Springbank 20 released for the Springbank Society & Hazelburn 16 released for the Springbank Society

Springbank 20 released for the Springbank Society

Region: Campbeltown

ABV: 55.7%

Price: £125.00 (35cl)

First up is a 20-year-old release distilled in May 2003 and bottled in March 2024 after maturing in fresh port casks. A total of 2,700 bottles were produced. 

Nose

The nose opens with a fairly dirty, earthy profile, wet soil, green foliage, with a fair amount of smoke for a 20 year old whisky. Alongside this sits lots of freshly squeezed red grape juice, slightly acidic raspberry compote, blackberry jam and hints of wet cardboard. The nose is fairly sweet, we're also finding mellow vanilla essence, fudge with a hint of salt, and a dusty, dunnage warehouse aroma. The alcohol feels in good balance too.

Palate

The palate opens with fizzy sweets.. berry flavour mostly, but morphs quickly into a more dirty, slightly industrial flavour. We're getting silage, pink peppercorns, alongside richer flavours of plum jam, blackcurrant cordial, currants from a fruitcake, a little brown sugar and lime zest giving a bit of a zing to the latter part of the palate. It's a tad warm in places, but it's a mixture of cinnamon, dark chocolate and a kick of alcohol which balances it out. Time and air brings more cocoa powder and coffee to the palate. The mouthfeel is good, fairly oily, and the finish lingers for a good length, with more of those earthy, slightly bitter notes sticking around.

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose keeps in with the same earthy, dirty profile but behind this sits more vanilla sweetness, burnt caramel, red currants, fresh green leaves, raisins and a bit of cocoa powder at the end. It's still a very expressive nose, lots going on.

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate has more upfront richness, lots of chocolate and forest fruits, but also combined with plenty of dirty, earthy peat and dunnage warehouse funk. The alcohol is still punchy, but seems to have integrated itself into the dram in a more pleasant way. We're preferring the palate with a drop of water.

Conclusion

We expected this to be pretty good, and we weren't disappointed. Lot of Springbank character that hasn't been masked by the port, instead enhanced to give a fair few interesting dimensions to the whisky. A touch warmer on the palate than we'd have liked, but we're nitpicking. We're somewhere between an 8 and an 8.5.. we'll be conservative and go with 8/10.

Score: 8/10

Value

Not a bad price for a 20-year-old Springbank.

Hazelburn 16 released for the Springbank Society

Region: Campbeltown

ABV: 50.8%

Price: £50.00 (35cl)

Next up is a 16-year-old release distilled in June 2007 and bottled in September 2023. It spent 13 years maturing in refill Ruby Port casks, followed by 3 years in fresh Ruby Port casks. A total of 1,610 bottles were produced.

Nose

The nose opens with macerated blackberries, red grape Schloer, fresh raspberries, light brown sugar, a little orange marmalade and overdone biscuits. There's also some boozy Christmas cake and ginger snaps. It's very port forward, with really mellow hints of the Hazelburn character, but there is a bit of funkiness in the background. Time and air brings out tea leaves, raisins and a little strawberry syrup right in the background.

Palate

The palate has a very thick and syrupy mouthfeel, with flavours of dark cherry, milk chocolate, caramel, toffee and honey. It's not overly sweet, more rich with muscovado sugar, almond paste, blackcurrant cordial and a bit of old, oxidised tawny port dryness on the finish. The alcohol is in good balance, it makes itself known with warm cinnamon and clove, but acts as a backbone for the richer port flavours. Time and air brings out a milky coffee and lots of plum. The finish lingers for a good length with warm oak spice and red apple skins.

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose becomes less fruit forward, and more earthy, a little dirty and a bit funky overall. There's more acidity akin to balsamic vinegar, but we're still finding darker berries and fruits in the background. We prefer the nose undiluted.

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate maintains the syrupy, thick mouthfeel, and most of those dark fruits and chocolate flavours still remain, however they're slightly less intense than before. The baking spices are feeling a little warmer on the finish, but overall it's fairly unchanged. We don't think the dram really needs the water.

Conclusion

Big bold punchy port aromas and flavours in abundance here. For us it's really delicious, but feels like it's masked some of the lighter Hazelburn character. Saying that, the quality of the whisky and casks comes through to make a great whisky overall. We'll go with 8/10, however if you're into wine-cask driven drams, you may rate it a bit higher.

Score: 8/10

Value

Absolute bargain if you got one at RRP.

• 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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