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Wednesday, June 15, 2022

Springbank Madeira Cask Matured 17 Year Campbeltown Single Malt Scotch Whisky

VITALS:
- $250
- 95.6 Proof
- 17 Years
- Campbeltown

This was absolutely a splurge bottle. I bought it a couple years back, and it was one of those bottles that I ordinarily wouldn't drop that kind of coin on, but at the time I had just gotten my bonus at work and was looking for a "splurge" bottle to celebrate, and this had just landed at my store. Even then, I certainly gave it a second thought. At that time the tariffs on Scotch imports were still in place, and even with that additional tax, the price seemed a bit exorbitant.

However, my love for Springbank and my intrigue over the Madeira cask finish got the best of me (as well as the availability of some expendable funds), and I pulled the trigger. I don't know that I'll ever spend that kind of money on a 17 year Scotch again, but I will say that in this case, I don't regret it and I don't have buyer's remorse, as this was truly delicious!

On the nose I got great notes of strawberry and dark chocolate. Chocolate covered strawberries was one of my mom's favorite treats, so we had them around my house frequently, and this took me right back to then. There was also a light smoke to it as well.  It's certainly not heavily peated, but just a touch of char added to the mix.

The flavor was full of rich, dark fruit notes. I got bright and deep blackberry, blueberry and currant notes. It also had that bright and fresh strawberry note that I was getting on the nose. That was all accompanied by the notes of dark chocolate, with even a touch of balancing bitterness.

It was certainly on the sweeter end of the spectrum, with that sweetness not only coming from those bright fruit-forward notes, but also notes of honey and even burnt sugar. It was more of a natural sweetness, in that sense, accompanied by a light char or smoke note.

On the finish, that all came together to kind of provide a sweet and tangy barbecue note that just kind of stuck around in my cheeks. There was a light pepper note as well as a bit of that smoke note that also seemed to linger a bit, but those sweet and tangy notes really stuck around forever, making me want more and more.

Again, this was a very pricey bottle, but it was also incredibly tasty and I'm so glad I got my hands on one. I tried to do a slow-burn, enjoying it periodically, but by the time I got to the bottom third of my bottle, the rest just seemed to magically disappear! Not sure how that happened!

Grade: A

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