Yesterday it was Glen Scotia open day at Campbeltown Malts Festival 2019 which we celebreated with a review of a lovely sherried 18 Year Old Glen Scotia from Kintra Spirits.
Today is Springbank Open day at the festival and of course we’ll have a celebratory twofer review: A Springbank whisky bottled by Cadenhead!
This 13 Year Old Hazelburn was distilled back in 2005 and was bottled last winter after 13 years in Cadenhead’s Authentic Collection series at 54.6% abv.
Hazelburn 2005 13 Year Old (Cadenhead’s Authentic Collection) (54.6%)
Photo Credit: whiskybase.com
Nose: Cidar and honey, grease, pears, green with tomatoes vine and green unripe banana, shards of dirtiness, thyme, oily and eventually also sooty. Continue reading
Nose: Peated with sweet smoke, lemon, gentle tropical fruits, BBQ meat, vanilla, soft. After a few minutes there’s mint, floral perfume, more smoked meat and honey. Very much matured Caol Ila. 
Nose: Very oily and peated, cured meat, BBQ party, slightly greenery, barley sugar, chimney smoke, vanilla and pears pudding and eventually there’s coal smoke and more greenery. Very rich and not too punchy despite the ABV and young age. 
Nose: Soft and balanced, baked pears, fruity and chocolaty. Then medium aged soft leather and then lots of toffee! And then cinnamon and nutmeg. Complex and nice, just maybe a bit too relaxed and laid back? 
Nose: Not as enticing as the 15 Year Old, at least not at first where there was less sherry finish impact. Sour fruitiness, polished wood, again some soursweet stone fruit and eventually red berries. 
Nose: Not as creamy as the 12 Year Old as the sherry finish must have mitigate some of it, but it’s still soft with sweet fruit marmalade, dried papaya, sweet sour fruitiness and milk chocolate. Gets better and fruitier with time – very enticing. 
Nose: Soft, sweet, malty with brioche and buttery croissant, vanilla, pears, apples. Very creamy!, Then a bit of lemon peels marmalade. After a few minutes it’s becoming less creamy and rounded and gains some sharpness and spiciness with gentle white pepper. 
Nose: Sharp at first. honey and meadow bordering rocky slops, croissant. After a few minutes it’s floral with spring breeze, almonds, soursweet honeyed pears, stone and citrus fruits. 
Nose: Thick sherry influence with dark sweet chocolate, roasted coffee beans and cinnamon. Then the earthy peat shows up followed by subtle dried fruit: plums, dates and some dark red berries. Very heavy nose. With a few (and then a few more) drops of water – still pretty much chocolaty, but it’s not so thick and clogging, fruitier and with subtle peat smoke. 
Whisky Gospel 