Time for some malt review, after a long time (that Indian blend was not a malt, right?), and what better distillery to start the review season with, than Springbank?
This Springbank is quite special in two ways : first of all I was distilled using Organic barley (which is trendy and cool), and was aged in 100% ex-Bourbon casks, which is unusual for springbank as they love using sherry casks vatting most malts. This has been quite a limited edition (9,000) bottles, and bottled at the nice 46% abv, aged for 12 years, did I say that already? I was fortunate to try this one only recently while visiting a friend I did not see for quite some time (thank you Ofer). Let’s go…
Springbank Green 12 yo , 46% abv , £51
Nose: You can tell this is a Springer from first sniff, with its earthy peat, and coastal ‘dirty’ notes, but this is not a full power springbank at least for me the nose is somewhat subdued and fresher, a bit creamy too with some vanilla peach ice cream.
Palate: The palate is nice and creamy too, with some lemon and citrus, as well as creamy vanilla, peach , malt and cereal, best described by a friend as “springbank ice cream”. bingo!
There’s of course the earthy peat, with a hint of ash, and pine tree flowers honey.
Finish: Medium length, with the creamy, biscuit-y notes and a pinch of lemon rind.
A very nice dram all in all, creamier than usual, and not as biting as some 12 year old Springers. I quite liked it, but I do like the regular sherry vatting 12 year olds better than this (certainly the CS versions). A good buy if you’re a springer fan, the price is right.