Springbank 11 Year Local Barley (2023)

Springbank Whisky Tasting, The Oak Barrel, Sydney, April 17, 2024, Whisky #5 From a bottle with batch code 12/12/22 – 22/242 Nose: Fresh, fruity grist. Orange blossoms, peach nectar, and brine. As it opens in the glass, aromas of pears and green apples emerge, leading to a fragrance like cider vinegar (or champagne?) mixed with mezcal. This strongly resembles fresh, crisp barley wort. With further resting and a bit of water, the aromas deepen, eventually developing tropical fruit notes. 91/100 Palate: Lively, effervescent, with ginger, grapefruit, and pineapple on the arrival. The palate, like the nose, becomes more complex with time, revealing sweetness in the middle development along with tart red berries and a hint of coal smoke. The texture is both crisp and oily, a skill unique to Springbank and a few other west-coast highland distilleries. 91/100 Finish: Long. Barley grist fades into sweet and salty lemons sprinkled with coal ash. 91/100 This batch was bottled in late 2022 but was part of the 2023 release. The local barley variety was Belgravia, grown at Glencraigs Farm, near Campbeltown. It's a light, airy, and uplifting whisky that, with a touch of water, takes on characteristics similar to crisp sparkling wine. These notes later transform into a sweeter, creamier profile more akin to an oaky Chardonnay. A remarkable whisky, a true "grand cru." It was offered by lottery that night, but at the listed price, I declined. "Aspirational": 91/100 (5 stars)

Nose: Brown sugar, raspberry, smoke, dried fruit in rum, caramel, peach, papaya, passion fruit, walnut, sugar syrup, molasses, blackberry, cherry. Palate: Dried fruit in rum, pineapple, brown sugar, vanilla, dates, brown sugar, molasses, dates, grapefruit, mango, fig, yellow plum. Finish: Mango, brown sugar, banana, caramel, golden kiwi, raisin, yellow plum, smoke, pineapple, passion fruit.