Springbank

Longrow Red 15 Year Pinot Noir

Longrow Red 15 Year Pinot Noir

Springbank is one of the most storied distilleries in Scotland, a land rife with history and legends centered around whisky. The history of scotch in general has seen a number of boom and bust cycles and Springbank is one of the few survivors in Campbeltown of a particularly strong bust cycle of when there were upwards of 30 distilleries in this town of a few thousand on the eastern side of the Kintyre peninsula that faces the Isle of Arran and is only separated from Northern Ireland by a little over ten miles of open water. One of the three current major brands of Springbank is Longrow, named after another lost Campbeltown distillery, and is their peated single malt that is twice distilled. The Longrow Red series is a yearly release bottled at cask strength. No two years are the same, as a different type of red wine cask is used to mature the whisky, whether or not any kind of finish is used. This Longrow Red 15 Year was finished in fresh Pinot Noir casks from New Zealand for four years after 11 years in ex-bourbon barrels. 

Hazelburn 14 Year Oloroso Cask

Hazelburn 14 Year Oloroso Cask

Springbank distillery produces three single malt brands and of these, the Hazelburn is perhaps most unique in that it is one of the few whiskies produced in Scotland that are distilled three times (far more normal for their brethren whiskies across the water in Ireland). Distilling an extra time can remove more of what is often described as the “burn” provided by the alcohol in a scotch. Another unusual twist to this scotch is the maturation. While it is not uncommon to finish a whisky in another cask near the end of its aging for a few months or a year to give it additional character, this expression spent the entirety of its maturation in fresh ex-Oloroso casks.

Scotchology: Year Six

Scotchology: Year Six

Entering the realm of the absurd, July 2019 marks the sixth anniversary of Scotchology. The past couple of years have seen less drastic changes and even some relative stability. As of this posting, we currently have 123 reviews, comprising 88 scotches and 35 world whiskies. Social media continues to be the way we interact with others in the whisky community that are not in our immediate geographic vicinity. Apparently all the cool kids are doing it nowadays. We’re in a groove, and it feels good.