A 23 year old Springbank distilled in 1997 and bottled in 2020 by the independent bottler The Whisky Baron, for its Renaissance Collection. It is a single fresh sherry butt, cask #289, bottled at 54.6% ABV with 553 bottles.
About This Whisky
This cask was filled at Springbank in 1997, the same year the distillery first ran its Hazelburn spirit. It spent 23 years in a fresh sherry butt, a large 500-litre cask filled with whisky for the first time, which gives deep colour and dried-fruit richness while the size keeps the oak from dominating. The Whisky Baron bottled it in 2020 at a natural 54.6%, giving 553 bottles.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Rich sherry, raisin and orange peel, with polished oak, sea air and a wax-and-leather note.
- Palate: Full and oily, with dried fig, dark chocolate, clove and a salty, savoury core.
- Finish: Long, with dried fruit, gentle smoke and lingering spice.
Serving & Food
Serve at room temperature in a copita. At 54.6% a splash of water lets the fruit through. It pairs well with char siu, slow-roasted lamb shoulder, or a board of dates and walnuts.
How to Enjoy
Fans of big sherried single casks, and followers of independent Springbank bottlings.
Product Details
Distillery: Springbank
Bottler: The Whisky Baron (Renaissance Collection)
Country: Scotland
Region: Campbeltown
Vintage / Bottling: Distilled 1997, bottled 2020
Age: 23 years old
Cask: Fresh sherry butt, cask #289
Outturn: 553 bottles
ABV: 54.6%
Volume: 700mL
About the Distillery
Campbeltown's position explains much of its past. Sitting near the foot of the Kintyre peninsula, it was easy to reach by boat and close enough to Ireland to see the coast on a clear day. That made it a natural centre for smuggling in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and whisky from the town is first mentioned in writing in 1591. By 1814 there were 22 legal distilleries in the area. Springbank's founders were part of that trade from its illicit days, and the distillery stands where Archibald Mitchell once ran an unlicensed still.