New Label: Springbank 10 Year Old Official 46%

The fruitiness was more prominent upfront. Springbank SPRINGBANK 10yo Official Bottling 46% NEW LABEL The aroma starts with fruitiness, orange oil, faint peach and pineapple, savory barley and light cheese, a powdery wheat-like quality, minerals, tar-like peat. On the palate, it has a soft mouthfeel with a chewy texture, orange cream, fruit cake, a mellow sweetness, strong saltiness, gentle barley umami, seawater minerals and oil, and a damp peat with tar-like notes. [Good/Very Good] This is the latest batch of Springbank Official 10 Year Old. The official bottle of Springbank, which recently had its label redesigned. It hasn't arrived in Japan yet, but it's said to have a good reputation overseas. This Springbank has a notably fruity character from early after opening, with subtle hints of peach and pineapple in addition to the orange notes. It also has a powdery concentration and savory barley, with peat that feels like cheese and tar-like notes typical of recent Springbank. When tasted, it indeed has a concentrated feel with rich umami, followed by a mellow, dense sweetness and a pronounced briny character. Of course, the peat is strong but not overly so; it doesn't feel as bold as a Longrow. Alongside the clear original spirit flavor, I also sensed a vibrant fruity character, making it delicious. It's surprising to say, but Springbank's standard bottling is truly delicious. Recently I tasted the current domestic circulation 10 Year Old blind, and its quality was high enough to warrant a Very Good rating. It's likely to improve further, so I think it's worth buying and stockpiling. By the way, when I recently opened a Springbank 'Green' 12 Year Old at home, it tasted very similar to the plain cask bottles from the 1970s. Since it was opened with water, the aging process might have accelerated, which was quite in line with my expectations, making me smile. Originally, Springbank strictly maintains the old method of 100% floor malting, preserving its traditional production. While the current bottling uses modern barley varieties, the slightly unevenly milled grains from floor malting combined with older mash tuns and washbacks result in a lower proof must, it seems. It's said that recent malts have lost flavor due to barley varieties focused on alcohol yield. However, personally, I think even with modern varieties, if floor malting is done carefully without over-fermenting the must, it could produce a flavor close to older times. In that sense, while I don't think Springbank can deliver the jammy cherry notes of old sherry casks, with bourbon or plain casks, it's now almost certain that the flavor will closely resemble older bottlings over time. In this context, I'm very excited about the recent local barrel Springbank release. If they were to revert even the barley variety back to older times, it would be fascinating to see the result. #Springbank (SPRINGBANK)