Springbank 15 year old and whisky regions

Excitement was what I felt when I first saw this single malt labeled on the menu. Ordering a Springbank would mean that I would have officially tried a Scotch whisky from all 6 Scotch whisky regions. For those non whisky drinkers there are technically 6 regions. I've listed those regions below along with the whiskies I’ve written about so far on this blog.

Whisky Regions:

The Lowlands: Auchentoshan
The Highlands: Oban 14
Speyside: Macallan 12; Glenfiddich 21; The Glenlivet 15
Islay: Bowmore 15; Lagavulin 16
Campbeltown: Springbank 15
Islands: Jura Prophecy

Springbank 15 year old

Now onto the Springbank which is what we are here for. This 15 year old whisky is from the region of Campbeltown.  It is matured in sherry casks and has an ABV of 46%. If you are look to buy, a bottle will cost you about $60-$80 depending on where you shop.

An interesting tidbit to know about this distillery is that it is the only distillery in Scotland to product three very different whiskies. They are: Springbank, Longrow and Hazelburn.

When first tasting it I was really hoping to like it but that is not really how my experience went.

The Experience:

Color: Was a nice golden color

Smell: Sweet and sherry

Taste: Sweet, medicinal and you get hints of the sherry casks.

The key word I used to describe this whisky when I was first tasted it was medicinal. Now I am not a fan of any drink tasting medicinal unless I have a cold and I am drinking cough syrup. I think the medicinal notes in this whisky were made more prominent with the sherry notes.

I did have this whisky in between dinner and after tasting I realized that it is a whisky that might be best enjoyed after dinner due to the sweet tasting notes. I know that in my Macallan 12 post I mentioned everyone has a different palette. This being the case I am certain that there are people out there that might enjoy this whisky and who might enjoy the medicinal notes. Who knows there might even be people who don’t get that medicinal note but given that I did get them, I am not entirely a fan of this whisky.

I would not recommend a new whisky drinker to start with this whisky however if anyone wants a sweet tasting after dinner whisky then this would certainly be that whisky. 

Cheers!