Springbank rumour distillery to be mothballed?

[fishboy]

I've just pulled the following post from the Springbank society forum, so its now third hand (it was pulled originally from a german whisky forum). Apparently Springbank is to be mothballed!!!!

"Springbank to be mothballed
Antworten Zitieren Favoriten Kontakt
Gerücht:
Springbank hat zu viel im Warehouse und wird erst mal schließen, bis wieder was geht (nächstes Jahr wird nichts produziert) - die Arbeiter sind bereits benachrichtigt worden. Es heißt "streamlining" oder kurze Schließung, was immer da nun rauskommt.
Kann man in dieser Boomzeit kaum glauben, in der neue Distillen aus dem Boden schießen.
Und das mit dem Bau von Glengyle...traurig. Ich hoffe, Sie fangen sich in einem Jahr wieder.

Schade!!!"


Can anyone provide a decent translation (M-T? Anyone?)

Something about the Warehouse being full? Surely this can't be true...must be some other explanation (maybe closing to work on Glengyle?). Should have worked harder on my German at school.

FB

[Deactivated Member]

Answers quoting favorite contact Rumor: Jumping bank has too much in the Warehouse and will only times close, until again which goes (next year is not produced anything) - the workers were already informed. It is called " streamlining" or short locking, which rauskommt always there now. One can hardly believe in this boom time, in which new Distillen from the ground shoots. And with the building of Glengyle... sadly. I hope, you am caught in one year again.

Thats what babelfish gives us.
I love Jumpingbank - especially the 10yo

There's more chance of FeisIslay selling Nick a bottle of HP QOS than this being true.................I hope

[Deactivated Member]

Basically: Springbank's got too much stock in the warehouse and will close for a while until there's more room (next year they won't produce anything) - the workers have already been notified. It's called streamlining or mothballing. One can hardly believe in the present boom in which new distilleries are being opened. And with the building of Glengyle, tragic. I hope they get back up and running in a year's time..

Shame.

[fishboy]

I love Jumpingbank - especially the 10yo

There's more chance of FeisIslay selling Nick a bottle of HP QOS than this being true.................I hope

I too love jumpingbank, although I favour the 15 year old.

[fishboy]

Basically: Springbank's got too much stock in the warehouse and will close for a while until there's more room (next year they won't produce anything) - the workers have already been notified. It's called streamlining or mothballing. One can hardly believe in the present boom in which new distilleries are being opened. And with the building of Glengyle, tragic. I hope they get back up and running in a year's time..

Shame.

Thanks Nick - What do you think? Any possibility of this being true?
For myself, given the complete lack of any really old stock (the oldest cask in the warehouse is only 19 years old) and the low volume of production, I'd be surprised if they'd reached their storage capacity. But stranger things have happened.

Nothing as strange as Nick buying an HP QoS from FI though I admit....

[Deactivated Member]

I've no idea whether or not it's true. I speak German but, alas, missed out on the predicting the future classes. It's plausible because lots of distilleries operate on this kind of basis and Springbank may not want to tie up lots of money in more stock in the lead up to a recession. Springbank has had financial problems in the past, I think, and traded through it by offloading all their old stock at very low prices. That probably leaves them in quite a precarious position now.

[fishboy]

I've no idea whether or not it's true. I speak German but, alas, missed out on the predicting the future classes. It's plausible because lots of distilleries operate on this kind of basis and Springbank may not want to tie up lots of money in more stock in the lead up to a recession. Springbank has had financial problems in the past, I think, and traded through it by offloading all their old stock at very low prices. That probably leaves them in quite a precarious position now.

I wasn't expecting you to predict the future or to demonstrate inside knowledge of any mothballing. I was merely asking for an opinion (hence the "what do you think?") which you kindly provided - thanks.

FB

[Di Blasi]

I wouldn't believe this, maybe it's a delayed April Fool's, or maybe April Fool's happens in Campbeltown a few months later??
Either way, if it is true, perhaps it's smarter for them to contact the marketing team at Bruichladdich for assistance!!

[jazz lover]

time to stock up!!!

[Newbie]

Can't believe this is true, perhaps Lawerance who just visited Springbank can shed some light on this matter!

[vengey]

:evil:
time to stock up!!!

Or is it? Maybe it's about to get cheaper.

I would suspect any over production must of happened in the past few years, when the global economy was booming. I can't see them being full of older stuff.

Could be they are just being cautious and this is a 1 year wait and see thing.

[kallaskander]

Hi there,

the rumour originates from the member of a well known German whisky club. They say they have it from somebody who visited the distillery and heard it there.

There is nothing official about that story as yet from any source who has authority to make such anouncements, e.g. nothing from Springbank on the subject!

The first post in this thread was clearly marked as "rumour". There is nothing new on this subject in the German forum as yet.

http://whisky.de/Forum/forums/thread/93402.aspx

Greetings
kallaskander

[WhiskyViking]

Since we're posting links to other forums in this thread I might post a couple also:

I first read about this in a Norwegian Forum who also had it from the German one, but also with a note from a Swedish Forum where a gentleman also knew about it (supposedly directly from Springbank). But this gentleman rang up the Swedish importer of Springbank, who didn't know about it, who in turn rang Springbank directly. According to this gentleman the rumour was confirmed, and a press release will be issued towards the end of the week.

[Reggaeblues]

Jazz-Lover is right, I believe...save Jumpingbank! Buy Cambeltown!

Let's hope stocks of Longline and Hazelfire are unnaffected.

[Willie JJ]

save Jumpingbank! Buy Cambeltown!

Let's hope stocks of Longline and Hazelfire are unnaffected.

Excellent RB!

The whole things sounds ridiculous. They invest huge sums of money re-opening a distillery and then mothball the main one, because of storage problems. Pete Curry is always saying he has the best job in the world because its easy for him to sell all they make. Why the hell don't they build a new shed? Unbelievable!

[jazz lover]

Willie you are a GENIUS!!!

[fishboy]

Why the hell don't they build a new shed? Unbelievable!

I've certainly go room in my shed for at least a couple of casks. I'll drop them a line and offer my help.



Seriously though, there must be more to it than warehouse space? If they knew this was going to be an issue why build Glengyle which is only going to exacerbate things.

[Deactivated Member]

I don't think "too much stock in the warehouse" means insufficient storage space. More likely it's that stock is piling up faster than sales projections. In other words, there is more than enough stock available to fill projected needs. Probably not anything to worry about overmuch, unless you're a laid-off Springbank employee.

I wonder if there's more to this story--a possible refurbishment or brand makeover (to start two more unfounded rumors). Let's see what the press release says.

[Willie JJ]

You could be right Bruce, but that is counter to what the Springbank sales manager has been saying for a while now. It is more or less impossible to get Springbank in a UK supermarket because they refuse to discount on the grounds that they don't need the sales.

As you say. Time will tell

[Deactivated Member]

It may well be a cashflow issue. I think Springbank has not had smooth finances in the past. That's when they sold off all their old stock for very low prices. If all their money is now tied up in young stock and given that they have started out on a new distillery that won't yield anything for a few years, they may well be in some difficulty. Distilling is not about selling whisky at prices it cost to produce, it's about balancing sale of stock against current production costs. If they are in trouble, they might have decided to stop paying for production and worry about the consequences later.

But perhaps they are being cautious. Whilst they can sell stock now, they may worry that holding a lot of slow-maturing stock is a risk in a recession, especially if their business model requires them to price their whisky quite highly. They may fear a wave of casualties in the next few years and want to plan for it.

Who can say - one thing's for sure, they aren't going to be totally candid about their thinking.

[Willie JJ]

You might be right Nick.

It all looks very disorganised, but the it is Springbank.

[corbuso]

It is still a rumour and would be suprised if that they are really reducing their activities. Sales are going well with their new releases and I don't believe in the story of warehouses full.

Corbuso
.............
http://www.whisky-news.com

[Willie JJ]

It is still a rumour and would be suprised if that they are really reducing their activities.

I couldn't agree more Patrick.

[Deactivated Member]

...I don't believe in the story of warehouses full.

Again, no one has said this--it seems to me a misinterpretation. It's "too much stock in the warehouse", not "too much stock for the warehouse". In other words, more stock than is necessary for projected needs--warehouse space is irrelevant.

[I_SPEY]

I've heard from a wellknown whisky-shop in Holland, that it might be a commercial trick.IMHO: the only two things we can do is: wait or buy.
The collectors have to drink their own stock and the drinkers have to run for getting more stock.

Anyway, I don't believe SP.

[irishwhiskeychaser]

...I don't believe in the story of warehouses full.

Again, no one has said this--it seems to me a misinterpretation. It's "too much stock in the warehouse", not "too much stock for the warehouse". In other words, more stock than is necessary for projected needs--warehouse space is irrelevant.

I'm with you on this one Mr T-H and with a very possible world recession looming it is not the worst think they could do in cooling down their production. Mothballing may even be too strong a word for it. Anyway how much springbank is going to disappear off the shelves between now and a press conference .....

[Willie JJ]

I totally agree that there is no need to panic buy, now or at any time in the future. Whether this is true or not they will not want to leave themselves without any stock to sell. They definitely can't make any money if there is no product to sell.

At worst they are stopping production for a short period to allow warehouse stock to fall a bit. They may even decide to do this on a regular basis for a while. But Springbank have regularly diverted production staff periodically to help out at Glen Scotia and now to run Glengyle. There's nothing unusual in it.

[irishwhiskeychaser]

Willie what's your top affordable Springbank?

I read in another thread that you mentioned the batch variability. It is a great malt but I do hate it when you getting something a bit less that you expected. Same sort of issue with Talisker 10yo

[Willie JJ]

If you just want VFM Adrian I would go for the 100 proof 10yo.

[Willie JJ]

How about the 1997 batch 1?

I think batch 2 is a little better, but yes that's a good alternative.

[les taylor]

If you just want VFM Adrian I would go for the 100 proof 10yo.

I'm with you on this one Willie it's a staple in my collection. Being Cask strength as well t's great value for money. This is how the Great One describes it.

Springbank 100 Proof OB 10yo 57%alc. Bottling of the Year 2004

That's more like it! An Ace! Loch Fyne Whiskies Bottling of the Year 2004!

Powerfully sweet with a hint of peat, this is a good medium-weight Springbank (not like the sherried monster that was the old 100 Proof), there's a growing fruitiness, especially pears.

The swallow has smoke, and, something very unusual that I'd describe as an explosive after-finish!


He Quite likes the 15 as well.

[irishwhiskeychaser]

Cheers to all my mentors

Just decided to look up my tasting notes and I was raving about the 100 proof .......


I wonder was I just raving or did I really like it

Okay another one for the hit list

[kallaskander]

Hi there,

in the German whisy forum where all originated it has been confirmed that Springbank will be closed from coming Monday for two years.

The emlpoyees have been given their notices.

The participants of the Springbank whisky school currently held there were told that Springbank will close.

One member of the German forum is currently at Springbank and has confirmed that he will see the last day of production at Springbank for two years on Friday.

I give you the link to the German forum.

http://whisky.de/Forum/forums/thread/93402.aspx

The admin there has confirmed that the employees were told about the closure and that there will be a pause for two years.

It is said that there is enough whisky in stock to carry over the time.


No reasons are given.


I can think that it is high time for a refurbishment at Springbank.The old ladsy looked always a bit worn, didn`t she?

Greetings
kallaskander

[Willie JJ]

Well there's something to talk about for a wee while, eh?

Thanks Kalaskander.

Does that mean the Springbank forum will be down during this time, or will it carry on as normal?

[Deactivated Member]

My translation may have given rise to some of the ambiguities. I suggested that they would close until there's more room - that was a bit of interpretation. The actual translation is more like closed until something happens. Mothballing was also my word - the German word has no direct translation but literally means short shutting.