SPRINGBANK SOCIETY NEWSLETTER JUNE 2010

Greetings to all Society Members

Well, Open Day has passed and we have all survived. The weather was very kind to us, it was a wee bit cold, but we ARE in Scotland and it was the month of May, so we don’t expect anything else. Our Masterclasses with Frank and Peter were so popular we ended up running them “side by side” from 11.30 am until about 4.30 pm. It was a really very busy day for them both (I don’t think they even had time for lunch).

In one of the warehouses, (great atmosphere, dark, with the aroma of whisky all round) we had a bar set up, with Ranald and Jenny doing tastings of a huge variety of whisky – as well as running off to do free tours when time allowed it!

The food stalls did a roaring trade – Maureen and staff with her Brewdog pies, venison pies, and loads of other tasty morsels, the smokehouse with their smoked mussels (and a wee tot of Longrow CV to complement them) oak smoked salmon, scallops (I’m getting hungry now). Food from Argyll were serving lamb burgers and venison burgers (with a wee taste of Springbank 15y/o to bring out the flavour).

John Brown was there with his wood carvings, a lot of which are made from staves from Springbank casks – he does a nice line in tea light holders, little carved seats with kilts on them (ideal for holding a bottle of Springbank), wood spirits, and loads more. He also gave a demonstration during the course of the day. John was delighted, as were we all, that the cask end he had carved for the open day realised the sum of £170 for charity.

David Brodie our young local florist impressed everyone with his fabulous floral arrnagements. His arrangements often contain exotic flowers which just make them that wee bit different. Campbeltown Brass were there blasting out  some very rousing tunes. They are a very talented young bunch of musicians who have just brought out a C.D. If you are interested in Brass Bands you can buy their C.D. from our shop – let me know and I’ll get you details.

Also entertaining us with his music was Frank Rochford, another talented young man who attends our local secondary school. Frank plays the fiddle and came along to play for an hour when he should have been studying for his exams, hopefully this did not affect his results.

Open Day Casks:

Lisa, our Springbank admin/export clerkess was thrown in at the deep end in the distillery shop for her first taste of an open day and was kept really busy the whole day. She enjoyed it so much she has volunteered for next year. She won’t be able to back out now that everyone knows she had fun!!!

Our UK sales executive Iain Scott came over from Troon on the Kintyre Express with some of his customers. When he arrived ‘wind blown’ he was immediately given a job working in the shop with Lisa. Give him his due – on went the kilt and he got down to work – no such thing at Springbank as standing around admiring the scenery!!!

The two open day casks were very popular, the Springbank 10y/o has sold out completely. The Longrow 8y/o was a bigger cask, so although it was the more popular of the two on the day, we do still have some left, if you are interested in buying. The cost is £45 plus p&p.

Down in the tasting room Grant held a Cadenhead tasting, which was also at full capacity. They were spilling out of the Tasting room when I went down there and a very happy lot they were. Grant is more than happy with the way things went, although I don’t know how he kept them all quiet enough to listen to him – they were in “high spirits” when they left the distillery for the tasting room.

Cadenhead’s Whisky shop was busy for days!!! Donald and Leslie were working flat out the whole time. No sitting around for them at all, but as we would say – it kept them out of mischief.

We also have some lovely Glencairn Open Day glasses – they have the Springbank logo and Open Day 2010 on them. The cost is £5 each or a set of six for £25 plus p&p. If you would like some please let me know. All in all a successful day, and as with all these things we are learning as we go along and are starting to say – well next year we’ll do …………………. as long as next year isn’ here too quickly!!

Society Bottle:

We still have some of the Springbank 14y/o available. This is the only Society bottle we now have in stock, the Springbank 1828 and Longrow 12y/o have now sold out.

Tasting note for Springbank 14y/o: Springbank Society 14yo Fresh Sherry Pipe

Nose: A burst of citrus, with lemon zest featuring prominently.
Palate: Sweet, subtle oak and bung cloth. Reminiscent of a dunnage
warehouse. Water releases notes of toffee, butternuts and some sherbert.
Finish: A smooth, buttery sweetness in the finish which becomes
fruity; like pear drop sweets.

If you would like to purchase the Society bottle, get in touch. Some of you will now be aware that we have had to suspend our dispatches to EU and non EU customers at present due to a notice from Customs & Excise. We have recently received a letter from our Customs & Excise (HMRC) who have advised us that our procedures for selling UK duty paid stock to other Member States (Distance Selling) are incorrect and as a result we have no option but to stop these sales with immediate effect. Until we see if we can agree correct procedures with HMRC for Distance Selling all sales of duty paid stock, whether EU or Non EU, must be either by physical collection or by delivery to a UK address.
We are working with the Customs & Excise office to resolve the problem as quickly as possible and as soon as we have  the correct procedures in place we will be full steam ahead to get your bottles out to you.

Tours: As last year, we now have an extra tour guide for June, July and August, so will be able to offer tours on Saturdays, as well as extra tours Monday to Friday if needed. As always, tours are better to be pre booked. This year our guide is a young female student, Lea Gibson, who is studying Brewing and Distilling at Heriot-Watt University. She is settling in very well and is showing loads of enthusiasm – so look out Jim.

Hip Flasks: Although there was not a huge response to the hip flask idea, I am at present looking at various suppliers to see what they can come up with and I will let you know the kind of price we are looking at. I will try to get a sample made up so that we can see exactly how it would look with the Society Logo.

Local Barley: The local barley is sprouting nicely. Jenny has been taking photographs of it’s growth progress – we’ll have to get that girl another hobby. Looks like it’s going to be a good crop – fingers and toes crossed.

Kilkerran WIP: We now have this year’s Kilkerran Work in Progress available:
Nose: Light and fragrant, the nose leads you into the dram gently.
Refreshing lemon citrus, hints of pear and just a dash of sherbert.
Palate: Masses of sweet vanilla immediately take over the tastebuds before the classic Campbeltown salt hits the tongue. Creamy toffee and butterscotch become apparent as the natural oils coat the mouth.
Finish: Gentle smoke comes from deep in your throat, followed up by very pleasant ground spices.

The price is £31.50 plus p&p, as usual if you would like to order please let me know.

ODD goings on at Feis Isle

Some of our Society members were at Feis Isle this year in some very ODD polo shirts. I have posted the photographs on the website – here’s a wee preview. No wonder they have turned their backs!!!! Rascals.

Our new Distillery Manager, Gavin, has given me a wee gift of some pieces of casks which are in my office just now. They smell very nice and I was thinking of putting a piece in with orders at random, depending on country of destination of course (we don’t want to send to countries that don’t allow such things). So if you find a wee plastic bag in with your next order containing a funny piece of wood please don’t throw it away. Savour the aroma.

Whisky School:

May was a really very busy month for our Director of Production Frank McHardy. As well as open day he had two weeks with Whisky School pupils. The first week’s pupils were from a wide variety of countries. The six pupils worked really hard during the day, undertaking all the stages of making whisky right through to bottling. They spent their evenings together too, and had a great social life while getting to know each other. At the end of the week they sat their exam, passing with flying colours. Frank has had very positive feedback from the pupils, praising the tutors and
distillery staff alike for their helpfullness and patience. The second week of the Whisky School was dedicated to pupils from the USA, who again entered into the “spirit” of things throughout the week, blending in with the distillery staff and generally having a good time while they worked hard throughout the week.

Frank is in the process of looking at holding the Whisky School for two weeks in November this year – he is proposing weeks commencing 29th November and 6th December, and also for next year from week commencing 16th May 2011 for five or six weeks. If you are interested in either of these times please let me know and I will send you details as soon as dates are confirmed as definite. As I said earlier, May was a very busy month and we are now getting back to our normal working pattern, although the distillery continues to be busy as do the tours which makes us all happy.

As always we welcome all your comments. Don’t be shy getting in touch, we love to hear from you.

Slainte

Janet

for Springbank Society

To join the Society contact Janet at society@springbankwhisky.com