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
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