Scotch Whisky Review #182: Springbank 12 Year (Late 1980s-1990s Bottling)

Distillery: Springbank

Region: Campbeltown

Price: $32 for a 1 oz sample

ABV: 46%

Age: 12 Year

Color: 0.5, Yellow Gold.

Nose: It has an incredibly clean smell. It’s almost like crisp mountain air along with some fresh spring water. There’s a bit of incredibly clean peat and a bit of lemon. Very refreshing and energizing.

Palate: Much like the nose teases, it’s has a very clean flavor profile. The main note is somewhere between cold mountain spring water and a bit of sparkling water. The peat exerts itself a little bit along with the lemons and a little bit of sour apples. There’s also a bit of a honey nut cheerios note every now and again.

Finish: Medium in length. There’s a bit more of the sparkling water combined with some moss and a bit of oak.

Conclusion: If you ever go hiking in Korea, you’re likely to end up finding a little place to drink some mountain water (usually they have a small spigot or something you can get water from

). That water is always incredibly cold and refreshing and this Springbank reminded me so much of it. The nose starts off with a bit of crisp, fresh air and a bit of clean peat and lemon. The palate follows in the same vein adding in a bit of sour apple and honey nut cheerios. The finish is nice and clean just like the rest of this whisky. It goes down so easily that it’d be really dangerous to keep a bottle around for me as I might end up chugging it like water. All in all, very different from any other Springbank I’ve had but an absolutely fantastic dram.

Final Score: 85.

Scotch Whisky Review #182, Campbeltown Review #5, Whisky Network Review #250

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.