Springbank Distillery, Scotland     founded: 1828 | active
For more detailed mapping of the distilleries in the area from our whisky map page, use this link.

Either someone is building an extension to a hospital or can we smell two types of plaster (wall and antiseptic). Whatever it is, someone's having a break to get a hearty breakfast of cereal, waffles with bacon and maple syrup, and brioche toast. There's a surprising warmth to the smell, is this actually a hot toddy?

It's a sherry bomb, perhaps unexpectedly so, maybe even too much so for some, with that slight sherry rubberiness. It's also smokier than your average Springbank, to the extent that someone asks pointedly if this is Longrow. Various kinds of confectionary are vying for our attention here - of the sucky sweet variety (cola cubes, barley sugars), more fruit-based efforts (fruit salads, tangfastics) and finally dark chocolate. It's juicy and full-tang. That bacon hasn't gone away either .

The finish is dry and hot. It buzzes like a nearby wasp . The sweets are still there, the cola cubes transformed into actual flat coca cola, and the fruit salads are more specifically apple-flavoured. There's definitely the peel of a citrus fruit, although there is some disagreement about which one, and whether it is desiccated or not.

This was always likely to be a winner with our group, but perhaps impressed a touch more than we expected.

~£45 (70cl)

https://www.whiskybase.com/whisky/85595/springbank-12-year-old