Springbank

by **Aidan** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 6:41 pm

is almost never discussed here. Why is that? It is a pretty big hitter in the world of Scotch.

... apart from Hazelburn, that is.

by **Deactivated Member** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 6:56 pm

Strange indeed.

Whilst on the topic of Springbank, I keep a track of current prices for many bottlings, most are seen on Ebay, but also other stores.

At the moment, all older and collectible Springbanks are achieving much higher prices than I have seen before!
In Germany (Ebay) this is happening more so than anywhere else.
There seems to be a great Springbank resurgence just now.

Regards,
WH

by **Lawrence** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 7:22 pm

It's true, Springbank have not been very visible on these forums of late and they've been releasing some new whiskies. Do you think the high prices are detering people from buying? In my market, the 10 year old is C$95 and that's the most expensive 10 year old available, the Longrow 10 is C$160 and the Hazelburn 8 is $130.

by **Deactivated Member** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 7:32 pm

Being very new around here, I can't really comment on why they're not mentioned so much on the forums. However, I will add to your pricing comments.

When The Hazelburn was first introduced in Germany, it carried a price of just under €60, if you could find an online dealer with some.

Two weeks later, it was selling on Ebay for up to €200 per bottle!
This has now fallen back and the typical price tends to be around €90 to €120.

In the UK (Ebay) I still see them selling for more than that.

Longrow:
The Munich Whisky Festival was in February and Springbank took their new Longrow 100 Proof (Bright red box) along. This was the first time it had been offered to the public (so they said) and I tried some.
Not a success to me!
It was just too much "Bang!!!" or "Whooomph!!!!" on the taste buds.
No flavour came through, just the power.
That one isn't one I shall be running out to buy.

WH

by **Frodo** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 7:40 pm

I was actually considering an OMC 10yr Springbank at $140 down from $180. I figured this is a decent price for a good Springbank. After thinking about it, I just couldn't justify the cost. I like Springbank - the ones I've tried anyway. The lower aged ones are just not worth the price point considering what's in the bottle IMHO.

I can see why others like it. Just can't see myself spending more for it than - say - Bruichladdich, which is already pretty pricy IMHO.

by **Mr Ellen** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 8:08 pm

Regarding Springbank it was discussed just a couple of days ago on this forum under "Questions And Answers" - Campbeltown Virgin Seeks Advice".
Here's the link:

http://www.whiskymag.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3536

Cheers...
_______________________
Anders

by **Deactivated Member** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 10:18 pm

I have never found younger Springbanks impressive, and they are indeed relatively costly. Several forumites here have sung the praises of some older bottlings, but one is much less likely to fork over the necessary coin for such if one was not too impressed with the standard bottling to begin with. Given their independence and history, I would like very much to like Springbank. Hasn't happened yet. I will make a mental note to seek out a few drams next time I'm in Scotland.

by **posterboy** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 4:20 pm

I am a huge Springbank fan, but I have been put off lately by them. I was going to buy the recent 21 yr release, but I heard some mixed things about it (never saw a review in Whisky Mag, however) and the price was so high (US$450) that I was not going to spend that much money on something unless I had a better sense of it. Mind you, the older Springbank 21 is among my favorite whiskies ever at any price. The pricing here is partially a function of their US importer, Priess, who jacks the prices up in a huge way. To compare, go to Springbank's website and see how much they charge you if you buy it direct.

I think the 10 and 15 yr. are also very, very good but are expensive nonetheless. As far as I know, the Hazelburn 8 yr has not been imported into the US yet but my wife was kind enough to pick up a bottle for me on a recent trip to London (I have not opened yet, however).

by **Deactivated Member** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 4:27 pm

Do a search on "Preiss gouging" and you will see that we have discussed this issue before. The importer is certainly doing their client no favors.

by **irishwhiskeychaser** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 4:58 pm

In general is Spring bank peated or non peated?

by **Aidan** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 5:17 pm

Springbank is pretty lightly peated, but their Longrow has much more peat. The distillery also kind of triple distills a portion of thieir malt and double distills the rest.

They also released the Hazelburn, which is triple distilled and unpeated.

by **karlejnar** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 12:03 am

Just to add a little more info to Aidan's post:
Springbank malt is dried 6 hours over peat fire and the rest of the time using just hot air (from coal fire I guess) and is 2½ times distilled (low wines are mixed with a portion of spirit from the spirit still)
Phenol contents in the newmake is as far as I know 25ppm

Longrow malt is dried entirely over peat fire for 36 hours and only distilled twice as most of scottish malts.
Phenol contents in the newmake is as far as I know 50ppm

Hazelburn malt is dried over hot air for 36 hours and tripple distilled

by **WhiskyHill** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 11:29 pm

The pre-closure (distilled before 1982) Springbanks are superior to the newer bottlings. I've done many head to head comparisons on old vs. new 12 and 15 year olds. The new stuff isn't bad - it's rather good for the most part - but if you can get your hands on some of the old 15 and HTH it with some new stuff you'll know. This could explain the high prices of the oldr stuff, but then again older bottlings of any quality malt are going through the roof.

Also, beware of the 1987 - 1990 distillations. Springbank didn't open up their floor maltings until 1991 so the stuff distilled before was using commercial malt.

by **Wendy** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 5:53 pm

Hello Everyone:

I was wondering if anyone could provide their tasting notes/impression on Hazelburn First Release.

I have searched the forum for tasting notes, but was unable to find any. I apologize ahead of time if I missed them somewhere.

Thank you,
Wendy

by **Jan** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 7:52 pm

Wendy wrote:Hello Everyone:

I was wondering if anyone could provide their tasting notes/impression on Hazelburn First Release.

I have searched the forum for tasting notes, but was unable to find any. I apologize ahead of time if I missed them somewhere.

Thank you,
Wendy

Hi Wendy

I have not tasted the Hazelburn so can't help directly.

But you can find tasting notes at Whiskyfun: http://whiskyfun.com/archivenovember05-2.html#171105

And at MM: http://www.maltmadness.com/mm17.html
(Scroll down a bit)

Cheers
Jan

by **Wendy** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 11:32 am

Hello Jan,
Thank you so much for the references. It was helpful. I am missing an opportunity to sample the Hazelburn First Release this week, so I just wanted to hear what others thought of it.
Have a great day!
Wendy

by **Jan** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 11:59 am

Wendy, glad if I could be of help.

Cheers
Jan

Springbank

Springbank

Hazelburn First Release

Re: Hazelburn First Release