A COLD SOUP – Score: 4.5/10
With trembling hands, I opened this bottle of Springbank 18 Year Old, now fetching around €400 due to its age and prestige.
Springbank has become the Patek Philippe of distilleries, with everyone dreaming of adding a bottle to their collection. It must be said that this series was far more attractive in terms of labeling compared to the current series, whose labels, to be honest, are simply dreadful.
But purists will tell you that what’s inside the bottle is what matters most. In other words: it’s not the bottle that counts, but the intoxication it brings.
Enough digression, let’s get to the tasting. The texture is semi-aqueous, almost paraffin-like, as is often the case with Springbank’s distillate. The notes are herbaceous, reminiscent of fennel, and veer towards a powdery side.
The finish is distinctly bitter, recalling dried peels. A great disappointment for this 2013 vintage, far from living up to our expectations.