Maker: Springbank, Campbeltown, Argyll & Bute, Scotland.
Region: Campbeltown
Age: NAS
ABV: 46%
Appearance: Old gold with evenly spaced legs.
Nose: Peat, damp humus, seawater, leather, sweet malt.
Palate: Full bodied and hot. A little water calms it down. Dates, brown butter, butterscotch candy, roasted pecans, brine, smoke.
Finish: Warm and smoky. More earthiness, wet firewood.
Parting words: I fell in love with Springbank 10 at first sip so I then quickly moved on to the 15 y/o expression. I didn’t realy care for it. It had a tired, murky quality to it that I didn’t care for. So I sadly refrained from buying any Springbank until I bought this in an effort to reacquaint myself with the distillery. What better way is there to get to know Springbank than by drinking its CV?
None, that’s what. This is a fantastic whisky. It has the sweet, nutty characteristics of the 10, but with the added depth of earthiness and smokiness that whiskies from the neighboring island of Islay exihibit. I’m usually a skeptic when it comes to the influence of the ocean on Scotch, but there are aromas and flavors that come across as maritime in this whisky.
The complexity is very much by design. The CV is a marriage of malts of a variety of ages and styles all from the Springbank Distillery in Cambeltown, the smallest recognized single malt Scotch region. My bottle is from the second edition (the first got mixed reviews) and I love it, as you can probably tell. Unfortunately it seems to be out of stock at the usual major retailers, but I paid around $70 for mine and it was worth every penny. I’m sure there are quite a few of these still in the wild. Pick one up if you can. Springbank CV (second edition) is highly recommended.
Sipology 