Springbank 10 Year

Ah, now here is a whisky I've been dying to review. I first had Springbank - probably the best-known of the current Campbeltown distilleries - about four years ago. I actually started with their heavily-peated Longrow CV expression, which I thought was very good, comparable to Ardbeg Corryvreckan, which is high praise indeed. I've still never found the unpeated and triple-distilled Hazelburn in the wild. But the core expression - Springbank's own 10 Year - is a really eccentric, complex, subtle, and interesting whisky.
I picked up another bottle today, anxious to explore this darkly oily, peaty, fruity dram. As a point of interest, Springbank is one of the very few distilleries that produces the entire bottle of whisky from start to finish - while many/most distilleries age the barrels offsite, blend the whiskies offsite, bottle the liquid offsite, Springbank does it all from malting to labeling. I really value that self-sufficiency.

This is distilled two-and-a-half times, non-chill-filtered, uncolored, and bottled at 46% ABV; there is also a 50% variant which I've never seen in the wild. Aged in a mix of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks. Here we go...

Nose: Very strong peat across the nose, but not the wild smoking bonfire of Ardbeg or Laphroaig, but the big mossy earthy peat of Ardmore or Oban or Clynelish. Very earthy: dry moss, wet leaves, crumbling loam. Underneath, vanilla and apples and lemons. Nose tickle from the alcohol. Some light smoke. Distinct diesel fumes. Salt. This is a really unusual, dry nose - very little conventional malt sweetness, but a huge meaty dose of peat and forested flavor.

Mouthfeel: Oily and full-bodied.

Palate: What an eccentric and bold flavor this has!: A bright sweetness of apples and lemons fades swiftly into some honey and then powerfully into a very, very dry peat that has acrid overtones of yellow idling smoke. There is a nice smoked paprika and pepper note during the transition. At the back end of the palate, finally, the sherry fruit appears: a smoky black currant and subtle prune flavor.

Finish: Salty lemon and mossy peat both remain beneath a haze of diesel oil fumes for eons on the tongue. Very long, dry finish.

Verdict: Quite an unusual whisky. I never would have thought diesel fuel and apples would pair well together, but they absolutely do. And what's more, I didn't get a single note of oak in this, somehow. I've read that strong use of ex-sherry casks results in these kind of dried notes; this, together with the lack of oaky notes and the light cider-like color, makes me think that this is predominantly dry sherry casks. But I really love the oily, waxy diesel note combined with the mossy peat and the apples and lemons. A unique and worthwhile whisky, and extremely subtle and complex for only 10 years!