Hazelburn Hand Filled Distillery Exclusive

https://whiskylovingpianist.wordpress.com/2026/05/08/more-tooon-action-before-imminent-arrival/

Due to the ongoing supply shortage, Springbank’s hand-fills have enjoyed newfound respect from enthusiasts in recent times. I grabbed this lot in 2024. Two years on, let’s see what we’ve got.

N: Imagine, if you will, a bourbon/vanilla-infused grassy/floury/spicy/oaky buttered baguette with not-sweet strawberry > plum & [white] chestnut jam and apricot curd. A touch coppery with a spicy peppery [slightly soapy < pot pourri] note, which is not overly off-putting and all bound up with the aromatics, the wood, the makeup. and the nature of the whole
T: A sharp entrance with a healthy zinginess throughout and a steady presence of soft peat from any number of ex-Springbank casks. A jumble of activity, it takes a while for things to settle. Genuinely savoury-sweet and particularly sour, ignoring any greasy soapy notes [if applicable] and the continuing zing, focus instead swings towards a grassy-dry quince jelly & < grapefruit maltiness towards floury-dryness [on the turn] with a touch of cap gun-smoke peppermint.
F: A grapefruit-sour grassy maltiness remains with a little cardboard into cheap chocolate. A sprig of mint heralds a bitter tone or two.
C: I remind myself that these hand-fills are still very much the real deal, not in spite of their nature, but because of it. That said, this is a bit of a jumble, but it improved after a month or two of being opened [read on]. [83]

TAKE 2, and a newfound perspective!

N: Hazelburn typically talks of vanilla wafer and quince jelly, which leads to a [malty banana] creaminess and no shortage of fruity offerings thereafter. But we’ve just covered all this. After several months since opening this bottle, the nose evolved to be, if not unrecognisable, then in a higher league than on first contact, even if there is a little grassy-sweet heat [that I had been blocking out], out from the minerallic splintered wood.
T: Edgy to say the least, so additional water is a given. Retaining its crisp edges despite being H20-softened, there’s no denying the aforementioned heat, yet the hereditary & underlying SB coppery/phenolic filth is testament to the side-hustle specialism of Springbank’s triple-distilled sibling.
F: More [now waxed] quince jelly, one soggy Digestive biscuit, an apricot stone, coppery rain water, integrated flinty phenols, weak ginger tea, dry barley oils, husky vanilla wrapped around dry/grassy grapefruit & lemon citrus with repeated tequila [and bottom-shelf rum] references, all eventually joined by salted vanilla toffee that strolls in all nonchalantly as if an afterthought. Apologies for a whole heap more descriptors, but that’s reflective of just how talkative this one is. Again, water makes it, as does time in the glass.
C: I struggle to think of a whisky closer to the astringent sour style[s] of yesteryear, and no doubt why my pal, MaltMartin, holds this in such high regard [89]. What a difference a few months makes! 86