I’ve reviewed four Springbank whiskies from Decadent Drinks in the past couple of years. Always high quality (90+ points) although the price often tempered my enthusiasm a little.
After the 1996 Special Edition in the retro green cognac bottle, there is now a Springbank 1999 in the same bottle shape. It is the third release in the Westie Sponge series.
Springbank 24 yo 1999 (54,5%, Decadent Drinks ‘Westie Sponge’ 2024, first-fill sherry butt)
Nose: quite brilliant. Plenty of tobacco notes (Cubans), proper old Oloroso, hints of worn leather and copper polish. The typical earthy character of course, mixed with chocolate cookies. Then blackcurrants, black olives, smoked almonds. Old resin, Pu-Erh tea, dark sugar and garage oils too. Bitter oranges and herbs in the background, as well as some waxy gravel.
Mouth: rich and well textured, with truckloads of tobacco (my grandfather’s pipe), walnut bitterness and cough syrup, focusing on the herbal side. Blackberries, wet soil and velvety peat smoke. Then oriental woods, dried herbs and eucalyptus, as well as black olives. Some carbolic hints, a little diesel and dried meats, along with liquorice and hints of drops of inquina.
Finish: very long, still on cough syrup and herbal liqueur, resins and tar.
This shows a great (1960s) style of sherry with plenty of herbal notes, and peaty notes as a supporting act. Superb whisky, recommended especially when you’re a sucker for whiskies with a tobacco character. For me it forms a perfectly balanced mix of the refill 1994 and the more intense 1996 Special Edition.
Available from the Decadent Drinks website, as well as from retailers like The Whisky Exchange or Royal Mile Whiskies.