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Kitchen Chat and more…
The Springbank Distillery is a family-owned single malt whisky distillery located on the Kintyre Peninsula on Scotland’s west coast. It established on the site of Archibald Mitchell’s illicit still in 1828. It is one of the last surviving distilleries in Campbeltown, a place that once housed more 30 distilleries.
In 1591, Campbeltown was first associated with whisky in official records. By 1601, it became a popular whisky smuggling centre as well as the place to produce illegal whisky. The Mitchell family (founders of Springbank) moved to Campbeltown as settlers from the Lowlands with skills as maltsters in 1660s.
Archibald Mitchell became a partner at Rieclachan Distillery in 1825 and was later joined by his brother Hugh Michell. When the laws were eased with the registration of whisky distillery, the Mitchell brothers founded Springbank in 1828. Built on the site of Riechlachan Distillery, Springbank became the 14th licensed distillery in Campbeltown.
The family continued to expand their whisky outreach. In 1834, Archibald’s sister, Mary Mitchell, founded Drumore Distillery. By 1837, Archibald’s sons, John and William Mitchell, took over the distillery. The two brothers worked to expand the family’s whisky business, with William founding Glengyle Distillery in 1872.
The family still owned many of the distilleries today. Currently, the 5th generation of the family is in charge at Springbank. He is the great, great grandson of Archibald.
The distillery produces three types of peated and unpeated malt whiskies. Most of them are single malts that are sorted into one of the three distinct brands of Springbank. A small percentage are sold to large blenders or made into Springbank’s own blended scotch labels.
The three distinct brands of Springbank single malts are
Springbank is the only Scottish distillery that completes 100% of their production process on site. They malt 100% of their barley using the traditional floor malting methods. They also used many old pieces of machinery that were preserved and maintained over the years.
Springbank is indeed a great choice if you are looking at sampling Campbeltown whiskies. WhiskyGeeks have tried 2 rare whiskies from them. One of them is a Longrow 16 Years Old while the other is a Springbank 8 Years Old. Both are exceptional!
A set of rare Macallan surfaced in a Bonhams Whisky auction in Hong Kong last week, much to the delight of the participants. The complete set of The Macallan in Lalique Six Pillars Collection was actively bidded for and finally sold for HK$3,797,500. This is possibly one of the first set of rare Macallan sold at an auction after news that a Macallan vintage bottle located in St Moritz, Switzerland couuld be fake.
The six decanters made with Lalique crystal were produced between 2006 and 2016. Each of them are in limited quantity with age statements of 50, 55, 57, 60, 62, and 65, released in that order. All of the bottles are highly sought after individually, but to get all six in a complete set is pretty much an achievement. Congratulations to the winner of the bid!
The oldest whisky ever launched by The Singleton of Glen Ord is gracing Asia from 7 September 2017 in selected countries. Made by “Master of Malt”, Maureen Robinson, this whisky is bottled at cask strength of 49.9% abv. Going under the label of The Forgotten Drop series, this 41-years old whisky is the first “oldest” whisky released by the distillery since its inception in 1838.
From 7 September 2017, this whisky is available in selected Asian countries at a jaw-dropping price of £2,200 as it is a limited edition of 600 bottles only. This is according to the news released by Glen Ord.
This release is interesting as Robinson has used a predominantly small batch of refill American Oak cask to create the 41-years-old. As it is different from Glen Ord’s typical use of refill European oak, ex-sherry casks, the flavour profile is going to be different from your usual Singleton of Glen Ord.
Robinson shared that the refill American Oak Cask is what makes the 41-years-old so special as Singleton of Glen Ord does not usually create a whisky of such age in American Oak Cask. The whisky is said to have a “depth of taste” and adds complexity to the Singleton’s signature balance and smoothness.
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