Springbank 26 Years Old 1998/2025 Vintage Series 48.3% 700ml

Details：

Distillery: Springbank

Bottler: Distillery Bottling

Bottling serie: Vintage Series

Vintage: 1998

Bottled: 14.05.2025

Stated Age: 26 Years Old

Casktype: Sherry

Casknumber: /

Number of bottles: 1500

Strength: 48.3%

Size: 700ml

Tasting notes：

Nose: The official version is quite dry and woody on the nose, taking ages to unravel in the glass. I’ve given it half an hour, but it looks like some water will be needed. With subtle dilution, the aromas begin to express themselves. The cask still has a fairly tight grip, with creamy espresso, earthy carrots and a little leafiness. After an hour and quit some water, I’m finally starting to get the distillate. A volcanic minerality with coal smoke and paraffin, some cheesiness - it’s Springbank after all! Some freshness with meadow flowers, orange, lemon. After one and a half hours, the cheese and tart citrus finally take over from the wood, which remains prominent.

Palate: Undiluted, it’s again tight, on the dry side and doesn’t give up much of its character, except for an absolute onslaught of modern sherry in the development. Let’s add water. Ahh, it’s still a little disappointing, I’m afraid - the brief arrival of a couple of seconds shows the distillate, only to be swamped by basic sherry. An hour in, I find myself hoping that this is one of those old-style sherried malts which take forever to open up - let’s see. After one and a half hours, the sherry has been pushed back and back into the development, but we can’t quite get rid of it. Still, the profile is much more enjoyable, a fresh menthol, herbs and pungent, slightly acetone-y fruits mixed in.

Finish: Typical modern sherry for ages, then some faint echoes of the signature citrus fruit, wax and coal dust at the very end, which bumps it up a point or two. Doesn’t get much better with time or dilution.