Distilled in 1996 and bottled in 2007, this Cadenheads bottling of Springbank spirit comes to us after maturation in a Cream Sherry Butt. Bottled at cask strength with no coloring or filtering, this old old look to the past should be quite interesting.
Creamy indeed. Sweet, perhaps sickly so, but sherry forward is the right descriptor. Honey, cream, bright berry notes and some fig.
Sweet on the palate, medium mouth feel. Pleasant oak meets caramel, bright apricot, fig, blackberry and some cherry. Light caramel character blends very well with the malt.
Long finish, growing a bit tart. Some faint ash character, complementary to the sweet sherry notes.
Enjoyable, but a bit much in some aspects. The nose is so sweet, and the sherry leans to a tartness at times that some drinkers (myself included) may find strange.
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