Springbank 11 yo – Local Barley 53,1% ABV

Dear friends and followers alike, a couple of weeks ago I received a package of different samples from the nice people of Symposion! The sample that I will share my notes on with you all is Springbank "Local Barley". But first some info on Springbank Distillery. From the handout/info I received I read:

"There are a few Scottish distilleries that still malt their own barley but Springbank is the only distillery which malts 100% of its own barley, using the traditional floor maltings. The whole production process: malting, milling, mashing, fermentation, distillation, maturation and bottling, happens on the one site in Campbeltown. This is unique in Scotland"

Given these facts, maybe it is in order to label Springbank as one of the few remaining "craft"-distilleries? Now, regarding this particular expression of Springbank, besides the obvious fact that "Local Barley" has been produced using only barley that has been grown locally around Campbeltown, the handout/info states that 9000 bottles have been produced for this batch, that the (vatting) strength is 53,1% ABV and the casks used are 100% bourbon. However it does not 

state what kind of bourbon casks (in terms of size and filling). That would be nice to know. 

Anyways, here in Sweden the Springbank "Local Barley" will be available at the state monopoly the day after tomorrow (the 20th of april) and you can view it by clicking here. Ok, lets do some nosing and tasting and see what we have!

Nose:

Big, fat and rich of vanilla-stuff, in fact the nose is very creamy indeed, smells yummie! The peat is definitely evident but in a kind of subdued way, presetin itself kind of like creamy ashes, there is also something ”green” about the peat, in one part sort of sea-ish (wet seaweed/tang) and in the other part something woods-y. The woods-y stuff is the most dominant. In the middle of these two layers (the vanilla/cream and the peat) is some kind of fruit, overripe pear comes to mind along whith some fruity candy, maybe orange colored bassets or swedish peach candy, in fact it’s almost as if this candy (whichever candy it is) has been dipped in white chocolate… nice!

Taste:

That’s a really cool start! It starts off with medium-salt-y peat, the peat is very chewable and more-ish. Instantly when I have swallowed, along comes that peach candy but it transforms very fast into candied lemon. In the early aftertaste a quick buzz of medium strong alcohol, then the peat comes through in the form of creamy ashes. I the late aftertaste everything goes over into some kind of medium burnt vanilla and burnt creamyness.

To sum up: 

The thing that strikes me with this dram (apart from the fact that it is a very drinkable one) is that the nose is so much more complex than the taste; most of the things going on in this dram happens on the nose and for some reason I had expected it to be the other way around. What I mean by this is firstly that Springbank is usually a quite big and robust whisky indeed (although its 10-15ppm), and secondly given the fact that this particular expression holds 53,1% ABV, could both be expected to result in a quite explosive dram. On the other hand, this does not mean that it is a boring whisky, it could mean that the blender at Springbank has deliberatly choosen very creamy casks resulting in a very calm taste. Nontheless, a very drinkable dram and a very interesting experience indeed. 

Big thanks to the nice people at Symposion for sharing a sample of this whisky and for the opportunity to review and try it before the release! Sláinte! Please make sure to follow my FB-page by clicking here, my twitter-page by clicking here, and my instagram by clicking here. Copyright © and All Rights Reserved on all tasting notes and text by SamuelWhisky and pictures likewise belong to SamuelWhisky, unless stated. If you would like to use any such material that belongs to SamuelWhisky or associated with SamuelWhisky, please ask by sending me an email to samuelkarlssonorebro[at]gmail.com

Picture/copyright belongs to Symposion

Swedish whisky from Box Distillery – 2nd Step Collection 03 51,3% ABV

Dear friends and followers! Today I received a sample from the nice people at Box Distillery, so once again it is time for me to share my thoughts on yet another swedish whisky! The sample contains the concluding and third part in their series entitled 2nd Step Collection. The information I have received states that the whisky has been predominantly matured in first fill bourbon casks, in fact 76% of the whisky has been matured in first fill bourbon casks. 19% has been matured in american virgin oak and finally 5% in virgin hungarian oak. The peating level is 38,6 ppm on average. For those of you interested in all the details of this particular bottling, Box Distillery has been kind enough to provide them here. 

Here in Sweden, this whisky will be released on the state monopoly the day after tomorrow (6th of april), 4000 bottles (out of 8291) will be available and you can view the product here 

Nose:

When pouring a dram from the sample, a beautiful and soft peatiness spreads throughout the room. When putting my nose towards the glass and softly breathing in I pick up a soft but very evident note of fir/christmas tree. Intermingling with that note is wall fern/polypody and beyond that is just a slight touch of building timbre. Given the fact that the majority of the whisky has been matured in first fill bourbon casks I had expetected there to be a quite big presence of vanilla, however that is not really the case, the thing in focus here is rather first of all the fir and second of all the building timbre. Trying to move beyond that layer I do spot some gentle peat and some kind of medium-salty saltyness so to speak, some kind of quite salty liquorice, maybe it’s the wall fern/polypody that pops up again? Anyways, all in all on the nose it’s a quite ”simple” dram we’ve got here with maybe three to four basic fragrances going on. So nothing is really popping out or ”disturbing”, everything is very well integrated. Ok, let’s see what we have on the taste

Taste:

Mmm, great whisky! As is mostly the case with peated Box matured predominatly in bourbon casks, everything starts off with a delicate mix of salt and sweet. But then, it quickly moves on into more salt. I swallow, and then comes at first even more salt, but very fast it moves on into quite intense peatyness, slowly moving on into whipped cream without added sugar, and then boom (!), there’s the vanilla (I’m glad you’re here because I love you very much). Then, in the aftertaste (and this is the greatness of this dram), the peat evolves more, and more, and more. Beautiful. It’s not a very dry peatyness, rather medium dry (or maybe not even medium dry), but I experience it as quite dry and that is due to the fact that the peat just goes on and on and on. Taking another sip, just after the initial salt I discover some kind of exotic fruit, I can’t really put my finger on it but is might be some kind of melon… or even soft guava… interesting. In the very last phase of the aftertaste the peat gives way to the soft vanilla which becomes more and more evident, slowly fading away

To sum up: 

It strikes me now that this is in fact a very mature expression of Box, maybe even the most mature Box I’ve ever tried. There are no traces of yeast or new make going on here, neither on the nose nor on the taste. And of course I knew on beforehand that this is the oldest whisky from Box Distillery yet to be released, and that might subconsiously affect my feeling that it’s the most mature Box yet. So let me phrase is another way, this expression and the components that have gone in to it are very, very, very well blended together. Great job fellas!

Big thanks to the nice people at Box Distillery for sharing a sample of this whisky and for the opportunity to review and try it before the release! Sláinte! Please make sure to follow my FB-page by clicking here, my twitter-page by clicking here, and my instagram by clicking here. Copyright © and All Rights Reserved on all tasting notes and text by SamuelWhisky and pictures likewise belong to SamuelWhisky, unless stated. If you would like to use any such material that belongs to SamuelWhisky or associated with SamuelWhisky, please ask by sending me an email to samuelkarlssonorebro[at]gmail.com

pic/copyright belongs to Box Distillery