Support Local

Hipster movements are all about authenticity, craft, and supporting local. Well, as some say, you can't get very much more hipster than the Springbank 'Local Barley'. Barley grown within walking distance of the distillery, and every single part of the process done on-site...

I originally intended to write some long pre-amble about the loss of regional distinctiveness due to the importation of barley and usage of casks, but, you know what, let's not waste time and get to the whisky. It's that good.

Springbank 'Local Barley' 16 years old, 2016 (54.3% abv)

Nose - Initial blast of sweet jam, followed by a solid waft of grass and hay, which transits nicely into oak. After a bit of time, vanilla, honey, and fresh berries come to dominate the nose. There's a bit of peat and charred wood-smoke. There's oil and a hint of rust. There's a bit of rubber as well. Rust and rubber? So that's a rusty bicycle wheel? A malty, slightly sulphurous background. This is Springbank, with a little more sugar than usual. This is really good barley.

Palate - A big burst of alcohol heat, which quickly settles down to reveal a ton of fresh fruits - rock melon, lemons, grapefruit. Sweet and sour, and big. Fruit sweetness transits into honey and vanilla. This is a really sweet entry. After the sweetness subsides, oak and a touch of bitterness emerges - orange and lemon peel, orange pith. Fairly spicy on pepper and nutmeg. There's a subtle peat smoke influence behind all this. Hints of minerality (limestone, I imagine) peppered throughout, but this isn't the main draw. There's also a solid hint (what's a solid hint??) of malted barley sugars.

The layering of flavours is astounding. Smooth transitions across a wide range of flavours that are well-balanced and totally complementary. An amazing ride.

Finish - Smoke and charred wood, then tea tannins. Some spice, and then drying. The finish lingers long and actually develops a little berry-sour in the aftertaste. Wow.

With water - Water smooths out the alcohol, and brings out a richness in texture that wasn't as evident neat. I think water brings out a bit of sherry influence - richer in texture, almost velvety, and more firmly fruity. However, the structured development gets lost a bit. Grass, oak and rubber come out more prominently, and there's more pepper in the finish. Water makes this a gentler dram, and still an excellent sipper, but I think I'll keep the complexity, even if that leaves the whisky a little rougher.

Overall - This is mind-blowing-ly good. Great breadth of flavour profile, making the whisky complex. Sweeter than usual, yet not losing the distinctiveness of the distillery. Structured and long without losing coherence. Development even in the finish (!!). This is unbelievably good. The age is a great balance between the distillate and barrel, and I think I've read somewhere before that 16 to 18 is about the best age for a Springbank. I love it. There were only 9000 bottles worldwide, and prices have jumped at least 3 times since the release earlier in the year. Hard to find any more affordable bottles of this, I'm afraid.

Excellent example of the perfect harmony between human labour and the land - this whisky is the land, the barley, the natural processes of fermentation, and human craft singing together in worship of their maker, in whom all things are reconciled and made perfect.

This is still available at Auld Alliance for $48 a dram. Pricey, but I have no regrets.