Springbank Society Newsletter

May 2014 

Greetings Society Members,

Hope things are well with you all. Things here in Campbeltown are good – as you can imagine we’re getting very excited for the Campbeltown Malts Festival which will begin next Wednesday. We are almost all organised for the invasion and are just sorting out the final touches! Below is a break down of the three days of celebrations: 

Campbeltown Malts Festival 2014 

Wednesday 21st May 2014 

Afternoon // Getting to know Glen Scotia & Celebrating 10 years of the Springbank Society 

The Wednesday afternoon plan will be as follows:

• 12 noon: Free tour of Glen Scotia Distillery (beginning at Glen Scotia – please email me if you would like to book a place)

• 1.30pm: Springbank Society 10 year anniversary tasting in the Tasting Room at Cadenhead’s Whisky Shop

• 2.30pm: Free tour of Glen Scotia Distillery (beginning at Glen Scotia – please email me if you would like to book)

• 4pm: Glen Scotia Masterclass in the Tasting Room at Cadenhead’s Whisky Shop.

Tickets cost £25.00 and will be payable on the day.

Unfortunately the Society Tasting is now fully booked but there is still some space on the 4pm Glen Scotia Masterclass. To book a place on the masterclass or either of the free tours of Glen Scotia please let me know by emailing mairi@springbankwhisky.com  or calling 01586 552009. 

Evening // Mitchell’s Glengyle Distillery 10th Birthday Celebrations 

In the evening we will be holding two events to celebrate the 10th birthday of Mitchell’s Glengyle Distillery. The first is our special Still House Dinner which will be taking place at Glengyle Distillery from 6pm. This event is now sold out but you can still help us celebrate the big birthday by joining us for the Mitchell’s Glengyle 10th Birthday Ceilidh which will be held in the dry goods warehouse at Glengyle Distillery. Music will be provided by local musicians, The Kinloch Ceilidh Band and there will be a licensed bar until midnight with hot filled rolls available for purchase around 10pm. Tickets cost £5.00 and are available from Cadenhead’s Whisky Shop, by emailing mairi@springbankwhisky.com or calling 01586 552009.

Two local hotels, The Craigard House Hotel and The Ardshiel Hotel will also be holding special 3-course whisky dinners on the Wednesday evening. They have both designed menus for the occasion which feature local produce and some whisky themed options.

During the dinner, representatives from Glengyle/Springbank will be in attendance to give diners the very first taste of the new Kilkerran Work in Progress (WIP6). The dinner at The Craigard House Hotel will commence at 6.45pm and will cost £26.00 per person for 3 courses or £31.00 including your ticket to the Glengyle ceilidh. The dinner at the Ardshiel Hotel will commence at 7pm and will cost £24.95 per person for 3 courses or £29.95 including your Glengyle ceilidh ticket. If you would like to book into either of the dinners or receive more information on the menus etc then please contact the hotels directly. The Craigard can be emailed at info@craigard-house.co.uk or called on 01586 554242 and the Ardshiel can be emailed at info@ardshiel.co.uk or called on 01586 552133.

Thursday 22nd May

On Thursday we will be holding the Springbank Open Day which will run in a similar style to previous years. Events will be kicking off in the distillery yard at 11am and there will be various activities taking place throughout the day and evening.

From 11am-5pm there will be:

• A range of masterclasses and warehouse tastings as follows:

* 11.30am // Cadenhead Masterclass with Mark Watt & Grant Macpherson

* 12pm // The Distillery Manager’s Warehouse Tasting (3 drams)

* 1pm // Glengyle Masterclass with Jenny Karlsson

* 2pm // The Distillery Manager’s Warehouse Tasting (3 drams) – ONLY 1 SPACE LEFT

* 2.30pm // Springbank Masterclass with Ranald Watson

* 4pm // The Distillery Manager’s Warehouse Tasting (3 drams) – SOLD OUT

* 4pm // Cadenhead Warehouse Tasting (3 drams) – ONLY 1 SPACE LEFT

Masterclasses cost £25.00 each & include ‘Springbank Open Day’ Glencairn Glass //

Warehouse Tastings cost £15.00 each

• Free distillery tours throughout the day

• A selection of over 20 stalls from local businesses

• The popular Warehouse Whisky Bar – £5 for 5 drams

• Fyne Ales who will have a special Kilkerran collaboration beer on offer as well as the return of the Fyne Bank beer which is brewed from barley which has been malted at Springbank

• Music from local musicians

• Hot Food from Campbeltown Kitchen & Ifferdale Lamb

• Amazing cakes from Frances at Muneroy

• Photo Exhibition from Campbeltown Camera Club

From 5.30pm-9.30pm there will be:

• Live music from Kintyre Songwriters Adam Fortune and Lewis Semple followed by the sounds of Kintyre based band ‘The Democrats’

• Hot food

• Drinks tent selling Spirits and Fyne Ales

• A short, whisky related performance from Footnotes Dancers and some of the Springbank staff suitable for all the family.

There will be two special Open Day bottles. The first will be a Longrow 15 year old which will be bottled on the day and we will also be launching a special Springbank 21 year old single cask, rum-matured whisky with only 174 bottles available. This will retail at £250.00 on the day and will be sold on a first come, first served basis. If there are any leftover after Thursday, the bottles will be taken to our Campbeltown Cadenhead’s shop where others will be able to purchase it. If you would like to be placed on a reserve list then please let me know. The price will increase to £280.00 on the Friday but if the bottle has been reserved before then you will be able to purchase it for £250.00.

Friday 23rd May 2014

On Friday we will be holding the Campbeltown Malts Open Golf Competition at Machrihanish Dunes Golf Club. The competition will be a pairs, better-ball format and tee times are from 10am onwards – a great way to cure the hangover!! The Dunes will provide a bus service from Springbank to the golf course and will also offer breakfast at £6.00 per head and/or lunch at £10.00 per head. The price for locals to take part is £10.00 per person and for non-locals is £30.00 with lots of good prizes to be won! There is still some space left on this for anyone who would like to join but hasn’t booked so please let me know as soon as possible if you would like to take part.

I’m looking forward to meeting many of you next week and for those of you who are unable to make it I will make sure we get plenty of photos uploaded to the Springbank Distillers Facebook page afterwards!

10 years of the Springbank Society

As many of you will be aware, the Springbank Society reached 10 years old in April. I have only been in charge of the Society for 11 months but have loved getting to know you all and keeping you up to date with what’s happening here in Campbeltown. We currently have around 1080 members of the Society with this number still steadily increasing each month. We would like to thank all our Society Members for your loyalty and support over these 10 years. The enthusiasm and kindness that we get from you makes our jobs much more enjoyable…here’s to the next 10!!

New Society Bottling

I am excited to tell you that the new Society bottling has been bottled and is now ready for purchase. As it is the 10 year anniversary of the Society, Gavin and team have selected a very special cask in celebration of this. The cask chosen is a Springbank 14 year old LOCAL BARLEY matured in a Refill Sherry Butt and bottled at 57.8% ABV. We have managed to get 546 bottles from the cask and the price of a bottle is £80.00. The tasting notes of this are as follows:

Colour: Copper

Nose: Old school Springbank – damp peat and a warm earthy aroma reminiscent of the dunnage warehouse where this whisky was matured. As the whisky breathes it reveals ripe oranges, cloves and sweet peaches.

Palate: Dark and mysterious but with a sweet side too. Cocoa beans and gingerbread are to the fore but the rich, elegant balance of this dram is emphasised by notes of rhubarb and vanilla.

Finish: Doesn’t disappoint. Long and sweet with peat, dried fruits and a gentle nuttiness.

We will stick to the same rule as we did with the last bottling and it will be limited to one bottle per person to begin with to give everyone a fair chance of securing a bottle. If there are any unclaimed bottles after 2 months then members will get the chance to buy a second. If you would like to reserve a bottle then please email me as soon as you can. For the next week or so I will be out of the office quite a bit while I get things organised for the Malts Festival so don’t worry if you don’t get an immediate response from me – I will try to reply to you as soon as possible and ensure that you manage to get a bottle reserved.

If you are coming to the Open Day then you will be able to collect your bottle from the Campbeltown Cadenhead’s Whisky Shop. The shop will operate its normal hours during the Open Day week – Monday to Saturday from 9am to 5pm. Although the shop opens at 9am they cannot legally sell alcohol until 10am. For people ordering a bottle out with the UK, please see the section below with some exciting news regarding a new method of shipping.

New Shipping Company – Prices attached

I am delighted to tell you that we have found a new shipping company who can ship orders worldwide for us. As you may be aware, a couple of years ago Royal Mail tightened their rules which means we have been unable to ship any alcoholic substance over 24% ABV out with the UK. This has meant that for members living in other areas of the world it has become increasingly difficult to obtain the desired bottles. Luckily we have still able to send Society bottlings to our European Cadenhead shops but for members living far away from these shops, it was almost impossible to acquire a bottle.

The shipping prices have been calculated ranging from the cost of 1 bottle to 6 bottles (a full case). The countries listed below are the countries that we have Society Members living in but if you would like to know the price of a different country then please just ask and I can work out this for you. As you will notice, it is quite costly to ship one bottle at a time but the more bottles that are included, the cheaper it becomes per bottle and the prices include all taxes and costs on our side. I am unsure what countries may charge an entry fee or taxes when the whisky arrives at its destination so it may be best for you to find out this before ordering so you are not hit with an unexpected charge when it arrives in your country.

For the time being, we will continue to allow Society bottles to be shipped to our European shops until members get used to the new service. If this changes at a later date then I will make sure you are the first to know. When ordering your new Society bottle, please remember to let me know how you would like to receive it and, if you would like it to be delivered to one of our Cadenhead shops then please state which one.

The shipping prices are listed below and just a reminder for our UK customers, the cost to ship one bottle is £10.00 and for a case of between 2 and 6 bottles we have a set price of £20.00:

(please email Mairi for the various prices)

Upcoming Kilkerran Releases

To mark the re-opening of Glengyle distillery, the first six casks filled from the very first spirit run were set aside to be bottled in 2014 when the whisky reached 10 years old. The six casks are of different wood types and were chosen in conjunction with Willie Taylor from Broxburn Cooperage to ensure that they were of the finest quality prior to being filled.

The casks types used are:

Fresh Sherry – ex Oloroso

Fresh Sherry – ex Fino

Fresh Rum – ex Demerara

Fresh Madeira – ex Henriques & Henriques

Fresh Port – ex Cockburns

Fresh Bourbon – ex Jim Beam

There are still a few sets available for purchase and this will be the only official bottling of 10 year old Kilkerran. The sets currently retail at £950.00 but this price is due to increase on Friday 23rd May. For more information on the sets please email info@kilkerransinglemalt.com or call 01586 552009.

This year we will also be releasing the next in the Work in Progress series (WIP6). Similar to last year there will be two offerings: a bourbon matured and a sherry matured. These will be bottled at 46% ABV and will cost £35.00 each with Society Members receiving their 10% discount. The bottles will be available from Wednesday 21st May onwards but here is a sneak peak at the tasting notes for each to get your mouth watering….

Kilkerran WIP6 Bourbon Wood

Nose: Inviting and homely straight away. Ripe green apples, herbal sweetness and rich in sugar glazed apricots.

Palate: Itʼs nuts! Rich oily walnuts, continuing the wholesome notes from the nose. More a work in perfection than work in progress, with a great, delicate balance between the sweeter fruit notes and lively spices. It is unmistakenly Campbeltown, so comforting and rich. It gets sweeter and stickier with a touch of water.

Finish: This dram is not for the impatient! Treat it like a cryptic crossword, give it time and enjoy this fabulous Campbeltown spirit.

Kilkerran WIP6 Sherry Wood

Nose: Bold and Beautiful. Clear, but subtle, European red oak notes, a real sherry matured star.

Palate: The sherry notes goes deeper on the palate. Dark chocolate, dates, prunes, hard toffee, molasses and gingerbread syrup. Honey-bbq coated ribs without any of the smoke.

Finish: This whisky holds a great poise, almost ballerina like. There is a true harmonious balance between all the components in this dram. It has a seamless, resonant finish, echoing in a deep, loving, sherry tone.

Redesign of the Longrow 18 year old Packaging

The packaging for our Longrow 18 year old has recently been redesigned to fit in with the Longrow Peated and Longrow Red. The new version will be used from now on including the next batch of Longrow 18 year old which is due out next week in time for the Open Day.

New Merchandise in Cadenhead’s Whisky Shop, Campbeltown

Our Campbeltown Cadenhead’s Whisky Shop Manager Donald has been ordering lots of nice new merchandise for the shop. We have two new Campbeltown Pottery water jugs which Simon has designed – there’s a Springbank 21 year old inspired jug with black and gold colouring and there’s an extra special cream jug with the Springbank Society logo which has been made especially for our lovely Society members to purchase. The cost of these are £11.00 each with members receiving their 10% discount. The following items are also new (with more merchandise including soft shell jackets and new t-shirts on their way):

– Umbrellas (Grey and Purple striped with Wooden Handle) – £30.00

– Springbank Leather Wallet – £25.00

– Springbank Leather Notepads – £9.50

– Springbank and Glengyle Pens – £1.50

New Bottling Line

Our Bottling Hall has recently undergone some renovations to make space for our brand new, shiny bottling line. We will continue to use our old line along with the new one meaning we can bottle twice as much and keep up with the demand of bottling both Springbank and Cadenhead products. The new line is a tad more modern than our other line but keeping with tradition, it is very hands on and still requires just as much manual interaction at each stage. After a couple of expected teething problems, the line is fully operational and the boys and girls over in the Bottling Hall are already pros at working it!

Whisky School 2014

The 2014 Whisky School officially started at the beginning of this week with the first batch of students arriving at the distillery first thing on Monday morning. We will be running the Whisky School for 7 weeks in total with the final week commencing on Monday 23rd June. It’s always a good time to visit the distillery during these weeks as it is the only time of the year that you get to see the distillery in full production. To ensure that our students get to experience all stages of the whisky making process, we make sure that we are malting and distilling during this time. We all love when the Whisky School is on as it’s nice to see new faces and as there is a always a great buzz around the distillery.

Ferry Service Commences

The ferry service between Campbeltown and Ardrossan started up again for the Summer on Friday 2nd of May. This is the second year of a three year pilot service which will hopefully see the ferry become a permanent sight in Campbeltown Harbour after the three years. The ferry runs Thursday to Sunday and the times have remained the same as last year. To view the full timetable you can visit CalMac’s website by going to www.calmac.co.uk . I think it’s a great service for Kintyre and is a much more leisurely way for both tourists and locals alike to travel to Campbeltown without having to drive all the way down the long and winding road!

Well I think that is about all the news I have for you at the moment…apologies for the length of the newsletter once again!! I will no doubt be in touch with many of you in the coming weeks regarding the new Society bottling and please remember not to worry if you don’t hear straight back from me – I will try to respond as quickly as I can before/after the festival.

Slainte,

Mairi

For the Springbank Society

 To join the Springbank Society please contact them at society@springbankwhisky.com