SPRINGBANK SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

Greetings Society Members

Winter is fast approaching with dark cold mornings and days when you donʼt know what the weather is going to be doing. As you all know Campbeltown can go through all four seasons in one day!!

Things usually slow down in Campbeltown over the winter but we are still busy here, there are still quite a lot of visitors to the distillery, this year we have had quite a few larger groups coming to the town and more and more are using the Tasting Room, enjoying a few drams with local produce to compliment our whisky. We include a little smoked salmon from our local smokehouse, a taste of our local cheese with oatcakes made by a local baker and of course a wee bit of chocolate (not locally made unfortunately).

This year we have had quite a few Society Members visiting us and it was really nice to be able to meet them and put a face to the email!

SOCIETY BOTTLES

We have now started to send the Society Bottles to the Cadenhead Shops in Europe, members still have to order by contacting Campbeltown so that we know how many tosend. Hopefully this will work out and all future Society bottles can be sent this way. We still have some of the Longrow 10 y/o and the Springbank 14 y/o available.

If you would like to order either of these Society bottles please let me know. The bottles can be sent to the shops in Europe with their next orders, following the same procedure aswe have just done. We would take orders here for the bottles, you would stipulate which shop you would like your bottles delivered to then when they are on their way an email would be sent to you advising of the phone number of the shop so that you can contact toarrange payment and dispatch – or to check when you can call in to the shop to uplift your bottles.

The next Society bottling should also be able to go to the US as the new importer there is now established. A lot of waiting to get things going and I do apologise for this but now that we are ʻon the moveʼ and more importantly legal, things should improve.

We can now start to look for another cask to bottle for Society Members, Frank and Gavin will be “on the case” and weʼll get a few samples together to pick the best. Perhaps this time we will send out a few samples to members to see which one they prefer. It would only be a few members, so a “lucky dip” to pick the winners.

We have just taken delivery of the new Springbank Calvados in the shop today, itʼs a 12y/o which has been 6 years in a bourbon cask and 6 years in a Calvados cask, strength 52.7% and costs £58.

Tasting Note:

Colour – Golden syrup

Nose – The influence of the Calvados casks is immediately apparent, with notes of greenapples, citrus fruits and sweet toffee showing themselves in the beginning. Vanilla essence, pears and some gentle spice come later.

Palate – A very lively dram at cask strength. Black pepper and rhubarb give way to demerara sugar, green grapes, a touch of cinnamon and a little bit of home-made fudge. This is an oily whisky for sure.

Finish – Orange marmalade, gooseberries and a pleasant, dry, peatiness leave a lasting impression

The staff up at the distillery have been working very hard both inside and outside and the place is looking very smart and tidy. There have certainly not been any “idle hands” overthe past few months. Our Distillery Manager, Gavin, is very neat and tidy and this must be rubbing off on everyone else, I think.

SPRINGBANK WHISKY SCHOOL

The whisky school will run next year from week beginning 6th May until week beginning 8th July, 10 weeks, arriving here on the Sunday and leaving on the Friday. Places are starting to fill up but we still have plenty to fill. There are only six places each week so thatwe can ensure that everyone has a chance to work in all aspects of the Distillery and spend as much time as possible with the Distillery staff. The staff are all very friendly and enjoy the Whisky School, being able to pass on their skills to people who are obviously so interested in what they do. Frank is busy making up new information for next yearʼs pupils and we are hoping to present them in booklet form which will be a reminder of your time spent with us here in Campbeltown.

Last year we published a piece on facebook weekly with a photograph of that weekʼspupils (all still smiling at the end of the week) and comments from the “Headmaster” FrankMcHardy. There were no “detentions” or “punishments” handed out to anyone throughout the ten week period and everyone seemed to get on really well, during and after working hours. We even had one pupil dressed up in a kilt – you know who you are!!!!

So, if you would like to join us next year please let me know by emailing whiskyschool@springbankwhisky.com and I will send you some information and a registration form.

SPRINGBANK OPEN DAY 2013

Next yearʼs Open Day is starting to be discussed, plans being made, etc. The Open Day will be on Thursday 23rd May and as we get nearer the time all will be revealed as to whatwe will be doing. There will of course be Single Casks and Masterclasses and tours, but we will have to wait and see what else is in store for you.

Watch this space ………………………….

SPRINGBANK SALES TEAM

The Sales Team have been kept very busy these past few months, Sales Manager Ranald Watson has been jetting around the globe spreading the Springbank word, MelanieStanger has been travelling round the UK and Europe, attending shows and Tastings and our newest member John McCallum has also been out and about, finding his feet, so to speak. When we get to the Open Day next year, John will be an “old hand” by then and will no doubt be involved in some of the tastings. Melanie was involved in the Open Day this year so she has already “cut her teeth”.

LONGROW CV

We now have the new Longrow which replaces the Longrow CV, the packaging is rather eye catching I think. The tasting note for the Longrow is as follows:

Colour: Light amber with slight olive highlights.

Nose: Very creamy, vanilla custard. The smoke develops gradually, like a slow burning log fire, never overpowering butalways reassuring. Our guest taster was reminded of marshmallows toastedon a campfire – crisp on the outside and sticky sweet in the middle!

Palate: Incredibly well balanced – rich and creamy with a slight medicinal hint. The smoke is

always present, washing over the palate in waves, like the soft billows of smoke from the kiln.

Finish: The gentle smoke lingers and lingers leaving you yearning for more!

The Cadenhead shop now also has Longrow 5cl £5 and Hazelburn 12y/o 5cl £5 in stock, as well as the Springbank 10y/o and 15y/o 5cl. These have proved to be very popular since being introduced recently.

St Andrew’s Night

The Tasting Room at Cadenhead’s Whisky Shop, Campbeltown are hosting a St Andrew’s Night on Saturday 1st December. There will be a 3 coarse dinner and a whisky tasting. Tickets available from Cadenhead Whisky Shop, Campbeltown at a cost of £25 per person. Time, 7.00 pm for 7.30 pm. If it is as successful as the Hallowe’en night we held recently it promises to be good.

Hallowe’en Night

We held a Hallowe’en night on 27th October in the Tasting Room and although fancy dress was not compulsory everyone joined in and came along dressed in various costumes, most of which were home made. We had Dorothy and her friends from the Wizard of Oz, a giant pumpkin, Edward Scissor Hands (the winner of the competition), a girly clown and lots more. The staff were dressed as zombies with Donald as the zombie chef, Grant as a very scary zombie and Mairi, Julie, Leslie and myself as zombie waitresses.

We enjoyed a lovely warming winter dinner cooked by Donald and accompanied by cocktails rather than a whisky tasting. The evening, of course, included some games – “dooking” for apples – surprised there wasn’t any mess for this one, and throwing corks into a pumpkin to win a prize. The Tasting Room was suitably dressed for the occasion with spiders webs, skulls, bones and gravestones, and spooky music playing all night (not too loudly).

This was our first Hallowe’en “function” and hopefully not our last.

Society & Canada

Our Sales Team have been working away in the background trying to set up something for Canada so that our Members there can enjoy the benefits of the Society without having to have their Society bottles delivered to the UK. We should soon be able to ship to Alberta in Canada if things go according to plan, but more news on that when it has been finalised, hopfully not too long!!!

That’s about all of our news for the minute, but as soon as Frank and Gavin have earmarked a few possible casks for the Society bottle I will let everyone know.

Meantime we wish you all well.

SLÁINTE!!!!

Janet

Please visit http://www.springbankwhisky.com/ to join the Springbank Society