The Springbank 1997 Vintage, Batch 1 has been specially selected by Director of Production Frank McHardy and Distillery Manager Stuart Robertson, who have combined their many years of whisky-making experience to select the casks for the first release. Batch 1 has been exclusively matured in re-charred sherry butts and marks an exciting new development in our range of products. It is packaged in a new style of Springbank carton which is sure to catch everyone's attention on the shelves of the favourite whisky shops. Bottles: 11,000; strength: 55.2%abv
Tasting Note:
Nose
The effect of the re-charred casks is huge, giving the whisky a distinct burnt caramel character. The woody flavours are reminiscent of brown toast with butter, well-browned flapjack and roasted oats.
We also detected notes of everything from tawny marmalade and candle wax, through to ice cream soda and irn bru!
Palate
Batch 1 is rich and dry with huge amounts of flavour. Sweet oak, peaches and honey are concentrated at the back of the palate, The mouth feel is very lively, with a tingle of salt and citrus.
Finish
A well balanced finished, as sweet smokey notes mingle with sherry, oak and caramel. The finish is long, rich and warming.

The new vintages will be a continuous product, with the batch number changing
every time we do a new a bottling. The Vintage and cask strength of each batch will depend on the casks chosen by Frank and Stuart.

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Following on from the success of last year's release of a special blended whisky to celebrate the Edinburgh International Festival, Springbank Distillers have decided to repeat the exercise this year. The limited Edition Edinburgh Festival Blend 2007 has been created to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the festival and to celebrate Jonathon Mills' inaugural year as Festival Director. Just 2007 bottles of this unique blend have been produced by Scotland's oldest distilling family, offering a sophisticated, well rounded and silky smooth dram to the discerning Festival audience.
Tasting note:
Bottles: 2007; strength: 40%abv.
Nose
The nose reveals a huge amount of body and balance. Subtle smoke and peat mingle together with a sweetness reminiscent of the stillhouse. The high malt content is hinted at in the nose
Palate
Full bodied, the character from the Springbank and Longrow single malts are both in evidence. Sherry casks matured whisky has had a huge influence on the palate, coming across as spicy oak.
Finish
Lots of oak with a slight, lingering taste of a fresh chilli.

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The third new bottling will be the 2007 Wood Expression, which will be available from September. This year's Wood Expression is a 16 year old Springbank which has been matured for eight years in bourbon casks followed by eight years in demerara rum casks. Following on from our previous Wood Expressions, we are sure that this year's bottling will be equal interesting and provide a talking point for all whisky lovers.
Tasting Note:
Bottles: 6,000; strength: 54.2%abv
Nose - The depth and complexity of the latest wood expression is to be expected, given that the whisky has been 8 years in bourbon casks followed by 8 years in demerara rum casks. Initially light, fruity and sweet, further nosing reveals notes of elderflower and roses, coupled with butterscotch and toffee. Given yet more time to breath, the nose becomes creamy and buttery, like a light lemon mousse with a memory evoking hint of play-doh (childrens toy made from wheat flour.)
Palate- Suprisingly, the rum wood and Springbank are very well balanced. Initially, flavours of honey and demerara sugar coat the front and side of the tongue. As these mellow, notes of malt, vanilla and raisins combine with light oak flavours
Finish- Lingering sweetness remincent of the tun room, subtle sweetness with notes of citrus and green apples. Very moreish!

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This year's Wood Expression

Jeg er at betragte som en novice udi Springbank-aftapninger, men har dog gennemskuet at de udsender deres produkter i forskellige wood expressions (Tokaji, Marsala et c.). Skal ovenstående forstås således, at det er en årligt tilbagevendene tradition, lidt a lá medlemsaftapningerne?

Mvh.
Jesper

Springbank Vintage 1997 Batch 1 er nu også i Danmark:
F.eks Juuls - www.juuls.dk/get/20067.html

Smagsnoter fra Serge:

Springbank 1997 (55.2%, OB, 11,000 bottles, 2007) One and only label so far for this new one... Phew! Colour: pale gold. Nose: we're more in the vein of the second CV here, but with extra-oomph and more cask influence. More plain vanilla and vanilla fudge at first nosing but then it gets wilder, farmier, more vegetal and more mineral, not unlike the 12 we just had. Notes of fern, moss, fresh mushrooms, plantain bananas, roots, dead leaves... Then very big notes of wet chalk, a little porridge, ginger tonic, faint hints of turpentine and varnish, shoe polish... It's very complex for such a young whisky, and certainly the one I like most of all recent bottlings by Springbank "“ so far!
Mouth: excellent attack, punchy but not overpowering, starting right on these very weird notes that I think are quite unpleasant in some recent Springbanks, Longrows or Hazelburns but that work quite well here. Something like Seven-Up or gin-tonic, or ginger wine. Also quite some butter, plain lemons, buttered toffee, malt, something like concentrated milk, melons... Let's see what happens with water (and while the nose got smokier): more citrus (tangerines starting to rot "“ nothing wrong here), a little more salt and a very typical salty waxiness (?) plus quite some added spices, such as nutmeg and cinnamon and a sherry that got a little more obvious now but still rather discreet we think. Finish: long, more compact (vanilla, lemons and salt) and also a little cleaner, which is exactly what's expected in a very good whisky at my end. I think this is excellent at barely 10 years of age and I almost feel like shouting ‘hurray for Springbank!' An old love of mine may well be back... SGP:463 - 89 points.