Quick hit review.

Back to one of my favorite distilleries, this expression matured in ex-bourbon casks. The nose is mineral and briny, unfolding with vanilla, dried herbs and vegetal peat smoke. On the palate, spicy-dry and peaty flavors compete with sugar-coated, zesty and citric notes, all well-measured and pleasing. Squeezed lemon, ginger and whiffs of peat linger in the long finish. If only these bottles were still available at reasonable prices!

RATING: 4.2/5.0 stars ≙ 89 pts → FIRST-CLASS [+]

Coconut, sweet and buttery on the nose. Black crusher pepper, a touch of peat and again sweetness in the taste.

Direct comparison with https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/101282/clynelish-1997-gm Both distilleries have an almost unmistakable character for me. The jumper is earthy, dirty and stormy. The Clynelish is finer, more filigree and a little more elegant. Whether the candle wax is? Wait ... I'm just smelling a candle ... Nope, for me this is not a candle wax. No idea what it is, but for me it is not wax ...
In the nose, the Clynelish shows me more his Brennereicharakter. The jumper is; at least in the nose; rather interchangeable. Clear point for the Clynelish ...
The Clynelish is very full-bodied and mouthwashing in the taste. Again, he shows his typical character. At first, the jumper is rather reserved in taste, but after a bit of time caramel and fudge get through. For me the type of oak is missing, that I like so much else. In taste, the malts are almost at eye level, for me, the Clynelish wins but again for a breath.
The finish of the Clynelish is medium long and gives me a tick to citrus-fruity with a fair amount of pale wood. When Springer comes in the finish finally what I like the malts from the distillery so. It is wild, dirty and beautiful woody. Unfortunately, he gets a bit too bitter towards the end. Here are both on the same level.
For sure, both are delicious, but somehow I expected more. Both were potential buyers for me. Good that I have ever got a sample before

Nose: Some vanilla sweetness and yellow fruit (ripe banana, peach), but also gentle peat and brine. Plenty of wet rocks and some ozone, accompanied by straw and burlap.

Taste: Oily, tasty, and just pretty brilliant stuff. Gentle peat and whispers of brine. A tad salty. Also fruity notes of oranges, peach and lime zest, as well as vibrant pink grapefruit. Great balance.

Finish: Lingering, gentle whispers of peat. Fruits. Long.

Just a wonderful, incredible whisky. Such a complexity on the palate, with a fruitiness I haven’t often encountered yet in a Springbank. My favourite so far of this edition of the Blind Tasting Competition.

Well, this bottling had a lot of potential for the purist, but alas the bourbon cask wood used was obviously bedraggled. Yes, we are likely talking about casks that were far from "fresh" bourbon (well, maybe one in the bunch to impart a vanilla finish).

I find the description of "fresh and refill bourbon" to be a bit of a stretch. We're talking a 9000 bottle yield, after all. None of those casks were leaky or prone to sharing too much with angels, mind you. The ABV is plenty high for 14 years. The wood was just plumbed tuckered out.

Nose: Dunage warehouse, old tired wood, vanilla, touch of sulfur, unripe orchard fruits, hemp rope, raw eggs, dark chocolate.

Palate: Bovine methane, a touch of peat, old tired wood, pond scum (as in green algae), citrus, ginger.

Finish: Medium in length, more cow effluvium, mud, funk, vanilla.

This farmy, dank, funky, stanky dram would have been much better with more in the way of FRESH bourbon wood, instead of last call for alcohol beaters that are a bit long in the tooth and on their last leg.

I could use this dram as a litmus test for "taste." Literally. If anyone goes on and on about its virtues. . . .

Even Serge's 87 makes me feel nostalgic. In the good ole days, he would have shredded this bottle. Although, in all fairness, he kind of does shred it a little, despite his generous score: "You're also chomping on cactus leaves and burnt broccoli."

Then again, Serge liked the broccoli note of a more recent Jura Chap 7. I didn't have the nerve to pull the trigger on that Jura, even though it sounded intriguing.

Do I regret buying this Springbank? No, but I regret taking the time to find one.

Although in all fairness, it wasn't all that hard to find. For a limited release, quite a few bottles were floating around for a while with no takers. Until lockdowns took care of that problem (bored thirsty mouths with ample surfing time).