Springbank Society bottling borrows the soul of Madeira
Welcome to a new Campbeltown Wednesday – except we do it on a Friday because of the New Year. Happy 2026 everyone! Our monthly blog highlighting the beautiful whisky that comes from the Wee Toon on the Mull of Kintyre is back. As I write this, the blissful anticipation of going to Campbeltown again at the end of January 2026 is building up. It has become a yearly tradition by now to join and be part of a group called the Springbank Stallions. However much I like the whisky, it is an even greater joy to meet all these lovely people again in Scotland. I am sure we will also be able to harvest a few stories for this little blog on the way.
Springbank 8 years old, Society Bottling 2025, bottled at 54,7 % abv
First things first: Distilled in February 2017, this Springbank matured in a fresh Madeira cask for over 8 years, before it was bottled on 21 August 2025 for the Springbank Society members. The yield was 1761 bottles of joy.
Upon Sipping: Last year we saw a Port expression come out for the Society, but that was a 20 years old. This Madeira version is significantly younger of course. The colour on this Springbank has a slight bronze, almost pink hue. When sticking your nose in the glass, there is no denying this is an exotic variant on a well-known theme. I have to say: I can do without this sorcery. Still, the Springbank spirit is hidden under there somewhere, and it crawls out from under the sour note that comes from the Madeira. The nose IS expressive, so you will be entertained. It just feels as if it keeps switching between Springbank and the cask. Integration did not really happen. The taste gives off a sweet signature straight away, and the spirit holds up quite well, but the finish carries quite some dry tannins. The fun here is that, if you tried the new 5 years old 100 proof, and you know the regular 10 years old by heart, you will find elements of both in this Madeira bottling. Just too bad the wine gets in the way. With water, you will pick up some sulphury elements, dry wellies in summer, no mud. Peaches come out, a freak baby of the Madeira style and fruits of Springbank I suppose. The dilution did help bring out more whisky character on the palate.
Word to the Wise: A variation nobody asked for but we still got. I am sure this will have a lot of fans, but it is not for me, because it does the unforgivable thing of cloaking too much of the soul of Springbank. A good product, but again, you need to be into these exotic casks.
Score: 83 points.