SPRINGBANK 10 YEAR OLD LOCAL BARLEY 2020

I'm stunned, am I really the first? This is my 400th review. I just obtained a case of this. Time to examine the neck. Nose - This probably won't be the final tasting note in a week, but I'm getting cinnamon, followed by some pepper, and then a really sweet malt. I delve back in and I detect red fruits, almost like kid's fruit snacks with strawberry or raspberry, or perhaps a made-up random red-smelling berry (actually, that's the one). I detect hints of charred oak, some smoke, and some off-putting sherry cask notes that are not to my liking (think Signatory sherry casks, which aren't my preference). I'm not getting Springbank yet. Taste - Spicy oak... I'm thinking of Balcones malt here or a Booker's cinnamon profile. Charred rather than a true "fresh" sherry. I get some good sherry and some bad. But damn... I'm getting Texas whisky here. Red Hot candy? Water - it remains salty and now seems to introduce salty sugars and brine against a still-present heavy layer of charred oak. OK everyone, I've now consumed a LOT of this and I'm starting to forget I'm drinking a Springbank Local Barley. And that's a good thing. Because you know what this is? It's a well-crafted 10-year-old sherry bomb that has wasted world-class malt. And I'm starting to detect some malty spice, salt, and peat notes. It's more Mortlach than Springbank, but I get it now. 1.75... this is an outright travesty, and I've got four figures invested in bottles of this.

Incredibly dense and thick! Smells like: Raisins, Plums, Gingerbread, Prunes, Golden Syrup, Grapefruit, Blackberries, Date Syrup, Pineapples, Blood Oranges, Sultanas Feels like: Raisins, Toffee, Grapefruit, Mangoes, Cinnamon, Walnuts, Raspberries, Luxardo Cherries, Cinnamon, Almonds, Blood Oranges, Pineapple Jelly Beans, Nutella Ends with: Passion Fruit, Strawberries, Pineapple Jelly Beans, Sultanas, Dates, Apricots, Treacle, Salted Cod, Mackerels, Golden Syrup

The nose has an unusual sherry character. The palate offers more of that funk and dark dried fruits. A warm finish, it's pleasant.