Springbank 12 Cask Strength (Batch 25 - 2024 Release) & Springbank 10yo Open Day 2024

Springbank 12 Cask Strength (Batch 25 - 2024 Release)

Region: Campbeltown

ABV: 57.2%

Price: £68.00

This year’s release of Springbank 12 cask strength was matured in a mixture of bourbon casks (70%) and Sherry (30%). No details on how many bottles were released.

Nose

The nose on this is powerful, not in an overwhelming or overbearing way, but just chock full of aromas, we’re finding dunnage funk, toasted hazelnuts, freshly turned earth, green apple skin, fresh melon slices and a punnet of red berries. We’re also finding a backbone of bourbon sweetness here, reminiscent of lemon drizzle cake, brown sugar, hessian cloth and fizzy cola bottles. Going back and we’re getting more toffee and caramel. Overall it’s a fairly musty and funky nose (in a good way). The alcohol is in very good balance too.

Palate

The palate explodes with salted caramel, brown sugar, maple syrup, dark chocolate, cinnamon, with lots of dry earth and twigs showing off the underlying peat smoke of the dram. The mouthfeel is very very good, lots of texture, coating all sides of the mouth as you swirl it around. Going back, we’re getting some grapefruit, cola, nutmeg and pink peppercorn spice. It’s a tough spicer than the nose lead us to believe, but it’s still got enough flavour to balance this. The finish is fairly long, leaving blackcurrant and light peatsmoke lingering.

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose brings out a meatier sherry profile, cured venison, black pepper, alongside cassia bark, more dunnage warehouse must, with creamy vanilla custard sitting in the background. It still has good balance and lots of upfront aroma.

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate has a little creme brûlée, lemon zest, shortbread fingers.. it’s fairly citrus forward now with some malty, breadiness showing now. The spice feels a little more pronounced, but only on the finish, otherwise it’s sweet, creamy, earthy and a little salty as it lingers in your mouth.

Conclusion

This years 12 year old cask strength continues the trend of being a cracking dram, it’s got bags of flavour, it’s well balanced and shows off the quality Springbank spirit and cask maturation process. Compared to last year’s release, it falls slightly short for us, but we’d happily take a bottle (or 4). We’re between an 8 and 8.5, but we think it warrants the higher score.

Score: 8.5/10

Value

Great value if you can pick this up at RRP.

Springbank 10yo Open Day 2024

Region: Campbeltown

ABV: 57.1%

Price: £35.00 (35cl)

This Springbank release was bottled for the 2024 Open Day. It was aged in a mixture of Fijian Rum casks. Just 2,200 35cl bottles were made available.

Nose

The nose opens with a lot of tropical fruit, pineapple, ripe banana, a little engine oil, fresh cut grass, all backed up with a nice warehouse must. There’s also butter biscuits, dried papaya and a little honey too. The alcohol is fairly well balanced, not too punchy but still giving the dram a bit of heft. Going back, we’re getting some pear, lemon verbena and light mint aromas in the background.

Palate

The palate continues with the tropical fruits, the pineapple, a bit of mango purée, banana chips, warm ginger spice and some honeydew melon. There’s an effervescent sensation here, it’s a tad spritzy, and the dram has a nice, syrupy mouthfeel. The finish lingers for a fair while, mostly candied ginger, white pepper and artificial banana essence. Going back, we’re getting more earthiness, very light smoke, and a little bit of apricot purée.

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose has more of a typical citrus aroma, mostly lemon and a bit of blood orange essence. It’s also a little mustier, with more of the Campeltown funk showing through for us. The tropical fruits are still there, just a bit further in the background.

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate maintains the lovely mouthfeel, but the water has brought a little bit of grapefruit bitterness out, however there’s still lots of caster sugar, lemon water, tinned pineapple slices and gingerbread men. The finish is slightly shortened for us, with more spicy ginger and cinnamon flavours lingering on.

Conclusion

Rum casks can be quite divisive for us, sometimes they work beautifully with a spirit and other times they’re totally out of whack. This expression ticks the former box for us, working in harmony and producing a lovely sweet, fruity and funky dram. Really really good in our opinion.

Score: 8.5/10

Value

Again, another bargain price even if this is only a 35cl bottle.

• 10 - Perfection. One in a million
• 9 - Outstanding. Exceptional whisky.
• 8 - Great. Would seek this out.
• 7 - Good. Quality whisky.
• 6 - Above average. Happy to have a dram.
• 5 - Average. Drinkable whisky.
• 4 - Below average. Passable.
• 3 - Flawed. Noticeable negatives.
• 2 - Defective. Significant faults.
• 1 - Offensive. Pour it out.

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