February 2012 Archives

The Springbank distillery actually produces three different brands of single malt at the one location -  Springbank, Longrow and Hazelburn. In addition to being one of the few operating distilleries located in Campbeltown, they also are one of the only distilleries that performs all malting, distilling, aging, and bottling on-site. Given this, it's no surprise that Springbank was shortlisted in Whisky Magazine's distillers of the year back in 2010. The Springbank CV expression combines various aged Springbank malts aged in a mixture of casks including ones that formerly held bourbon, sherry and port.

Nose: Cedar/piney with menthol giving way to a mild sweetness. There are bready undertones complimented by sour fruit.

We cracked this bottle open on the occasion of our 4th anniversary and served it alongside homemade scotch eggs and a mixed green salad topped with candied walnuts. The unexpected smoky elements and gentle sweetness of this limited expression of Clynelish provided a delightful counterpoint to the sweet and bitter elements in our salad and was a match made in heaven for our cheese layered scotch eggs with the yolks still runny.

Produced from only a single ex-sherry cask from the Ben Nevis distillery (cask number 2697), this exceptional 17 year old single malt bottled by the fine folks over at Signatory Vintage is a shining example of a quality highland whisky which provides a well balanced and extremely smooth, albeit sweet profile. Rarely have I encountered a malt in this age range as smooth as this, in fact while we don't see much from Ben Nevis in Ontario, one gets the sense that great vintages are hiding in the warehouses of this distillery.