dun bheagan bottling of springbank 35year???

[suebee]

Hi, I am new and don't know much, so wanted to find out if you might know anything about a Dun Bheagan bottling of springbank (35 year old). It was about $299 US, should I return it? Is it worth it?

Thanks,

Sue

[suebee]

So, I bought it from a fairly reputable store in NYC (Astor place liquors) who said that they had gotten a barrel (?) and had the springbank independantly bottled by dun bheagan. There are only 200 bottles from the barrel, according to the label.

Based on my research thus far, springbank is supposed to be awesome. However, it seems as if independant bottling might be a little sketchy... any words of wisdom?

Thanks!!

[bamber]

Not wanting to sound partonising, but I don't think a $300 bottle of 35yo Springbank is the ideal place to start. I would either store it or return it.

I would at the very least try out the 10yo and 15yo OB before you open that bottle - you may find the house style does not agree with you or it will give a context from which to enjoy the one you have.

Ideally though, I would start out with the usual suspects - a peaty Islay - Lagavulin 16yo, say, Macallan 12yo sherry wood, Balvenie 10 and Talisker 10yo.

[Drrich1965]

Not wanting to sound partonising, but I don't think a $300 bottle of 35yo Springbank is the ideal place to start. I would either store it or return it.

I would at the very least try out the 10yo and 15yo OB before you open that bottle - you may find the house style does not agree with you or it will give a context from which to enjoy the one you have.

Ideally though, I would start out with the usual suspects - a peaty Islay - Lagavulin 16yo, say, Macallan 12yo sherry wood, Balvenie 10 and Talisker 10yo.

A good point! For $300, you can buy 4 pretty wonderful bottles, or even more.

Let's say this, for example, using appox. US Prices (Try Binny's in Chicago, http://www.binnys.com).

5 bottles

Lagavulin 16 $80
Springbank 12 $90
Dalmore 12 $30
Highland Park 12 $45
Balvenie 12 $50 (although some on this board clearlly prefer the 10 or 15, I like the double wood best of the three).

So, for under 300 dollars, you can have a pretty smashing version of the Springbank, and try a world class Islay, a Highland, a Orkney delight, and a sherry Speyside...

Each of the above have a replacement option (some would argue for the cheaper Ardbeg 10 or Laphroaig 10, they they are all great), but you get the idea.

[mikeymad]

Hi, I am new and don't know much, so wanted to find out if you might know anything about a Dun Bheagan bottling of springbank (35 year old). It was about $299 US, should I return it? Is it worth it?

Welcome to the forum.....

I have a bottle of this myself in my unopened stock (unless they have many bottlings of the 35yo). So, I can't really give a review of it at all at this point. I got it about a year or so ago, I think for around 200USD at auction.

If I knew your track record, I might say 'good job, open it up'. But, I might be along with the others here and say that you may wish to explore a little bit more before such a leap into a high cost (possibly high-end) beverage. It is akin to not knowing much about wine and buying the '03 Latour. You may not like it 'that' much.

Good luck, and let us know what happens,

[irishwhiskeychaser]

Place it like a trophy on you shelf for a while and salivate about what it might be like but as the others say do a bit of exploring first. Maybe start with a Springbank 100 (Highly rated on this Forum.) but also try a few other distilleries, all the above were good recomendations.

Then if you have the nerve dive into your wonder bottle.... It could well be a wonderful experience once you know what you want from a whisky. However price does not guarentee that you personally will like it.

Good luck with it

[Jan]

Hi Suebee

Welcome to these forums. May you have as an ejoyable and educational time here as I have had. (But hopefully less expensive.... be warned: Participating here seriously warps your perspective of a resonable price for a bottle of distilled barley)

As for your question, in my country a 35yo Dun Bheagan Springbank goes for appr. double of what you paid, so to me it seems a good price indeed.

I have only good experiences with the (few) old Springbanks I have had the good fortune to taste. Not all of them were phenomenal - but they were all very good and worthwhile.

If you really are a novice, I suggest you follow the advice expressed previously; Hang on to this bottle for some time, while you wean yourself on worthwhile, but less expensive expressions. (Or splurge on a matured Springbank at a well-stocked bar...)

But please; satisfy my curiosity; what is the tale behind a self-professed novice buying a $300 bottle of whisky ???

Cheers
Jan

[Deactivated Member]

To answer specifically one of your concerns, there is nothing "sketchy" about independent bottlers, generally. Dun Bheagan is well-known and has a good reputation.

[mikeymad]

Now that that I am looking at it I don't think that I have the same bottle. Here is a scan of my label.

[kallaskander]

Hi there,

behind Dun Bheagan stands Ian Macleod, one of the five big independent bottlers in Scotland, owner of Glengoyne Distillery.

http://www.ianmacleod.com/brands/

http://www.ianmacleod.com/brands/other_brands/

If you follow these links you will get a glimpse of what they do and how widespread their interests are. There is little doubt that that bottle of old Springbank is up to standards and most probably beyond.

Greetings
kallaskander

[suebee]

Hi, Thanks for all the GREAT responses! I actually bought the dun beaghan springbank 35 on behalf of a friend who asked me to buy some good scotches for him (he is paying me back!!). This friend is an avid scotch drinker. This friend has all the islay scotches already, including but not limited to the lagavalin, coal ila (i learn vicariously). (the dun bheagan springbank was purchased along with a mccallan 25). The McCallan 25 was $350 (which I looked at the internet and is considered a "decent" price). I was just worried that the dun bheaghan springbank 35 year single malt vintage bottling was NOT worth the amount., as he had never heard of it and was like "what did you buy me??" although he did pay me back for it... I just didn't want to make a bad purchase for my friend. Based on the reviews, the dun bheagan 35 year old springbank at $300 isn't a terrible price, right?

[suebee]

PS-- MikeyMad-- The bottle I got IS the same as your bottle, except the bottle was bottled in 2006!!

[Frodo]

35yr Springbank @ $300 is a good deal IMHO. You could have paid a lot more for this kind of bottling. I'd peg it's value at about 1.7-2.0 times what you paid for it.