An experimental precursor then, perhaps, to the excellent Rundlets & Kilderkins release that arrived world-wide a few years later.
Springbank 1998 (For Premium Scotch Importers Pty Ltd, Australia) 53.3% (2009 Release)
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| Look at the colour! |
Nose: Sweet sherry, spices, cola. Dark chocolate. Some freshness too. Engine oil
lurking beneath the sweeter stuff. Time and water see something a little meaty
emerge.
Palate: Pretty huge. Sherry,
leather, chilli, cloves and mild peat. Dark fruits and spices. The addition of water levels out the spices, balancing out the palate. More fruit. Some dark – raisins, plums - but
now some lighter, fresher, stuff too. Overripe yellow fruit. Peaches and treacle.
Finish: Long.
Warming and sweet. Spices build again in the next wave. Cola, dark plums, dried
fruit. Finishes salty, spicy and sweet, a hint of gunpowder - just right. Huge finish.
Look, this is going to sound like a pretty hot take but I
think this is the best sherried Springbank I’ve yet had. Clean as a whistle, it
doesn’t suffer from an overdose of sulphur like some sherried Springers can (particularly
single casks). The smaller casks have matured this release wonderfully.
It's still available here and there but will set you back a few hundred (AU) bucks. Probably worth it though.
An awesome whisky.
