Springbank 30 (2024 Release) & Springbank Duty Paid Sample Warehouse 5 Rotation 312 7yo Refill Burgundy

Springbank 30 (2024 Release)

Region: Campbeltown

ABV: 46.0%

Price: £850.00 

This year’s release of Springbank 30 was matured exclusively in refill bourbon casks.

Nose

The nose opens with soft fruit aromas, we're finding a little peach, apricot, foam banana, moving into a combination of soft apple flesh and a little lemon juice too. The nose manages to be ever so subtle, yet delivers so much with a beautiful alcohol balance. We're also finding sherbet, a little damp cardboard, flamed orange peel, vanilla syrup and custard filled doughnuts. It's quite sweet, but there's an earthy, dunnage warehouse aroma in the background (Campbeltown funk, one day we'll get through a Springbank review without mentioning it) that keeps it in check. Going back, there's a floral note, fabric softener, along with a faint almond marzipan aroma.

Palate

The palate opens with a little zing of lime cordial, following into richer oak-driven flavours, think cinder toffee, molasses, dark brown sugar and a bit of dark chocolate ganache too. It's drier than we expected, given the beautiful sweetness we got from the nose, with a little charred oak and grapefruit peel coming through for us. We're also finding appletiser, sour orange, alongside the aforementioned dunnage characteristics. The peat here is quite apparent, more so than we'd expect from a lightly peated spirit left in the cask for 30 years. The mouthfeel is reasonable, a little thinner than we'd like but not watery in the slightest, and the finish does keep for quite a while, albeit a little bitter and slightly acidic for us.

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose doesn't change too much on first inspection, the banana is a little more apparent, alongside some coconut shavings, soft yellow fruits, and icing sugar sweetness. As we go back, it's got a little more pastry coming through, fudge doughnuts, and we're finding a little bit of coastal influence too, sandy beaches and crisp sea air.

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate has more upfront citrus, in the form of blood orange, lemon zest, alongside some jelly sweeties too. Some of those upfront richer oak flavours have receded, and the dryness has been pushed onto more of the back palate and finish. There's still a fair bit of peat smoke lingering, and overall we'd say it's a more balanced dram with a (very small) splash of water.

Conclusion

 We could nose this all day. If there was an aftershave that smelled like this, we'd buy it in bulk. It's perfectly balanced on the nose, lots of little nuances that appear as you keep coming back to it. The palate is a bit of a different experience, much richer, drier, earthier and smokier than we had been led to believe. This will suit some people more than us, but we wished for a little more of that sweetness from the nose to round out the dram. Ofcourse, we're nitpicking a little bit here, it's still an incredible whisky and roughly on par with last year's release for us.

Score: 8.5/10

Value

At £850 it’s not cheap, but you’d be lucky if you were able to get a bottle at that price.

Springbank Duty Paid Sample Warehouse 5 Rotation 312 7yo Refill Burgundy

Region: Campbeltown

ABV: 58.9%

Price: £65.00

This 7-year-old Refill Burgundy release was distilled on the 24th of May 2016 and bottled in 2023. It was available exclusively to visitors of the distillery.

Nose

The nose is initially quite light and delicate, but unfolds to reveal citrus notes of orange juice and lemonade. Alongside aromas of freshly baked bread, digestive biscuit, and red apples. There is very little spice here or alcohol burn to give away its age. As we sit with it notes of burnt toffee, Campbeltown funk, and chocolate emerge, alongside strawberry jam, a hint of red wine, and kelp.

Palate

The palate closely mirrors the nose with many overlapping flavours. It features a heavy presence of orange peel, alongside treacle syrup, icing sugar, Campbeltown funk, a touch of peat, and red fruits. Theres something here that makes us think we’re licking a cask stave. The mouthfeel is good, but the finish is dominated by a heavy spice presence, particularly cardamom and cinnamon, which pushes other notes into the background. There is also quite a bit of alcohol burn.

Nose (with water)

With the addition of water, the nose opens up to reveal more red fruit aromas, including strawberry fromage frais. There's also an enhanced presence of orange juice, and red apple. We’re also getting beef gravy, fudge fingers, and lime cordial. Subtle notes of tobacco and ash linger in the background. The coastal influence becomes more pronounced, with a distinct note of seaweed emerging.

Palate (with water)

Adding water to the palate significantly tames the spice and alcohol bite, allowing the orange peel and citrus notes to remain prominent. However, the mouthfeel becomes a bit thinner and more watery. The finish is shorter, although the spice is in better balance. The red fruit flavours are diminished with the addition of water.

Conclusion

We don't always resonate with red wine casks. While we mostly appreciate this one, we find it a bit young and spicy for our tastes. We would have loved to tried this after a few more years in the cask.

Score: 6.5/10

Value

As always these cage bottles are great value if you can get your hands on a bottle from the distillery.

• 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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