At the end of March we held our regular tasting and decided that the theme would be Campbeltown Malts. Campbeltown is on the Kintyre peninsula of Scotland. In years past there were dozens of distilleries on the peninsula but now there are only a few.
The most popular distillery there is Springbank. They produce Springbank Whisky, Hazelburn Whisky and Longrow Whisky.
With that said lets move onto the tasting itself.
We had 29 tasters on hand to review five expressions. Each taster reviewed and ranked each expression. There were ranked one through five with a one being the most favorite and a five being the least favorite. And here are the results and a few notes from the tasters:
#5 – KILKERRAN, 12 Years Old, Single Malt Scotch, 46%alc, $50
Very light, Good peat flavor, The sherry mellows out the peat, Smooth, Peat increases near the end, Nice oak finish.
#4 – HAZELBURN, 10 Years Old, Single Malt Scotch, 46% ALC, $50
Light floral aroma, Bourbon on the nose, Sharp and crisp, Flavors are too subtle, Fruit on the finish, Finish turns a little harsh.
#3 – SPRINGBANK, 10 Years Old, Single Malt Scotch, 50% ALC, $55
Very soft, Big vanilla taste, Light pepper, Great balance, Taste of fresh honey, Smell is better than the taste, Sweet finish.
#2 – SPRINGBANK, 15 Years Old, Single Malt Scotch, 46% ALC, $100
Very soft smoky taste, Briny, Mild peat, Taste of hazelnut, Dried fruit and tobacco taste, Long finish, Perfect finish.
These four ranked fairly close together. Our #1 finisher blew the doors off these four.
#1 – HAZELBURN, 13 Years Old, Single Malt Scotch, Sherry Cask Finish 47.1% ALC, $100
Great nose of fruit, Up-front taste of sweet caramel & vanilla, Citrus on the tongue, Very well balanced, Tastes old than 13 years old, Creamy finish, Excellent!
We did sample another expression as kind of a bonus expression. But youll find that in another article in a few days.
Cheers,
Doug