Review #171 - Springbank 18 Year — Me, My Wife & Whisky

Springbank 18 - the first of the 'older' Springbank single malts, you could say, and the cutoff before the price goes absolutely crazy, at least in our area. This isn't cheap, either, but due to the limited production of the 21 Year, 25 Year, and 30 Year bottles, their costs are exorbitant.

We were lucky enough to find a bottle, specifically the 2022 release (bottled in August), and after hearing so much about the distillery and this age statement, we were eager to dig into this malt. This year, the cask makeup was a majority of ex-bourbon barrels, 65% to be precise, while ex-sherry casks made up the other 35% of the maturation.

As usual with Springbank, we get all of the good presentation marks: no chill filtering, no added coloring, and a strength of 46% ABV.

Springbank 18 Year

Scotland/Campbeltown - Single Malt

Price Paid: USD 230 (2023)

Current Locally Available Price: USD 250 (2023)

Age Statement: 18 Years

Strength: 46% ABV

Cask Makeup: 65% ex-bourbon, 35% ex-sherry cask (2022 release)

Details: Not chill filtered, no color added

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times over 3 months; bottles at 90%, 80%, and 60% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes

Nose: Deep, a bit dirty or earthy, with some root beer and a bit of spirit influence still lingering; some chocolatey notes like cocoa and chalky dark chocolate, and then hints of cigar smoke. This take a long time to open up - later, the nose moved toward bookcases or old books, old polished wood, and some soft peat smoke. Hints of savory scents like charred barbecue and meaty mushrooms, and then some brown spices; soft notes of brine and oil.

Palate: The mouthfeel is medium-thick, and the main theme is those dark, sweet, subtle flavors again: root beer and sassafras, dessert wine, milk chocolate, cocoa powder, and a strong cola note. There is a slightly fizzy, spirity side, but that's relatively reserved; the classic 'Campbeltown funk' is definitely in play, with flavors of earth and light funkiness. With time, sweeter brown sugar and orange make their ways out; it gets more syrupy; old, polished wood grows stronger.

Finish: Medium-long, with the softest layer of sweet peat smoke lingering. There's still a nice character and weight to the spirit: earthy, coating, and soft warmth. Sassafras and cigar smoke linger for a while, along with old wood and a hint of chocolate.

Final Note: This is a very good whisky. It didn't quite wow us like we expected, but that's probably on us - because of the reputation that Springbank enjoys these days, we had extremely high expectations for this bottle. It was more subtle than we expected, more restrained, but still full of quality and nice, dark, old flavors.

As always, the trick is finding the bottle - even when you can, it often is quite expensive, depending on where you buy it, and how many middlemen it has gone through to get there. Because of that, value suffers a bit; still, it's a unique experience, and in the realm of premium-priced whiskies, this is a good malt.

Our Average Rating: 7.9 / 10

In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.

Value Rating: 5.03