The 2018 release of Springbank 21 Year Old, matured mainly in rum casks with the rest in bourbon wood, and bottled at 46% ABV. It is one of the gentler, sweeter editions of the 21, with apricot and butterscotch to the fore.
About This Whisky
The 21 Year Old has been a regular but small part of the Springbank range, and the cask mix changes with each outturn. The 2018 edition was built from 70% rum casks and 30% bourbon casks, which is unusual for an older Springbank and explains the sugar-cane sweetness and soft stone fruit. It is bottled at 46% ABV without chill filtration or added colour.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Heather and cut grass, then honey, pear skin and wood shavings, with butter, cheesecake and digestive biscuit behind.
- Palate: Gentle and elegant: butterscotch and vanilla, sugar cane and molasses, with apricot, peach and a pinch of paprika from the rum wood.
- Finish: Soft smoke in the background, toffee apple, raisin and oat biscuit, then peppercorn, almond and apricot jam.
Serving & Food
Serve neat, just below room temperature, in a Glencairn; a single drop of water is plenty. The rum-cask sweetness suits grilled pineapple, Portuguese egg tarts or a mild washed-rind cheese.
How to Enjoy
Those who prefer their older Springbank soft and sweet, and anyone collecting the 21 Year Old by release year.
Product Details
Distillery: Springbank
Country: Scotland
Region: Campbeltown
Category: Campbeltown single malt Scotch whisky
Age: 21 years old
Release Year: 2018
Cask Composition: 70% rum casks, 30% bourbon casks
ABV: 46%
Volume: 700mL
About the Distillery
Springbank malts every grain of its barley on its own floors. The barley is steeped in cool water for up to three days, then spread about six inches deep across the malting floor, where the team turn it by hand at regular intervals as it germinates. It then goes to the kiln. For Springbank itself, the malt gets about six hours of peat smoke followed by some thirty hours of hot air, which is why the smoke in the finished whisky is light. Very few distilleries still floor-malt at all, and fewer still malt their entire requirement.