It's another Cask Strength release from Springbank! This 12 Year Old was drawn from a quartet of casks types - just under half of the whisky was aged in sherry casks, with 25% in bourbon, 25% in Burgundy wine casks, and 5% rested in Port casks. The result is a rich, sweet and earthy whisky, weighing in at 56.1% ABV.
Cigar box and hints of ash, with oily orange peel, polished oak and stewed orchard fruit, swiftly followed by balsamic touches and red fruit.
Cooked forest fruit, caramel chocolate and burnt brown sugar alongside more zesty citrus.
Old leather and dry spices, rounded off by jammy berries and a whisp of smoke.
The Springbank 12 special releases are good but so hard to find these days. I've tasted a half dozen of the 12's over the years. My advice is to move on to other distilleries. Special release Springbank and Kilkerran bottles are simply not worth the trouble. They aren't THAT good for crying out loud. Find yourself a lovely single cask Ardmore, Deanston, Glen Scotia, Tobermory, or Tormore to get a nice funky dram with loads of character. And if you have a sweet tooth then Lady of the Glen is quite reasonably priced and finished in very unique sweet wood casks, sometimes of octave size which makes the whisky taste far older than it is in actual years.
This is Campbelltown's finest 12 years single malt. NO QUESTION. It's complex. Like the 10y old you get this cider box hint and red fruits but it's more polished. Its very creamy on the palate and very very pleasant. Although it's an high ABV - no problem. The caramel and chocolaty super taste takes care of that !
