IN the spring of 1997 , a group of four friends started an adventurous journey that culminated in buying a cask of Springbank in May that year. This January after 22 years!! (wow), their endeavor resulted in bottling this refill sherry cask. As you well know most private casks are bottled earlier than 22 years, and those friends really had quite some patience, didn’t they?
I was fortunate enough to get a wee sample of this one, and happy to post my notes. This one was sold exclusively by BestOfWhiskies.com, but sadly at this time, it’s completely sold out.
Springbank 1997 Private Cask #582 , 55.4% abv , SOLD OUT
Nose: A lovely older springer, classy and deep with a nice minerality to it: limestone, some citrus (mostly oranges, but touches of lemon), hessian, a bit herbal with quite some autumn leaves, hints of mint and herbs, as well as oil paint and a hint of peat and distant fruit. quite layered and complex…
Palate: Quite earthy on the start, the peat and soot are much stronger. Bitter and spiced with coffee beans, pepper, and dark bitter 90% chocolate, licorice, and lemon peel, ending on bitter earth and ashes.
Finish: Quite long, with an abundance of peat, and bitter coffee ground and wood.
Conclusion: A splendid whisky indeed. Don’t expect big sherry notes, this is indeed a refill barrel and it’s mostly about citrus fruit and peat/ soot and spices. Lovely stuff. Well done guys.
Score: 90/100
Thank you Hilde,Martjin,Marcel and Jeroen