Some really nice malty pastry notes along with a bit of fruit. I prefer this blend over the typical 12 year old cask strength with more sherry. I miss the old Springbank 100's that were all bourbon casks.

A nice fresh bourbon cask is vastly underrated when it comes to the interplay of springbank with a nice bit of smoke to it. The sherry craze is really unfortunate, although with the 15 year old it works quite well. Then again, the 15 has more smoke than the 10 this time around in the latest batches.

All told, I really do like this latest batch of the 12, along with batch 15, both of which downplay the sherry. 15 has some nice leathery notes that 18 doesn't have, but 18 is worth buying. It's a nice change of pace and I applaud the distillery for releasing it.

If the casks had more fresh bourbon in the percentage, then I would have raised my score to 90. But alas I detect quite a few refills in here. The nose is not as strong as the palate this time around, but that's okay. I have a very keen nose, but sometimes it's nice to focus on taste and not obsessively sniff one's whisky.

As a former critic with some big websites, I'm enjoying less inhaling of scents these days, at least in the evenings, and a nice tumbler instead of my rather anal retentive glencairns and sherry glasses. I've also retired my dropper in favor of a good ole fashioned teaspoon for adding a bit of l'aqua, as needed.

God gave me an incredibly sensitive nose attached to a big Nordic head, but sometimes I just like to give it a break and revel in the FLAVOR of a whisky, and this one has it!

Little baby sips that roll across the tongue like heaven, and then drip down the hatch: black pepper, clotted cream, croissant, honey comb and wax (in the direction of the old Clynelishes), honey dew melon, dried grass, rain collecting in a BBQ along with the ash, a bit of dried lemon peel, and some minerality along with some sea salt that is subtle yet uniting (perhaps from the water used?).

I would encourage MGMT at Springbank distillery to include a few char barrels in its 12 year old one of these years in the near future. A 12 year-old cask strength with some rechar sherry and fresh bourbon would just frickin KILL. It would be so so good and very satisfying.

Rock-solid old school spirit of continuously surpassing quality. The whole Springbank range always delivers! Still a distillery with exemplary character for the whole industry. Few distilleries with such a high-quality standard range. Best value for money...

Tasted two times, in company, on two different occasions, two drams each time, with a gap of two weeks in between. The outcome was identical on both occasions.

Plankish charcoal oak notes with confectionary on the nose, really shy on the fruit notes. With a thin arrival and a little hot body, the taste very much confirms the impressions of the nose, apart from some red chili pepperish notes. It lacks body, depth, sweetness and complexity. The regular Springbank DNA is subdued.
The short finish offers pepper and plankish charcoal oak and is absolutely no joy.

Drinking this actually kind of upset me everytime.
This is by far the worst batch of the 12yo CS ever, probably the worst Springbank I've had yet.
I remember having had a bottle of the 1991 Bourbon Wood Expression years ago which was a disappointment, but at least it had some drinkability factor due to the absence of off-notes and it's sweetness.
I'm glad I got the opportunity to taste this extensively before considering a buy.
THIS one here is completely unworthy for Springbank, almost a disgrace.