ralfy review 948 - Springbank 10yo @46%vol: (2019/2022)
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"not an artificially induced collectable like Macallan, trading on the reputation that it used to have". Well said!!!
Tottally agreee!!! Well said!!! 🤜🤜
I still like my Macallan 12. Bought for 35 Euros. 2 bottles left. Was worth it. Still is. Just not for 100+
I like how The Bothy exists on the border of fantasy and reality somewhere in the Irish sea.
Dont we all dream of this place sometimes
I was in Campbeltown for the first time a while ago and did the barley to bottle tour at Springbank, an incredibly memorable and enjoyable experience, completely old school. Great people working there and the distillery bar is brilliant too with some real unusual drams.
Glen Scotia are well worth a visit for a tasting too.
Real quality stuff.
A few weeks ago, I finally got to taste this whisky, knowing how revered it is. The bar owner told me she'd been waiting for two months for the bottle to finally be shipped. Upon first sip, the sensation wasn't a "wow" in the way of "look how powerful/different/adjective the flavors are", but rather a sigh of gratitude and appreciation at how elegant, well-rounded and pleasantly rich this dram really is. It very much meets and merits the admiration. A 90 from me as well. Wonderful stuff.
Definitely! It's not a blow your socks off this is the best thing I've ever tasted... but it's like a I'd like another pour... and a third pour. lol
In 2019 I heeded the price hike warnings and bought a case each of Springbank 10 and Kilkerran 12, along with a few Longrow and 3 Kilkerran 8 CS. It hurt at the time, but I'm glad I did now.
Lucky you. Cheers to you and greetings from Germany
@@mrnosebear7406 and to you, also! 🥂
Quite the speculative and strategic move! Cheers from a small town in Alabama, and not too far from moonshine county.
people like you are one big reason why all the bottles are gone from the shelves
Me too!
I just tried Springbank 10 last week and was amazed at the richness of the flavors. Thanks Ralfy for introducing me to such a wonderful malt moment. I will treasure the rest of the bottle.
Had a distillery tour at Springbank earlier this year just me the wife and the tour guide it was absolutely fantastic would thoroughly recommend.
Hi Ralfy, Thanks for this wonderful ode to a distillery and their flagship whisky. We are so lucky that Springbank does exist and that they produce quality whisky. I salute Springbank and I salute you, dear Ralfy. Cheers from a patpal in Germany
@Auberginenpeter Springbank RRPs are very fair when you consider the quality of their products
All core Springbank & Kilkerran whisky is now so difficult to buy even here in the UK.
@Auberginenpeter Did you see the price hike by DIageo for a bottle of 18yo Talisker? Its now £180 a bottle. Thats gone up by roughly £100.
@Auberginenpeter Question: In your opinion, what is the fair RRP for a Springbank 15 yrs?
Dear @Auberginenpeter! Especially you coming from Germany you should know that the prices of single malt whisky in Germany can be much cheaper compared to those ones in England. Due to tax reasons. The accessibility of Springbank in Germany and Austria seems to be much better than in England as well.
Didn't realize this was such a rare gem... I should have picked up an extra bottle. Maybe it'll be there when I go back next week. If not, I'll be appreciating this one slowly.
The Full Ralfy has been unleashed for this review.
Ralfy another great review. Early in my whisky experience I bought a 2016 springbank 12y burgundy for $165 Australian on the good advise of my local whisky go to. I have saved it for a special occasion but nothing seems to warrant the occasion particularly after great reviews like this one. What a dilemma I have, crack it open or wait for that special day.
Great review once again Ralfy. Hopefully Springbanks success will be an example to others. Glen Garioch I understand has also, or is soon returning to direct fire stills and floor maltings. Let’s hope that’s a sign of things to come.
A couple of years ago, here in the US, these used to sit on the bottom shelf of liquor stores collecting dust, most ppl didn’t even know what this was. Now days, thanks to the internet, as Ralphy has mentioned, if you are lucky to see this anywhere it would be at least $100 for Springbank 10 and lets not even mention anything above that like the 12 cask strength or 10 local barley, thats easily $500 +. This has become the new Macallan, unfortuntely. ☹️
ye, fu*ok; excuse my French;
time just flies by faster,
and faster 💨 🚀 .
.. better focus on quality in
the little joys of life. And where
we go, we can not bring our
collections or money or power,
only our memories !
Big brotherly hug to all malt mates.
Cheers 🥃
Springbank is one of very few authentic distilleries done the proper way. Springbank has earned its high profile within the whisky community.
I was just in the store yesterday to replenish my cabinet after a couple of my pandemic bottles had poured their last. I had this very bottle in my hand… the last of its kind in the store... but set it back down. I went home with my “groceries”, sat back with a wee nip and clicked on TH-cam… to find this.
*sigh* Darn it, Ralfy! Back to the store today. Happily for me, it was still there. Cheers, good sir!
I was extremely pleased to pick up a bottle of this for £50 at my local shop a few weeks ago. It's exactly as you say, so rich and flavourful, the quality and care is obvious. I'm going to make it last a very long time ;)
When's the best time to visit the distillery for the tour and buy a bottle after?
Love Springbank but the price has just gone through the roof (more than double in my case). It's impossible to justify at this point
Been listening to you for many years - always love you reviews. First time commenting. I love Springbank, and am glad I have been able to accumulate a variety of releases - in all 3 incarnations. It remains my favorite distillery. There are others I enjoy of course - Mortlach, Ledaig, most recently Ardnamurchan, and others - but Sprinbank is by far my favorite! In fact I spent 5 days there a few years ago. Thanks for all you do for us fans of whisky - couldn’t agree more about Springbank!
Wow. Lucky You, sir.
Cheers Ralfy! I have a bottle of Springbank 10 my wife got for my birthday in 2020. I've had about as much as you have from yours. It's a special occasion dram for me, and I love it every time I pour it.
Lmao! After all that, 90….I was thinking at least 93
Did the tour 2 weeks ago, for the 2nd time in 5 years . Still fantastic. Still my favourite whiskey. Managed to bag a bottle from 'The Cage' lucky me!
Add a dollop of ‘the Ralfy effect’ to the scarcity, allocation, & hoarding. And that’s on top of the absurd amount of tax + VAT in UK. 😖
More crackdowns on flippers by the distillery (like Rolex does on their watches) is needed. Start banning distributors from selling to certain bottle shops if it's identified that certain bottle shops are continually selling to flippers.
Mitchell need to start policing the grey market like Rolex does for their product. Kicking the can down the road is not a solution.....
I found a Springbank 10 in the wild today at 65 euros. Unicorns do exist 😄
I wonder if the explosion of integrity malts might mean Springbank becomes a little easier to find now.
Hi Ralfy! I recently got my first taste of Springbank last Wednesday. With some heavy hunting I was able to find a 2017 bottling left in a local liquor store though at around £105. Luckier still, a few months after I found a 2014 bottling with the old packaging falling off and molding for £66. While those prices might not sound lucky, Springbank is practically impossible to find in the Philippines for good prices. Recently I’ve seen some online stores try to sell the 10 and 15 for £250-300. Disgusting!
The whisky though is magnificent. The 2014 bottling is easily one of the most complex and richest whiskies I’ve tried to date. The 2017, while not equal to the 2014, as you said is still superior to every other entry-aged Scotch, save for bottles like the Port Charlotte 10 and Ledaig 10 where I score them on par.
I saw Springbank was able to do something about flippers for the Support Ukraine limited release this year. I really hope they can do something to contractually make their distributors sell at reasonable markups and to allow only 1-2 bottles per customer to allow more people to try their whiskies.
Thanks for your comment! I was curious about the comparison of bottles from different years. I found a 2017 edition at my local store. I am still punching myself that I only bought one for $70. The other three bottles are gone now. The 10 is a great whisky. Last week, a friend of mine got a 14 cask strength, manzanilla cask, bottled in 2010. I paid $115 for this forgotten bottle.
Since i can only like this once here’s another 👍 Springbank and Campbeltown were the reason i got to explore more than just Islay whisky. I share the frustration of many since it’s basically impossible to buy now but i was lucky to get one bottle of the 10 last week. We just should be happy for them on their success while it sucks to not be able to buy it because there’s hope that some will follow their way of doing things. I was there in the distillery in may but unfortunately in the evening and the shelves were pretty much empty. Got the 15 though and had a dram of Local barley-22 in the nice Washback bar. Cheers!
Thanks for a very enthusiastic review. I was at the end of the video surprised that the whisky only got 90 malt marks. I have had the same experience with several other whiskies that you have been extremely enthusiastic and positive about. I have never encounted you giving more than 91 marks. I wonder what it takes to get one or more of the last 9 malt marks. Could you some day explain your scale and how you get to the final score? (You might have done so before, but I haven't seen all of you videoes...)
Thank you dear sir for this exclamation of love for whisky properly made!
A tip by a well-tipped waiter brought me to Κύτταρον whisky bar in Kalamata, Greece this last August.
An orange 10 and a green 15 were nestled on the top shelf behind Nikos' very well put bar.
A balsam for sore eyes, I hadn't had a sip of Springbank in two years.
A dram of each bottle was what one could have, a precious 30 ml.
After a respectable flyte of seven malts, ending with the two Campbeltown beauties , Nikos was generous enough to offer me and my ecstatic Dutch buddy a glassbottom of 10 ml Longrow 18 on the house!
Ralfy review 948 has me seriously contemplating booking tickets to Kalamata.
Easier than getting a bottle of Springbank in Holland right now.
Cheers Ralfy, happy drams!
Until the 5th of November.
Victory Ralfy!!!! Scored two bottles of 10 delicious! So happy, super thrilled.
How much did you pay? If I may ask.
@@viruk777 $127.00 CAD each
@@johncollinson4147 Cheers!
Scored same, after the first blew my mind I got 2 more while I can find it….fantastic stuff!
Springbank is still very thin on the ground in the western half of the US, I definitely buy a bottle at every opportunity. Great review, great whisky
Two bottles of Springbank 10 from 2019 is all I could put my fingers on. Since there is no importer of J&A MITCHELL & CO for Bulgaria all I can hope for is the alternative import of very limited quantities by this or that store. And that was before Springbank got as desired as it is today.
First bottle lasted me a good year and a half, the other rests in the stash. Magnificent whisky!
BTW, wormtube condensers give less copper contact than the more efficient shell and tube systems, thus the spirit is heavier with more suphur compounds that give the meaty mouthfeel we all love in Springbank, Mortlach, Edradour, etc.
Cheers!
Springbank has been as rare as hen's teeth here in South Texas for the past couple of years. I should have listened to the store clerk who told me that there wasn't going to be any more coming for the foreseeable future and suggested I might consider grabbing the one other bottle they had when I bought the last bottle that I've seen anywhere. I've continued to shop stores in both Houston and San Antonio and there's none to be found. The Kilkerran brand has also gone missing, so the two best Campbeltown malts are now just ghosts. So if you can't find it in the British Isles, don't feel alone - neither can I over here on the other side of the pond.
I just drink my bottles of Whiskey and don't and won't flip them. The Market has gone nuts because numbskulls with too much dosh are paying crazy money. There is God's amount of good Whiskey's out there, so I pay what I'm happy to pay at a fair price.
I've never managed to get hold of a Kilkerran 8 Sherry, but I won't lose any sleep over it lol
I've seen one online stockist selling a bottle of 10yo Springbank for £120.00. Bloody disgusting to sell it at that hugely inflated price.
Going to get my bottle today. They got it waiting for me.
Just to single out direct fire stills, that requires a strict attention to detail and control and regularity. You can bet a distillery that does that and malt their own barley and on sight bottling etc etc, you know they care about the entire process and it shows in the product. Thank you Springbank. Thank you Ralfy. Cheers to integrity Malt Mates Cheers 🥃
Your ability to extemporaneously verbally reprimand almost an entire market while simultaneously edifying a single brand is admirable. In a biblical context, it reminds me of Romans 1 and the seemingly instantaneous shift from the righteous to the unrighteous, but in reverse order. Another job well done at the bothy! Cheers from a small town in Alabama!!
I remember the days when I could walk into my local whisky supplier in glasgow and pick up springbank easily , now you never see it , I managed to get a bottle of 15 last year online but now you get put on a waiting list , killkerans quite good though I'll just have to satisfy myself with that.
Dear Ralfy,
After carefully watching and listening to your video, let me please share my personal opinion.
The ideal scenario that you just described, i.e. the reason why demand for Springbank bottlings skyrocketed is because people recognised the intrinsic quality of Springbank, is just so simply not true.
Although this is also part of it, it doesn’t show the whole picture. Which is, people started to see Springbank as the next big thing. “Whisky investors”, “wealth clubs” and all the rest of it consider Springbank as an investment. Which results in unopened bottles, flippers everywhere, unimaginable prices and so on. There is an extrem demand that distorts the market. And people like me, who just want to buy their standard 15y to sip it casually, cannot find a bottle and when I do, it costs €150.
Not good!
I might sound angry or even sour, well I am! Mostly because I don’t know what one could do about it.
Anyways, I thought this rant of mine belongs to the overall story so I just wanted to add it.
Happy to see your extra on this episode!
Take care and slainte!
Adrian
The distributor Springbank themselves sell to in my country actively marks up what it gets to close to secondary prices. Springbank can control which distributor they sell to, and choose to do business with more morally sound people, but they don’t. The secondary market, the investors, the flippers, have ruined played their part in damaging Springbank as well, to the point that I (and I know many others) don’t even try and bother finding it. It’s all well and good being the best whisky distillery going but if nobody can get their hands on a bottle, or need to pay a kings ransom to do so, it’s kind of redundant.
I have been so lucky that I have gotten hold of one Springbank 10 year (bottled 2020) and two bottles bottled 2022...
I have always been a huge fan of whisky from Islay, but Springbank 10 has a unique taste...so complex, so much of everything...to me it is heaven in a bottle..
Hi Ralfy. Greetings from New Zealand. Great review. How about a special episode on alternatives to Springbank 10. Your top 5! (If possible). I like KK12 or Benromach Cask Strength batch 4.
I started my malt journey around a year ago. The more I learn about springbank the more I want to try it. Maybe one day I’ll be able to get a bottle 😢😢
Hear, hear..!!! 🥃
For all the Angelenos out there, this bottle seems to be in stock at a few Total Wine outlets in the Los Angeles area (for $92). Picked one up at the Northridge store a few days ago.
I do enjoy these videos. The problem is after watching this I made a hefty purchase on a superb bottle of springbank lol
springbank is my favourite whisky. i drink more than 10 bottles of it and i have 20 bottles of springbank 10 in my private collection.
Halfway through the video and I am totally convinced about Springbank. I will look around for a bottle of the 10yo, which I will have to open and enjoy as I have not had it before. I have not entered the investing/trading part of the whisky world anyway (yet... I might at some point). I know and understand very little about it and this amber liquid is too fascinating to just keep in a bottle and stare at. I still have a lot to learn, before considering investing.
Other SB bottlings would be a bit (or a lot) heavy for my budget at the moment. I fully understand that the price reflects all you described (however some of it must be due to the desirability and rarity), especially when we compare SB to brands that cash in on former glory (...). But in the end it does push SB in the luxury whisky category.
I tend to think that it might be for the better. If SB keep doing what they do, and go from strength to strength, they deserve it.
The one thing I have come to hate about the brand and anything J.A. Mitchell is how it gets bought up in an instant only to be sold at auction or whiskybase the very next day at 3x or even 4x the price. And there is no way to regulate it. It's a damned shame. That is the only flaw that concerns Springbank and the biggest turn off about the brand in my opinion. Even the 10 year old or NAS Longrow go for upwards of 80€ here now. It is ridiculous. It won't change until more distilleries adopt Springbank's ways and in this industry, that can take decades.
Can not blame the distillery for that. It will not change until people stop buying as only buyers control the price for non essential items. I do understand your frustration though of course.
@@WhiskyMystery I beg to differ because of Rolex being able to police their grey market problems in the past
@@PerthLuxury I had a very quick look at that and do not see that they have been successful. I read that Tesla refused buyers ordering new cars if they had flipped their last one. Easy to do when you can track everything. But a bottle of whisky? How would you fix the grey market? Require buyers to break the seal at the point of purchase?
@@WhiskyMystery you read my mind (regarding breaking seals at point of sales), I'd also go as far as engraving bottles with serial numbers (would also guard against counterfeiting), that could be traced back to bottle shops, or even the Rolex tricks of undercover buybacks from the grey market (Rolex used to do this as a further means of keeping Authorised Dealers honest)
@@PerthLuxury I would be happy to break seals (unless getting on a plane) or NFT bottles bought only with trackable crypto :-)
I understand the demand for Springbank after tasting a few different styles and its just really good juice. There are distilleries that have a similar style and flavor but the way Springbank does it sets a standard for rest. I will be sipping a fine dram of the 10 year old on holiday soon. I'll enjoy that malt moment....
I had the tour of Springbank, you get the sense that you are looking at a history lesson of how whisky was made 100 years ago. No science, no tech just real people with a pride in what they do. Not accountants trying to maximize profit.
I used to buy it but the prices of Springbank at my local store are too much for me now.
10 yr: $116, 15 yr: $525, 18 yr: $735
Thank you Ralfy! After such a passionate whisky review, which I agree 100%, I was expecting a slightly higher grade in your reward.
As an ex Springbank whisky school student i can only agree with you Ralfie job well done to you and to Springbank
Look it's good whisky, but it's not unbelievable. It's just for scotch nerds. It's quite inaccessible. The reseller prices are a fair joke. The example of what they do is interesting and good quality. But I don't chase them any longer. I find the rarity adds to this mystique and affects judgement.
Nice one! I'm back! If Springbank is your or the top distillery what would be a distance 2 and 3rd. I will look for Spring Bank in my area.
Chris the Cape Bretoner
I’ve been watching your channel for years Ralfy. So many great (malt) moments over the years, and I wouldn’t regard anyone else’s opinion as highly when it comes to the best of malt
Check out Whiskyfun (Ralfy recommended) for some equally worthwhile opinions
According to lots of internet review, whisky critics seems to rate longrow and hazelburn lower than springbank in general eg 10/11 yrs longrow ,10 yr hazelburn can get a 4/10 - 6/10 from time to time while springbank 10 hardly can anything lower than 7/10. I understand all reviews are subjective in theory and believe the critics will not give lower marks to longrow and hazelburn just because they prefer the medium peat lv of springbank as the major reasons while all 3 products share similar/same production method except the peat infusion lv and ask for similar msrp for the same tier products. Does it means longrow and hazelburn are really not as good as springbank in general. Anyone who have tried all 3 products with similar abv% , age statement and cask types can share their experience ? Thanks!
Question: Isn't worm tub cooling typically contributing to the flavour of a spirit because the condensing vapour has relatively lèss contact with copper? And thus in the end a more complex and meatier style of whisky versus a destillation in a shell-and-tube condenser with an abundance of copper contact? Which generally delivers a lighter style of whisky? That was what I picked up on information in my, ever so much shorter, malt journey so far😅. So I am confused now. How does the wormtub cooling and copper contact affect the taste of Springbank?
What the market will bear.....god bless them but it's just whisky.
I was fortunate enough to come across a bottle a couple of years ago, along with a Hazelburn 10 at reasonable prices. Honestly, the first few drams, it was hard to tell the difference between them.
The SB has now oxidized into a wonderfully rich whisky.
But I'm not paying inflated prices for another, artificial or natural inflation. That is not to say that the whisky is not worth the hunt. I think this bottle goes beyond simple FOMO and should be part of everyone's journey. Although rare, it is not the premium nectar that exorbitant prices would suggest.
It's like the grilled cheese sandwich in the movie 'Chef'. Perfect and special but not to special and should not be out of reach of any of us. That's a great movie about quality and integrity.
Good luck trying to get a hold of one. Will have to travel to Campbeltown at this rate.
I love Ralfy reviews. But SP 10 is like 90 Euro here, so fuck it. Not for me, to expansive.
Hmm. So I'm told "we do not share it with people who do not know its value." Ouch. And if we want to preserve the future of the industry, we need to "call out the bad practices and inferior standards."
Seems pretty backwards to me. I don't believe that even one person will ever be won over to good whisky by a 19 minute rant against corporate branding and the evils of cutting corners. A rant will only get the choir to sing Amen. The only way people will actually be won over to good whisky is by sharing good whisky.
Share the whisky, not the vitriol.
Pulled this one from the stash and poured a dram while watching this. As usual, your review was spot on Ralfy. Springbank is such a high quality product. Looking forward to trying the hazelburn as well. As many others had commented the days of seeing these on the shelves collecting dusk is long gone. Wish I had bought more.
Ralfy I don't disagree with any of your points but this was much more a review of how Springbank operates and a comparison to other distilleries rather than a review of the whisky in your glass
Just wondering why the big distilleries don't allocate some of their money to build extra production line or even a new distillery next to the original one which produce real top tier products like springbank besides making average stuff with commercial computerized plants . In theory, they have the craftsman, skills, know how, history, capital, unlimited manpower due to the capital that can carry out all the traditional procedure they want ,better sherry cask access eg Macallan and other big guys have or building up the whole sherry cask vertical integration system and reopening old distilleries like Port Ellen.
In terms of economic of scale , they can easily produce similar or even better products comparing to springbank in different style and earning a good amount of money at the same time given small family owned distillery likes Springbank can do it in long run with a steady and increasing profit. Is it just because most management behind the big brands only want a steady share price for their mother firm so they focus releasing more and more nas/duty free lines with ultra high msrp likes Macallan that can get them risk free annual report for shareholder and pushing up msrp with marketing strategy instead of really focusing to increase quality?
Amazing review. This bottle is a piece of art. Thank you very much for everything Ralfy, you changed my whole Whisky journey. You made this experience genuine, and concentrated on the product itself and not on the b*sh*t commercial man power. I would be pleased to know if there is some more distilleries respecting some of the old fashioned criterias during the process of making the spirit and aging it, like you mentionned in this video. Thank you.
I think Laphroaig 10 is in the same league. And it is the traditional way.
I’m really sad to see the prices going sideways. $125 for the 10 in NYC, forget anything older. Happy for them but difficult not to view the situation as a massive loss for whisky-dom.
Springbank is dead to me now because I doubt I will ever be able to afford it, even if I could get hold of a bottle.
Completely agree, Ralfy! I had the opportunity and luck to attend the Springbank Whisky Academy back in 2011 and I could see the whole process guided by the great Frank MacHardy. Witnessing this old school whisky making was like entering a time machine: floor maltings, open rake and plough mash tun, low ABV wash (around 5%), direct fire wash still with rumagger, worm tube in low wines still n1, 2.81 times distillation, manually controlled spirit safe with demisting test done to determine the first cut, in-site maturation with dunnage warehouses for some of the casks (others are racked), own bottling with no chill-filtration and no caramel addition, and besides that, producing much less than the capacity of the distillery. Everything is done to maintain quality and integrity in their products. Hats of to Hedley G. Wright (great-great grand son of founder Archibald Mitchell) and to every person responsible for maintaining the tradition and the quality of this superb whisky. Greetings from Venezuela.
I am not sure this video helps with SB demand.......
Amen my friend. Amen.
I cannot find this scotch anywhere in Texas the last few years!
Starts reviewing the whisky at around 11:40 😆
I started asking myself that after about 9:30 😊
The knowledge starts at 00:01.
Thanks, Ralfy, spot on. I do occasionally see SB 10 and was recently at a big box wine shop that claimed to be out of stock. I spied a bottle lurking on the back of a shelf and quietly nabbed it. A dram for the ages!
Its only sold out online i know 3 places that have it. One of them is a petrol station.
Two drams tonight - SB 10 and Bladnoch 10. Hard to pick a winner but have both thanks to your good recommendation.
We’ll, maybe it’s not that hard, but the Bladnoch is damn fine for the price.
the prices are crazy for this stuff now, not worth it
I’ve never bought a bottle, but I’ve tasted the 10 a couple times and to be honest I wasn’t completely blown away like I expected given the hype. I think it’s an issue of value where I am in the US. It’s simply not worth the crazy prices they charge here.
Yep, SB 10 is $90 in Ca!
@@100puremustard5 and that’s a *good* price!
Is Springbank production constant in terms of quality? 2019 as good as 2022?
. . . yes.
Spot-on as usual one of my favourites looking forward to the extras.
Tapped the glass 😅😅😅😅😅😅😅
SP 10 doesnt hold a candle to the 15
Very different product
@@simonsherratt1484 that's the point
Thanks for this video
Props to Sprngbank. Glad to say I have a bottle of the 10 yr.
What is happening in the whisky industry is but one example of what I call the age of promotion over substance.
Bitcoin, NFTs, over-hyped whisky are all part of the same quite destructive strain of virus that has infected so many.
We can only hope this era is short-lived.
Thank you for your insights and candor. Not easy to find these days.
It's the same flippers involved with Springbank that were the Rolex and Patek SS flippers. Mitchell need to do more to police the red hot grey market by red carding some distributors or bottle shops, much like what Rolex does if it catches any of its AD'S selling pieces to flippers. The flippers have made most JA Mitchell products toxic now sadly....
This most recent batch is the best of the last 2-3 years
the first bottle of scotch I ever bought back in 2019. I have never stopped buying Springbank since then and cannot find another whisky which provides a similar experience!! Thank you Ralfy for spreading knowledge and for educating us all !!!
Try Glen Scotia and Benromach (above 46%)
Well, that’s a review I was waiting for
Love this dram. It has gotten mighty expensive in the states. On average 80.00 a bottle.
Exactly. Not worth it at that price, becoming over hyped like Pappy VanW in the bourbon world.
Im in Australia .... Im guessing there could still be a bottle of Springbank in a museum somewhere in country. Come to think about it I actually saw a single bottle of the 10yo available from an online store a few months ago .. they were asking over $400 for it.
Yep its ridiculous. I've even seen the standard NAS Longrow sell for $280. Like...no. Fuck that.
Got a bottle online from Nick's Whisky and Wine Merchants in Melbourne about 5 years ago for $100.00 but I haven't seen since. It's not a bad drop but I think it is an investors whisky like Macallan now. Don't think they sell it in Australia anymore.
I've not been able to buy a Springbank, but we've had Longrow and Kilkerran 12 available. I have one Hazelburn 10 and that's one of my favorites.
The Hazelburn 10 flies under the radar
I found the Hazelburn 10 to be a little too much on the sour/bitter side for my liking. It's not bad by any means though.
This whisky is almost impossible to get now on my side of the world. One of my favourites.
Just got a bottle and for a very reasonable price! Glad this fantastic whisky is still available at a fair price.
Bought my first and only bottle of this in 2017 for 52.99/54.99 USD. Now I only see "not available" or $150 a bottle online. I should have never drank a drop of the whiskey I purchased from 2016 till now, I'd be halfway retired from the secondary market.
Live in South Jersey USA, there’s a great liquor store who gets several bottles of SB10y/o . Bought my first. It’s wonderful. Instantly bought a second for the library. Thank you Rafly for spreading the knowledge.
Found it for the first time last month. A couple of bottles virtually hidden on the bottom shelf of a big store in Chicago. $100 a bottle. I’ve yet to see a 15yo for sale here. I’m in North Carolina. We’ll never see it here.
The 15yr old is a different beast. Very much a sweet sherry lover's dream. I tried a sample and didn't really get it... maybe just me...Bunnahabhain 18 is cheaper and similar profile..
The 10yr old however is my favourite . It's a gorgeous waxy zesty rich vanilla woody beauty. Hard to explain but even to a novice like myself, it's the kind of whisky you want to sip for hours.... luckily managed to find two bottles for £60 a few months ago. Scared to open them just yet. My old bottle disappeared far too quickly.
I really want to try the 12 CS next. Maybe at the distillery shop some day
Ralfy preaching is second to none!
I really enjoy Springbank, I have a bottle of the 10 and have been lucky to try the 15. I can pretty easily find Springbank at our chain store, Total Wine, but the prices are steep. The 10yo is $100, the 12yo CS is $130 and the 15 is $165. There's an 18 but I believe it's over $250. What's the answer here Ralfy? I feel like if I pay these prices I'm only encouraging the speculators and distributors to keep the prices the same or push them higher even quicker. I feel conflicted -- no matter how special a distillery is, I cannot accept $100 for a standard edition 10yo single malt (not that I would be quick to pay that for limited editions either)..
While I love to hear you wax poetic about Springbank and I can acknowledge that it's in the top tier, is it really worth those prices? How does $100 compare to the prices you get in the UK?
Much love, keep up the great work!
Damn! You got me afraid to open any of my Springbanks unless I get a surprise visit from the Whiskylassie or if I find out I have 1 year to live. I have 2 of the 2019 10yo and a 2014 10yo as well as 3 - 2018 15 yo and an independent bottling of an 11 yo. The last time I had an open 15 yo, I put 50ml in a mini bottle and I've been tempted many times to take a sip. The 2019 10 yo were 70USD back then. They are now 100USD. The 15 yo were 130USD and were 160USD when they ran out.