Springbank 27 Year Private Cask #273 1992 700mL

A single private cask of Springbank distilled in December 1992 and bottled in March 2020 at 27 years old. It spent its whole life in refill bourbon hogshead #273, which gave 186 bottles at a natural 48.4% ABV.

About This Whisky

This hogshead was filled in December 1992, a few years after Springbank resumed distilling. Refill bourbon wood adds little colour and only gentle vanilla, so after 27 years the spirit itself still leads: waxy, mineral and briny. It was bottled in March 2020 at 48.4%, and the outturn was 186 bottles. Reviewers have described it as a clear example of early-1990s Springbank.

Tasting Profile

• Nose: Lemon curd, waxed paper and oily wool, with wet rocks, clay, tart apple and a hint of oyster shell.
• Palate: Lemony smoke, grapefruit and brine, then green orchard fruit, olive oil, beeswax and a touch of mint.
• Finish: Medium-long, with peach, brine, heather and wet pebbles.

Serving & Food

Serve slightly cool, around 18°C, in a tulip glass and taste it neat; it rarely needs water at this strength. Fresh oysters, lemon sole or a salty Parmesan are good company.

How to Enjoy

Drinkers who value spirit character over heavy cask influence, and those who seek out older refill-cask Springbank.

Product Details

About the Distillery

The Mitchell family's links run across Campbeltown. When John and William Mitchell ended their partnership in 1872, John kept Springbank and William went on to build Glengyle distillery nearby. Glengyle closed in the 1920s, but J&A Mitchell rebuilt it, and its first distillation in 2004 made it the first new distillery in Campbeltown in more than a century. That helped Campbeltown keep its standing as a separate whisky region. The same company owns Cadenhead's, the independent bottler, so Springbank and Cadenhead's are run by the same family company in the town.