hs305 scored this whisky 89 points

...and it is another fine Traditional Scotch Springbank with an interesting and complex profile that is dangerously quaffable. Springbank truly delivers a consistent quality with its cask strength bottlings - so far just one release was sub-standard according to my taste buds. Best bang for your bucks these days...
-
The colour is amber and the nose offers a delicious Springbanky-profile with notes of machine oils, maritime peat and a wet leather jacket. Beside this there are the usual herbal-spicy, waxy, chalky and very shy fruity aromas - the sherry casks somewhat hide in the background but this is fine as it provides more room for the Springbank malt to enfold.
-
The taste is layered on both vanilla-toffee and sherry-induced flavours with some delicious (minor) peaty impressions. All nicely balanced and without any flaw. The toffee-notes grow stronger upon chewing while additional nutty-marzipan and hot-spicy flavours are released. The wooden notes are perfect to provide a backbone but they never dominate - just the way I like it.
-
The dram arrives warming but not much coating on the palate with a minor drying feeling (ashes) that is not distracting. The finish is medium to long and adds some fine chocolatey flavours and more spices. No distracting bitter or drying moment. Water releases more aromas in the nose and smoothes the taste - actually I like this dram both neat and somewhat reduced.