Celebrating one year of Road to Dram with 3 Springbank Hand-filled Exclusives

As this blog turns one, it is time for a little whisky-themed celebration. Time to open and sample a couple of bottles I brought back from my trip to Campbeltown in March: three Springbank Distillery Hand Filled Exclusives. 

I started Road to Dram full of doubts. It took me a good two months from when I registered the domain to the moment I started working on the content. Originally, it was a private page shared only with a very restricted group of friends. After about a month, on December 12th 2023, I made the blog public. In for a penny, in for a pound, as the saying goes.

I wondered if I could commit to regularly posting on this blog. There were a few times when I slipped and had the occasional gap between posts as life priorities had to briefly shift to more pressing matters. I wondered if I would have enough topics to discuss. All things considered, I shouldn’t have worried too much. This is post number 90 with reviews 70 to 72.

I know I will occasionally slip again. I have also learned that I need the occasional break to remain passionate about this project. But I also know that my editorial plan now stretches to November 2025 and more ideas are brewing as I continue to map my journey exploring whisky. And the occasional diversion from the Scottish Whisky path will always be a possibility.

If you are visiting for the first time: welcome and I hope to see you again here soon.

If you are a return visitor, thank you I appreciate the time you dedicate to my ramblings. 

In both cases, I’d love to know who you are, why not leave a comment to say hi?

But enough chit chat, you are here for the whisky.

Whisky Unobtanium?

Springbank is the closest thing to a cult in the whisky aficionados portion of the larger family of those who enjoy single malt. Inevitably, their bottles are highly sought after and tend to disappear in the blink of an eye as soon as they go on sale. Things have somewhat improved, to be fair, with the 10 year-old and even the 15 year-old now taking days, rather than minutes, to disappear from online retailer’s shelves. Still, for most they remain close to an unobtainable wish. Visiting the distillery can bring some success, but the available selection is limited.

You will likely find some 10 year-old available but not much else. I would queue in the morning to grab one of the much sought-after cage bottles and hope not too many people have had the same idea, or be lucky to be there on a day and time when an afternoon restock of those happens. On my trip earlier this year, the distillery shop stocked a good amount of the Springbank 10, plus 8 cage bottles and only three 15 year-old bottles for the whole day. I queued and managed to grab both a cage bottle and one of the 15, but the group of Germans who drove from Glasgow that morning and arrived just 20 minutes after the shop doors had opened was left, almost, empty-handed.

The Springbank Distillery Hand Filled Exclusives

Almost, because even in the unluckiest day, when even the stock of 10 year-old runs out, there is something available to take home. On any day, you will always be able to bring home of Distillery Hand Filled Exclusives bottle, available for each of the four brands linked with Springbank: Springbank itself, the triple distilled Hazelburn, the peated Longrow and even Kilkerran. These are essentially living infinity bottles, refilled with whatever cask odds and ends are at hand. There is no info besides distillery and abv. The price is always the same, £65 for 700 ml and £25 for 200 in 2024. And yet, for many, these are a must buy from Springbank. And it was for me too.

My limited luggage space forced me to make some tough choices. I knew that I had room for exactly one 700 ml Distillery Exclusive or, with a bit of a squeeze, 3 of the 200 ml ones. So no chance to get one of each of the four brands. The tough choice was which one to sacrifice. There was no chance I would sacrifice Springbank or Kilkerran, so it came down to Hazelburn vs Longrow, and, out of curiosity, I went with the Hazelburn. That gives oyu the three Springbank Distillery Hand FIlled Exclusives I am reviewing below. In case you are feeling sorry that Longrow is excluded from the party, here is a link to Darmface article covering that.

Hazelburn Hand Filled Distillery Exclusive

Tasting Notes

Colour: Pale gold, which immediately has me thinking of a refill cask.

Nose: The first impression is of a very herbaceous malt, with a persistent note of not fully dry hay. This is the only note I get for a good 15 to 20 minutes. Finally, the grassy not wafts away, revealing youthful but pleasant notes of pear drops, pineapple and peaches, a touch of sugar syrup, vanilla, and lemon drops, With even more time, there is a touch of white pepper and ginger spice. It is fine but lacking some personality, which I’d never thought I’d say about a Springbank product.

Taste and finish: The mouthfeel is right in the middle, neither rich nor watery.  The palate is intense but, as on the nose, it remains very herbaceous and comes across as young and quite simple.There are some malted barley notes, some vanilla, a touch of ginger and a slight salinity.

The finish is medium, quite simple with notes of agave syrup, vanilla, malt and just a hint of mustiness on the aftertaste.

Kilkerran Hand Filled Distillery Exclusive

Tasting Notes

Colour: Rich gold, maybe a touch of Sherry cask?

Nose: The peat is evident off the bat. Significantly more than you would ever get in a Kilkerran 12 but not as intense as the heavily peated edition. I would guess this is a mix of standard and heavily peated Kilkerran spirit. Behind the peat, there is a dark baked crusty bread note, some caramel, and a touch of brine. With a little time, I get fruity notes of apricots and peaches, wet pebbles, aniseed, a hit of funk, and a drop of menthol. Quite an intriguing take on Kilkerran.

Taste and finish: Rich texture and peated, bonfire and a hint of tar. There is some noticeable and youthful hot pepper spice. Notes of liquorice, sourdough bread, hazelnuts, banana and a touch of maritime minerality. I don’t get much of the fermented fruit funk I usually get in Kilkerran here.

The drying finish is long bready and saline, immediately bringing salted pretzels to mind, woodsmoke and caramel.

Springbank Hand Filled Distillery Exclusive

Tasting Notes

Colour: Rich gold

Nose: I tried this one over three evenings, taking time to savour it and, boy oh boy, is this a dram that evolves in the glass. At its core, this is a sweet, lightly peated and lightly funky dram. But beyond those simple descriptors, there is so much more. It starts with a big hit of vanilla pod, malted barley, and some accompanying wood smoke and workshop funk. 

Then it goes fruity and lactic, red berries and cream. Like the German candy Campino, for those familiar with that. There is some tangerine peel, a whiff of dunnage warehouse, some maritime seaweed and sea salt, chestnut honey (or Manuka, if you prefer).

Taste and finish: Very oily. There is a much bigger peat hit here than on the nose, woodsmoke, ash and merging into nutty roasted chestnuts. After the peat, I get honey, sweet spice (maybe a little aniseed), and some sea salt.

The finish is very long, rich with woodsmoke, red fruit and honey and then some lingering salinity and tangerine peel.

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