WRAPPING UP 2023 AT SPRINGBANK

As 2023 comes to an end, we would like to wish a Merry Christmas and give an update on what’s been happening at the distillery this year, what the team has been up to, and what to look forward to next year.

SOCIETY ON TOUR

With Society members all over the world, the sales team have continued to take the Springbank Society “On Tour” and travel to a number of different countries to meet you all face-to-face, giving us a chance to engage with members and share some interesting drams from the distillery.

Since our last update in July, the team have hosted tastings in London, Glasgow, Campbeltown, The Netherlands, Sweden and Germany. We hope that those who have attended any of these tastings enjoyed it as much as we did.

We are also in the early planning stages of a UK and European Springbank Society Tour for 2024, so keep your eyes peeled for an event near you!

We will let you know further details soon.

LIMITED RELEASES & TASTING PACKS

During the latter half of 2023, we had some exciting new limited releases. In August, we released our Springbank 18yo and 21yo, and in November, our Springbank 10yo Palo Cortado, Longrow 21yo, and Hazelburn 15yo Sherry Wood.

We understand it is not always easy to find these bottlings, so in an effort to ensure as many members are able to enjoy these limited releases as possible, in January we will be releasing tasting packs which include a 2cl sample of each of these drams, as well as a sample of the latest Campbeltown Loch.

These packs will be made available exclusively to Society members via ballot in the first instance, with the potential to be extended to non-members depending on demand.

Along with these tasting packs, our sales team will host an online tasting to connect with you, share information about these releases, and answer any questions you may have.

We trust that this will come as good news and we’ll follow up with more information in due course.

UPCOMING RELEASES

Moving forward into early 2024, we plan to release the following whiskies:

• Springbank Local Barley 13yo
• Springbank 25yo
• Springbank 12yo Cask Strength
• Springbank 30yo
• Longrow RED (French Pinot Noir) 7yo

These whiskies will be available to purchase through the usual retail channels.

COUNTDOWN COLLECTION

The second edition of our five-part Countdown Collection series, designed to commemorate Springbank’s journey towards its 200th anniversary, is set to be released early next year.

As with each edition of the Countdown Collection, this will be limited to just 500 bottles and available exclusively via ballot to all Springbank fans across the world.

Stay tuned to our socials over the coming months to find out what the next release will be…

With each Countdown Collection release, a prize draw will be conducted the following year for purchasers who have returned their prize draw stub from their certificate.

We recently announced that the top prize in our upcoming prize draw for winners of the 2023 Countdown Collection ballot is a week on our whisky school. See more information on this announcement here.

Runners up prizes will also be announced in the near future via our socials.

ONLINE SCOTCH WHISKY AWARDS

This year, we were delighted to win three awards at the Online Scotch Whisky Awards on Saturday 4th November 2023. The categories were Best Distillery, Best Blended Malt for Campbeltown Loch, and Best Single Malt for Springbank 10yo.

Around 20 of our staff enjoyed a great night celebrating in the Washback Bar while listening to the online live stream. David Allen, our Director of Sales, accepted the awards on behalf of the Distillery and tuned in to have a discussion with Roy & Ralfy and to thank them personally.

Having now won the Best Distillery Award three times in a row, we look forward to another celebratory night in our Washback Bar next year to collect the new Trifecta Award!

NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN CAMPBELTOWN

Earlier in the year, we learned of Witchburn Distillery and Dál Riata Distillery both receiving planning permission approval from Argyll & Bute Council. With the new Machrihanish Distillery in progress too, the future of Campbeltown whisky is looking bright!

We view these announcements as great news because the distilleries will create more jobs for the people of Campbeltown and also give visitors more options when they travel to our town. As Campbeltown was once the ‘Whisky Capital of the World’ with over 30 distilleries, it feels like the town is at the beginning of a whisky renaissance.

In another exciting development, we have been given planning permission to build a new Bottling Hall and Dispatch Facility which will be located on the grounds of Glengyle Distillery. As we also plan to convert our current Bottling Hall back into a bonded warehouse, this will free up more space for our casks to mature. You will see some more information on these developments in our distillery update later in this letter.

Here’s an aerial view of where our Bottling Hall and Dispatch Facility will be located:

20TH ANNIVERSARY OF GLENGYLE DISTILLERY & KILKERRAN

2024 will mark the 20th anniversary of our sister distillery, Glengyle and the whisky produced at the distillery, Kilkerran Single Malt. In March of 2004, the first spirit was drawn from its stills and filled into casks by Mr Wright and Mr McHardy.

We don’t need too much of an excuse for a party, and we certainly feel that the 20th anniversary of our distillery is an occasion worth marking.

PRODUCTION TEAM’S DISTILLERY UPDATE

From January to mid-September this year, Springbank produced 260,000 litres of alcohol before production staff moved over to Glengyle in late September. After some initial boiler issues, they are now on course to produce 90,000 litres of alcohol at Glengyle before production ceases on December 20th.

Our staff will then begin 2024 by producing Hazelburn Single Malt at Springbank Distillery in January.

Our floor maltings at Springbank have essentially been operational all year round and by the end of this year, we will have malted 800 tonnes of barley. The only breaks in malting have been for our Malts Festival, the Christmas Market, and our upcoming break for two weeks during Christmas and New Year.

This year we have also made great strides towards increasing the environmental sustainability of our distilleries by transitioning from red diesel to liquified petroleum gas. Since July, both sites have been running on LPG and we believe this will reduce our carbon footprint by around 30% while ensuring there is no effect on the end taste of our whiskies. We have already calculated a carbon emissions reduction of over 300 tonnes since the switchover.

Over the longer-term, we will look to explore zero carbon alternatives, but in the meantime, we are also in the process of installing a Reverse Osmosis unit at Springbank which will clean up the feed water to our boiler and cooling tower. In the process, this will reduce our water and chemical usage dramatically.

In unfortunate news, we discovered a series of unfixable leaks in our old wooden Intermediate Spirit Receiver (ISR) at Springbank. Since then, we have had to replace it, the Feints Receiver, and the Low Wines Receiver with new wooden vats. These old vats dated back to 1971, so we hope for another 50+ years use from our new vessels.

Work continues on our new Bottling Hall and Dispatch Facility up at Glengyle, with the upgrading of vehicle access from Glebe Street into the site and the demolition of the old ‘Glenbarr’ building.

MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR

From everyone at J&A Mitchell, we would like to thank you for your continued support this year. Whether that be drinking our whisky, travelling to our distillery, or simply telling a friend about us, we greatly appreciate it.

If you are planning a visit over the festive period, click the links for festive opening hours for Springbank Distillery Shop and the Washback Bar. 

Have a fantastic time over the festive season and we hope to see you in 2024!

Sláinte Mhath 🥃

TO JOIN THE SOCIETY CONTACT THEM AT society@springbank.scot

Springbank Distillers Ltd, 9 Bolgam Street, Campbeltown, Scotland, PA28 6HZ

Website

2018 Berry Bros & Rudd Cotswolds, Cask Ref. 2194, Single Malt Whisky

The last few remaining bottles of the Berry Bros. & Rudd Single Cask bottling of our Cotswolds Single Malt. This beautiful whisky; bottled at 53.5%, has notes of dried fruit, orchard fruit, honeycomb and Victoria sponge. Get a bottle from Berry Bros. & Rudd website.

SHOP NOW

Christmas Gifting

Haven’t finished your Christmas shopping yet? 🎁

Surprise the whisky enthusiast in your life with the perfect gift this festive season. Explore our Wemyss Malts Christmas collection, featuring generous gift sets, fun miniatures and captivating bottles.

SHOP OUR CHRISTMAS COLLECTION

Our distillery was founded with a singular purpose, to create sustainable local jobs and address endemic population decline here in the Isle of Harris

One of the ways we do this is developing local people, including training young men and women in the art and science of distilling to set them on a lifelong journey in making Harris spirits.

Meet 28-year old Paddy Sinclair who moved to Glasgow to undertake his MSc in Brewing and Distilling before returning home to the islands to join our team.

As well as now making The Hearach single malt, he’s able to reunite with old friends, invest time in his local shinty team, and cherishes the opportunity to be near his Hearaich family from Huisinis.

Paddy says, “I am able to add to the population number here which is a great plus in my mind, even if it is only a small number.”

Join us over the coming weeks to meet more local success stories as we set out with Two Spirits, One Purpose.

DISCOVER OUR ONE PURPOSE

PEOPLE’S CHOICE SPIRIT AWARDS 2024

We are proud to announce that our Old Perth Original has been shortlisted as a finalist in the 2024 People’s Choice Spirit Awards.  We are up for the best ‘easy weekday under £45’, a category that puts emphasis on great value whisky. Winners will be announced on 27th February 2024 in Manchester so keep your eye out!

Click here to buy Old Perth Original.

Presenting Sheringham Whisky

A MESSAGE FROM JASON, MASTER DISTILLER

RESERVE WHISKY

Whisky Presale

EXCLUSIVE PRESALE OFFER FOR A LIMITED TIME

STORY

Jason’s whisky-making dream took its inaugural steps in our original distillery, perched overlooking the picturesque Juan de Fuca Strait in Shirley, B.C. This vision expanded to our Sooke distillery, where Jason continued to craft exceptional whisky, using exclusively local B.C. grains. Our commitment to sustainability extends to our spent grain, which was repurposed as feed for local farm animals. Jason’s meticulous approach to aging whisky ensures that each bottle becomes a coveted collector’s item.

The excellence of Jason’s craft was acknowledged, with the debut batch of whisky claiming the “Best In Class” title at the Canadian Artisan Spirit Competition (CASC) and a Gold award in the “Merrit in Terroir” category.

Anticipation is growing as we prepare to unveil our latest whisky offering. It brings us great joy and honor to share this batch of rye whisky with you.

RESERVE WHISKY

PROCESS

This whisky was crafted in Sooke, British Columbia, using exclusively B.C. grain and traditional distillation techniques. The mash bill, consisting of rye, wheat, and malted barley, has been distilled in small batches and aged for a minimum of three years in premium American new white oak barrels. The robust and full-bodied flavour of this whisky comes from a combination of the mash bill, traditional distillation methods, the use of new American oak to age the spirit and the pure love of making whisky.

TASTING NOTES

Experience a deep and complex rye spice, complemented by notes of pepper, vanilla, cooked fruit, brown sugar, and a subtle hint of leather.

Whisky is available for pre-sale only at this time. Pre-sale is limited to British Columbia residents, with shipping exclusively within the province. Orders expected to ship February/March 2024.

Join the presale for a special limited time offer of $79.99 CAD for the month of December.

RESERVE WHISKY

SUCCESS AT THE SCOTTISH WHISKY AWARDS

Last week, the team celebrated a few remarkable wins! We attended the Scottish Whisky Awards in Glasgow and are proud to announce that both Mac-Talla and Old Perth have won gold in their respected categories. Winning the best product launch of the year was our Mac-Talla PX Fèis Ìle Limited Edition and for the best blended malt, our Old Perth PX won gold. There are still some bottles of Mac-Talla PX  floating around so be quick before this ‘award winning’ whisky sells out!

BUY MAC-TALLA PX

DISTILLERY NEWS

It has been a quietly industrious time for the production team this month. Production is running smoothly with a variety of casks being filled to contribute to our core products later down the line. The hardest part of whisky production is always the waiting, but it is always reassuring to know that when our delicious spirit enters our casks, they will go on to be something fantastic!

On that note, Lorena has been nosing and tasting a number of casks to select the perfect ones for export and UK customer single cask bottlings. Her desk is always a sight to behold, especially when she’s busy nosing at 9am – no matter how delicious the whisky, that would be too early for most of us!

The bottling team have been busy with a variety of bottlings from single casks through to our core products. Our Warehouse Assistant, Robbie (who also happens to be the MD Drew’s brother!) was helping to roll some of our largest casks, luckily in that jacket you’ll definitely see him coming!

We caught up with some two of our Production Operatives in the distillery last week to see what they were getting up to, and they were both enjoying getting their teeth stuck into new tasks. Scott said that his highlight of the month has been doing the mash by himself for the first time – and Charles’s highlight was training Scott on the mash!

Slàinte

Gary Haggart
Distillery Manager at Lindores Abbey

LINDORES ON TOUR

These are some of the busiest months in the year for us at Lindores so we have been out and about all over the country and look forward to seeing as many of you as possible!

Front of house team member, Seb (our Blender Lorena’s son) spent the day at Aitken Wines in Dundee spreading the excitement for Lindores. It was his first time running an instore tasting and he loved every moment of it, and those who came along to taste our drams were equally happy! We are sure Seb will be visiting more corners of the country in the coming months, so do pop along to meet him at one of his next tastings.

Two more of the Lindores team, Matt and John, headed to Stirling Whisky Festival two weeks ago for a jam-packed day of tastings. They had a fantastic time at this busy and lively festival where they shared our history and delicious drams with whisky enthusiasts from all over Scotland.

Robbies Whisky Merchants in Ayr have just brought out a Lindores market exclusive from one of our delicious port casks. Definitely make sure to give them a visit for the chance to sample and pick up this exclusive bottle.

Also coming up in the next few weeks:

Matt will be heading down to Kendal this weekend for the Kendal Whisky Festival – his Parson’s Terrier Ella is also coming along for the ride so you might spot them both around and about if you’re in the area! Make sure to pop over to the Lindores stand for a dram and a chat.

Lindores will also be in Perth this weekend for the switching on of the Christmas lights. Whilst crowds may be largely flocking to the city for the promise of hearing Boney M’s live backing music for the switch on, they can also pop into the new shop Malts And Spirits for a tasting with Ben who will have several drams on offer to warm you up!

There are plenty more tastings happening across the UK over the next month so make sure to follow our social media updates to let them know when and where we will be each Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The Christmas Crackers are taking the country by storm again, selling out extremely quickly so grab a stocking filler or secret Santa gift from your local specialist bottle shop while stocks last.

Finally, at the end of the month we will be at The Scotch Whisky Experience Distillers Fair on 29^th and 30^th of December in Edinburgh. It’s a fantastic show that brings together the best in the industry, so definitely worth a visit. We hope to see you there!

LINDORES INTERNATIONAL

Our export manager Elliot enlisted the help of lots of the team this month with Lindores representatives popping up all over Europe.

Our blender, Lorena, took a trip over to Denmark to visit our Danish friends at Mac Y. She was supporting them at their biggest annual show in Fredericks, just outside Viborg. The whisky and conversation were flowing, and she was thrilled to meet so many Lindores fans, both old and new!

Dean, our Assistant Distillery Manager, flew over to Germany a few weeks ago to lend a hand to our German importer Prineus at the Bottle Market Bremen show. It was great to have a member of our distillery team at the show to answer all your more technical questions and Dean reported back that those in our German Lindores Family continue to be our biggest fans!

Elliot himself took a trip over to snowy Oslo to discover a bit more about the Norwegian whisky scene and to work with the Vinmonopolet system to hopefully get a foothold in the market. He was then taken a bit further south to the Netherlands to support our Dutch importers, WIN Dranken at a show in The Hague which was thoroughly enjoyed by all, on both sides of the pourings!

CHRISTMAS DISTILLERY EXCLUSIVE 

We have a new Distillery Exclusive hitting the shelves on the 9th December. This beautiful Ruby Port Wine Barrique is the newest addition to our Distillery Cask series, and its colour really lives up to its name. This cask strength offering will be available to buy exclusively at the distillery and we shall be launching it at our Christmas Market.  It is limited to just 317 bottles so it is a must have addition to any Lindores collectors’ shelves.

Nose: Mellow prunes, figs, plums and dark berries, chestnuts. Taste: Fruity nectarines, caramel cream, dark chocolate orange, cinnamon spices, marzipan and roasted chestnuts. Smooth texture on the palate. Very Well Balanced and complex. Finish: Lingering spicy poached pears finish. Colour: Mahogany, henna notes

 Festive serve ideas for the holiday season

Produced from the slowest stills in Scotland, the fruitful notes of Glengoyne compliments the festive spirit perfectly in the cold winter months, which makes Glengoyne the perfect serve at Christmas. Serve neat, or mix into one of our cocktail suggestions below and take your time to enjoy every sip.

DISCOVER GLENGOYNE SERVES

THE SECOND TOUR OF 2023 WITH MY PAL Ingvar Ronde.

The last tour was back in April to Campbeltown, Arran and Islay. This one was Speyside again. Due to my ill health Marcus was driving both Ingvar and myself, made it easier to chat away as usual.

Ingvar arrived into Edinburgh late and stayed overnight, as did Marcus (ending another whisky tour) who met him 8am next day. They picked me up in Perth and we headed north, first stop Aberfeldy. Now I know quite a few folks there so no a new place to see.

INGVAR AT ABERFELDY DISTILLERY

Ingvar did his usual and we had tea and biscuits. Next up The Cairn Distillery in Grantown. Once again Ingvar did his research, we took the drivers share (tea and coffee) but also were given wee drams to take away, including a 70 year old blend! Last of the day; Dunphail near Forres, interesting wee distillery here, we all had the tour and chat with the guys there, before heading to our digs in Dufftown.

Ingvar and Marc

Staying with a friend of Ingvar Marc Pendlebury of whiskybrother fame, what a nice man! I had had email contact with him some years back, so nice to meet him in person, all the way from South Africa. He has a superb whisky bar/restaurant there.

Tuesday; away to Glendullan, no been there before, grand stuff. Then the newly opened to the public Speyburn Distillery, this will be on our tour list next year to be sure. Enjoyed drams and chat here a wee look around, thanks Alec. Linkwood – where the boys went in whilst I took time off. Benriach completed a busy day, again the boys went around, I chatted to a nice young lady in the bar, enjoyed a dram or two and a cocktail before they came back.  Back to Dufftown.  Marc’s bar was heavily hit by three visitors tonight, including complimentary drams  – much appreciated.

THE 1970

Wednesday; Tamnavulin, a favourite dram of mine. Toured with manager Leon, what a nice fella, good sense of humour, Ingvar and myself had a dram; Tamnavulin 1970, delicious, while Marcus was given a 1973 dram to take away!

Ingvar and Leon at Tamanvulin Distillery

Loved that visit! They plan a visitor centre, maybe 2025/6? Next, to Tormore, never been here either.   Sam was very nice, Weegie girl with the Glasgow humour, liked that. A tour and chat and teas, interesting, they too plan a visitor centre, maybe 2025?  Finally, after lunch we dropped in on Sandy at Tamdhu, as usual great fun and a few drams for us Marcus taking his away. Big developments there, hope to be back soon. Staying overnight in Elgin amongst antiques and five star comfort.

TORMORE STILL ROOM

Thursday we headed off to Glen Moray, been here so often seems like home. Ingvar went around while I chatted to Emma in the visitor centre, Marcus joined me later. We headed to Glenlossie/Mannochmore but the road was closed due to the rain, we drove plan B via BenRiach. Ingvar did both, we settled in the car to wait. A free afternoon, unlike Ingvar tours, we took our time in the rain and headed to Tarland Aberdeenshire, where we stayed overnight, a nice wee hotel for db&b.  This was day one of the storm and rain, it flooded a great deal of Aberdeenshire and Angus, rained all night, Angus (Brechin) saw a month of rain in a day! The hotel bar and restaurant was excellent, many thanks to all there, we enjoyed drinks and fun!

Friday after breakfast we had planned three visits; Fettercairn, Kingsbarns and Inchdarnie Distillery. Ingvar had been in touch the night before, and this morning, we dropped all three due to the weather conditions sadly, and drove west past Braemar to Dunkeld, avoiding the worst of the storm. From here to Edinburgh. Ingvar stayed here three nights, we came home to a waterlogged Perth and Carnoustie.

Another good, long, educational tour with pals.  Ingvar and myself are good mates, we take the Mickey out of each other, have lots of laughs and arguments (the nice kind, history and whisky), we are still working on his next tour for 2025, updates when we know more.

Thanks Ingvar, another excellent trip. A few pix to remember the tour.

PAUL MCLEAN, WHISKYTOURS.SCOT PERTH, SCOTLAND