Ode to independence: Springbank, Hazelburn and Longrow

Post by **Capn Jimbo** » Sun Oct 12, 2014 9:53 am

J.A. Mitchell: Campbeltown

Springbank stands alone as it appears to be the only and oldest family distillery in Scotland, since 1828 and owned by J.A. Mitchel and Co. Ltd. They produce three malts: Springbank, Longrow and Hazelburn, which they state are made using three different production methods.

Springbank is made with lightly peated barley and using their "2-1/2 stage" distillation process (picture to be posted). No chill filtration, no coloring, heads and tails recycled. The barley is floor malted and raked. Available in a bourbon barrel aged 10 year at 46 and at 50%, and a sherry aged 15 year.

. . . . . . .

The Longrow is heavily peated, double distilled, and offered at 10 and 14 years.

. . . . . . .

The Hazelburn is unpeated, light and fruity, triple distilled and available at both 8 and 12 years.

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From the company's website:

"J&A Mitchell & Co Ltd also owns Mitchell's Glengyle Distillery in Campbeltown, where Kilkerran single malt is distilled, the first new distillery built in Scotland this millennium. J&A Mitchell is also the sister company of the Campletown based, world-famous independent bottler William Cadenhead Ltd."

A fascinating history of Campbeltown and whiskey is at:
http://www.springbankwhisky.com/note/

Flat Ass Bottom Line

William Grant and J.A. Mitchell are the whiskey equivalents of R.L. Seales - fiercely independent and committed to purity and quality. All are worthy but in terms of whiskey, J. A. Mitchell's brands need to be supported by our dollars.

Please do consider that. The Springbank 10 might be considered their flagship, but lovers of Laphroig will be hard put to ignore their Longrow, while Speyside fans might well consider the Hazelburn.

da'rum · Post by **da'rum** » Sun Oct 12, 2014 10:23 am

Absolutely awesome. Great stuff. Love the diagrams.

Now I don't feel so silly for replacing my worm and bucket for my home made Leibig condenser.

Hassouni · Post by **Hassouni** » Sun Oct 12, 2014 5:54 pm

Springbank rocks, but don't forget Kilchoman, the newest distillery on Islay and also totally independent!

bearmark · Post by **bearmark** » Mon Oct 13, 2014 2:35 pm

Springbank makes great whisky for sure. I love their 18 Year and have these in the wings slated for future consumption:

Longrow Rundlets and Kinderkins
Longrow RED 11 Year Old Cabernet Sauvignon - tasted this last year and it's really unique with the peat and red wine finish... I liked it a lot
Springbank 12 Year Old Cask Strength (50.3% ABV) - on my to buy list soon

Also participated in a Kilchoman tasting 2 weeks ago (blog posting soon) and highly recommend both Machir Bay and 100% Islay (batch 4)... the latter was excellent.

The Black Tot · Post by **The Black Tot** » Mon Oct 13, 2014 5:51 pm

This is great stuff to know, and I really appreciate the way we get the promotion of the good guys alongside the outing of the bad guys.

I'm particularly excited about the Hazelburn, since I am finding that I really enjoy an unpeated malt now and then, and I am filing for divorce from Coal Ila's unpeated offerings since I found out they are Diageo.

Post by **Capn Jimbo** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 7:11 am

Let's also not forget J.A.'s Kilkerran...

This distillery was mentioned in passing in the OP. If you read the history of the Campbeltown region (Glasgow) of Scotland, you learned the fascinating history of this district. By the late 1800's there were hundreds of illicit distilleries, but when legalized, nearly 40 larger legal distilleries were in operation, together who managed to corner the important Glasgow market. By 1930 just one of the Campbeltown giants remained.

I won't spoil the story, but trust me, this one page article is well worth the read:
http://www.springbankwhisky.com/note/

In their heyday the Campbeltown whiskies were considered among the very best in Scotland. What's fascinating is that this once great area is now experiencing a rebirth which has absolutely nothing to do with the mega-arseholes.

Regarding J.A. MItchell and Kilerran...

"In 1925 the distillery was closed down. Over 75 years later, Mr Hedley Wright, the current chairman of J&A Mitchell & Co Ltd and the great-great nephew of William Mitchell, bought the old buildings, which had been lying empty for several years, and made the re-opening of Mitchell’s Glengyle Distillery in 2004 a reality."

http://www.kilkerransinglemalt.com/

The former death of Campbeltown distilling had a hidden bonus: there was still old equipment and facilities available for the rebirth. Furthermore - and yet another differential from the mega's - J.A. continues to use the same old classic methods, local equipment, local grain et al. For example the barley is malted the old fashioned way: about 5 inches deep on the floor, and turned by special rakes about every 4 hours. They use especially long fermentations (70 to 110 hours). You get the idea.

Their method from grain to bottle may be read here:
http://www.kilkerransinglemalt.com/the-making-of/

Their production can only be describes as artisan - from 9,000 to 18,000 bottles for each release, all of which are fascinating:
http://www.kilkerransinglemalt.com/our-whiskies/

The company has called these "works in progress", which are being released at the rate of one a year (for twelve years) as indicators of their soon coming official, 12 year old releases. How refreshing!

Flat Ass Bottom Line

The rebirth of Campbeltown is a completely local phenomenum that flies in the face of the mega's who move product around like a game of musical spirits. For example the mega's import malt, and even age Islay whiskies where? Not on Islay and nowhere near the quaint seaside warehouses in their ads.

Personally I'm going to do my best within our limited budget to seek out any or all of the above. Rum drinkers must support distillers like Barbancourt, Appleton, Seales and Pussers (among others), while whiskey lovers need to support the remaining independents of Scotland.

*******
Special Note: if you are searching, also try Glengyle (by which Kilkerran is also known). Also don't miss Serge's review of WIP#5, particularly the bourbon aged version.
http://www.whiskyfun.com/2013/Trying-Ki ... herry.html

bearmark · Post by **bearmark** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 12:57 pm

Capn Jimbo wrote:Let's also not forget J.A.'s Kilkerran...

<snip>

Also don't miss Serge's review of WIP#5, particularly the bourbon aged version.

I just saw WIP#6 on the shelves last week in California... both bourbon and sherry cask versions. I believe that these are the last works-in-progress and that the next releases will be the real stuff.

JaRiMi · Post by **JaRiMi** » Thu Oct 16, 2014 12:24 pm

Springbank and Campbeltown are indeed a great distillery/place, and they make damn fine whisky there. Campbeltown is also a very picturesque little town, and there are absolutely amazing beaches (albeit coldish!) along the Mull of Kintyre.

It's been great to see them come up with new versions of the 21yo for example - I was a huge fan of the old 21yo. There's also a Cadenhead store (the original) in town, and they have a fabulous selection of whiskies and rums for sale.

I've visited Campbeltown 3 times since my first trip in 2001, and it is always a fantastic place to go and see how whisky is made. The company employs many locals, much more than distilleries usually do - because so much is made in old-fashioned way, manually. The distilleries are very involved in the local community I think.

Here's a few photos from over the years.

da'rum · Post by **da'rum** » Thu Oct 16, 2014 4:21 pm

Awesome. The vents on the goose necks are interesting.