Scotch Whisky Review #128: Springbank 12 Year Calvados Wood Finish

Photo Credit to Just Whisky Auctions

Distillery: Springbank

Region: Campbeltown

Cask Type: 6 years in a refill Bourbon casks, 6 years in first fill Calvados casks

Price: Sample courtesy of /u/nsquare14!

ABV: 52.7%

Age: 12 Year

Color: 0.8, Deep Gold. Non Chill Filtered and Natural Color.

This is the third in my Countdown to Christmas series where I’ll be posting a review a day until Christmas. You can find the entire series here.

---

Nose: (according to the wife) Lots of fruit in this one with pineapples, green apples, and something that smells a whole lot like maesil-cheong (매실청, Korean plum syrup). Along with the fruit is a lot of honey as well.

Palate: Medium mouthfeel. From the start is a bit of a mossy peat and wet grass along with a sour green apple candy note. There’s a rather malty, biscuit-y, almost crumbly pie-crust like note that follows that reminds me of digestives. Some milk chocolate dust pops up along with a hint of oak. With some water, the sour green apple candies turn into a more fresh green apple note.

Finish: Nice and long. That digestive biscuit note continues along with some more chocolate dust.

Conclusion: Somehow, I’ve gone this long completely ignoring the Campbeltown region so I figured it’s about time to change that. I’ve not had calvados before but I’m always intrigued by unusual cask selections/finishes. This did not disappoint. From the get go, there’s a lot of fruit in the nose. In the palate, there is a lovely balance of peat along with fruit and those lovely biscuit notes. The finish lasts forever and just makes me want for more. Fantastic dram. Would I buy a bottle? If I could find one, absolutely!

Final Score: 85.

Scotch & Sheen is now on Instagram! Please take a look for quick summaries of my reviews!

Scotch Whisky review #128, Campbeltown Whiskey Review #1, Whisky Network Review #169

---

Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection (if feasible).
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.