectively, but it feels out of place in this selection.
Score: 8/10
Springbank 27yo 1992/2020 (48.4%, OB Private Single Cask, Refill Bourbon Hogshead, C#273, b#186)
Nose: a completely different nose again. Here are cereals and yellow flowers -- daffodils, tulips, forsythia. Plums and white peaches are here too. Later on, we have a minty paste and a whiff of curry. Yup, that weird! The second nose welcomes transparent nail varnish and lychee shavings.
Mouth: super fresh, it has mint and pressed green grapes. Extremely fruity at second sip, it rolls out grapes, physalis, plums, greengages and, as soon as one chews, hazel wood shavings. That spells a mild bitterness, without doubt.
Finish: not at all living up to the nose and palate, the finish is earthier, dirtier, Springbankier, perhaps, but a little less to my taste (tonight). The second gulp is better, less earthy. It rallies around fruits and injects a drop of red-wine vinegar.
Comment: saved from a potential slip-up. It is actually very good.
Score: 9/10
Good selection again. I like that everyone goes at their own pace (I take my time), but still unsure what to make of the place or the organisation. It is not really a guided tasting, more a flight-of-the-day type, and the disconnect between the knowledge gaps and the calibre of the whiskies is unsettling. In any case, how smashing to try these drams.
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| They also have this American whiskey bottled by Chichibu. Someone else tries it, we do not. |
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