Weird Springbank on Calvados and Palo Cortado wood
The week of the Campbeltown Malts Festival is here, and if nothing else, this is the opportunity to taste your favourite Campbeltown whiskies in more variations than you might be used to. For this occasion, I have saved up a little bit of the good stuff! In January 2026, I got acquainted with a bottle of 2012 Springbank with the most unusual cask makeup. It was a Cage Bottle that I just had to grab a hold of. I was lucky enough to acquire one, and took it home to do a thorough tasting note. It seems this particular bottling has gathered quite some fans. Also, I saw in one of the stories on Instagram that the Ardshiel Hotel has their own exclusive bottling of this expression. Let’s examine it up close.
Springbank chose this week for a momentous time in the history of the distillery. Today, they publicly open the brand new bottling hall at 4.00 PM. The official moment will be performed by J&A Mitchell Chairman Neil Clapperton. Fans rejoice, as the opening of the hall will go hand in hand with a limited release of a Springbank 8 years old, fresh sherry matured, of which only 1.200 bottles will be available.
Springbank 2012, Duty Paid Sample, bottled at 57,8 % abv
First things first: This is a Springbank that matured on refill Calvados casks before being filled into Palo Cortado casks in 2022. Distillation on 12 June 2012 and bottled at 13 years of age. Matured in Warehouse 8, rotation number 22/p213-3.
Upon Sipping: After 10 years in Calavados, was it out of luxury that this was transferred into something else, or did the Calvados not work? On Whiskybase I found only one other Calvados influenced Springbank. The other way around, there are Calvados expressions matured on Springbank casks too, did you know that? Sticking my nose in the glass, the fortified wine seems to have done an excellent job, with luscious red fruit notes mingling nicely with the traditional Springbank limestone. Still, the Calvados influence lurks in the background, with an acidic aroma crawling out from underneath the predictable whiffs of a basket full of apples.
On the palate is where the fun starts. There is a burst of stone fruit and greasy wet cask wood. Yes, just accidentally lick a cask, next time you get the chance. It tastes like this. This bottling should be a mess, except that it is clearly not. All relevant elements, the spirit, the original wood and the finish of a few years seem to have delivered a love baby. With water you will pick up more European oak smells, like a damp forest. Wet flowers around the mulberry tree after a rain shower. The water also brings out a more heavily pronounced apple note. The Calvados is not to be tamed. One can only wonder how talkative it was before Springbank decided to shut it up with a Palo Cortado layer.
Word to the Wise: Probably one of the weirdest Springbank I got to taste, and I understand this could be a hit in the Visitor’s Shop but not as a commercial release. But in all honesty, to me it works just fine, with all the trusted elements there, and then a little tomfoolery.
Score: 89 points.