Unicorn whiskies - are they worth the chase? Chapter 2: Springbank 17 yo Madeira casks

2020 release, 47.8% ABV, NC, UCF, original retail price around £100, now ‘slightly’ more on secondary.

After last week’s endeavour with the Bruichladdich Black Art, which I thought was very good but didn’t blow my socks off, the underlying mission of this series seems to tilt towards the ‘no’ end of the chase-o-meter. However, it’s very much early days as we’ve got quite a few more whiskies to cover, so onwards and possibly upwards with another horny horse (admittedly an unfortunate alliteration, but basically that’s what a unicorn is, of course).

You might have noticed that there’s a bit of a buzz happening regarding everything Springbank at the moment, and if their stuff was not easy to get hold off in the last two or so years, it has now become insanely difficult to secure a bottle. Anything even remotely related to Springbank seems to sell out faster than you can say ‘blueberry pie’ and where it used to be that mainly the limited releases disappeared within a day or even a few hours after release, now even their core range releases are gone in the blink of an eye. The victim of their own success, Springbank has become a flipper’s delight – guaranteed to make a quick and fat, juicy buck to those who live by the Gordon Gecko mantra of ‘greed is good’, profiteering as the FOMO rages like a pandemic throughout the community of whisky enthusiasts. And despite some good intentions and efforts to put at least a bit of a leash on the skyrocketing prices, it seems all in vein currently, not unlike someone trying put out a burning oil field with a bucket of water. The market is overheating, and overheating fast. If you’re wondering just how hot it is at the moment: this particular release from 2020 retailed for somewhere around £90 - £100. 2 years on and according to whiskybase, this bottle can now be yours for anywhere between £550 and a grand, depending on where you’re shopping. Yikes, indeed…

To put a few things into context here: it shouldn’t really come as a surprise that Springbank is now hotter than the skin of an Irishman on the second day of his Ibiza Summer vacation. Springbank has had the reputation of being ‘the whisydrinker’s whisky’ for years, held in high regard by a steadily increasing crowd of serious enthusiasts. A reputation that relied on word of mouth more than anything, a bit like an open secret on the one hand, but still a bit of an inner circle thing on the other. And although not always abundantly available, until not even 5 years ago you could just walk in to your local go to specialised store and fancy your chances of finding a Springer or two on the shelves.

Coincidence or not, but with the e-commerce boom that was the consequence of the covid pandemic, suddenly everyone was spending their days locked behind a screen, relying on the internet to be kept in the loop at work yet also with many hours of spare time to kill. So while flipping was already a pest pre covid, ever since the Spring of 2020 it became nothing short of a swarm of locusts raining down on the whiskyindustry, leaving the more unsuspecting and unprepared bewildered and sometimes ravaged as well. Singing praise to Springbank and inviting as many as we could to go out and try it, has come back to bite us in the buttocks – simple as that. So, having said that: let’s get down to the nitty and the gritty and see whether this stands up to the hype.

Springbank 17 year old. Distilled in November 2002, bottled in October 2020, 9200 bottles coming from bourbon and rum casks before being finished for 3 years in fresh Madeira casks. 47.8% ABV.

Nose

Coffee and bitter chocolate at first, but it swiftly opens up and is followed by honey and floral – candy sweetness. Only then that maritime salinity and the Campbeltown funk signature appear (dirty, wet hay mixed with an industrial oily note), bringing that dirty (durrrty) touch along with some subtle hints of wood. Very inviting, very morish, interesting and complex. Everything you’d expect from a top class whisky, in fact.

Palate

The wood is far more obvious on the arrival, developing into a well matured sensation of wood spice, dried plums and a (more subtle this time) earthy-funky note. Throw in some salinity and a very soft peat note on a viscous yet dry, medium full body to take it next level. Again: very layered and rich, but also subtle. Perhaps slightly less complex than on the nose, but bugger me: this is top notch whisky!

Finish

Long, yet not very long, with warm and spicy notes, coffee and dark chocolate.

Final thoughts

Springbank is a versatile spirit in my opinion. It works exceptionally well in bourbon casks where its subtle aspects are allowed to shine (their 14 yo bourbon cask release from 2017 is excellent, yet unfortunately now also very expensive proof of that) and when matured or finished in something darker like rum, sherry or port casks, it tends to fire on all cylinders (if you ever get a chance to try the 2020 release of their 21 yo: do it!). This I feel combines those two aspects of Springbank exceptionally well. Extra kuddo’s to them for putting this in first fill Madeira casks for 3 years after already seeing the inside of bourbon and rum casks for a decade and a half. This could just as easily have been about the wood, the wood and nothing but the wood, but it didn’t. If I was to put a 1000 word review down to one sentence, it would be ‘This is what whisky is all about!’ Anyone in their right mind will agree that what this now goes for on secondary is far beyond reasonable and then some, but if I’m being absolutely and totally honest: if I were to live in a world where money isn’t an object, I’d be tempted. Very, very tempted…