Springbank is a family-owned single malt whisky distillery on the Kintyre peninsula in western Scotland. It is owned by J & A Mitchell & Company, which also owns the Glengyle distillery, the oldest independent bottler, William Cadenheads, and several blended scotch labels.
Licensed in 1828, Springbank is one of the last surviving producers of single malt whiskies in Campbeltown, an area that once had more than thirty active distilleries. The distillery produces three types of peated and unpeated malt whisky that it bottles under three distinct brands. The majority of its distillate is bottled as a single malt, with a small percentage sold to larger blenders or ending up in one of J&A Mitchell's own blended scotch labels, such as Campbeltown Loch. when John Mitchell bought the distillery for £5,055 (), and William Mitchell built the Glengyle distillery.
In December 1883 a storm hit Campbeltown which resulted in the collapse of the distillery chimneys. Further damage occurred during a storm in 1904, when part of the tun room roof was torn off.
After shutting down temporarily in 1926 due to the effects of the Prohibition in the United States, the distillery began operating again in 1936.
The distillery closed down in 1979 due to the poor state of the UK economy, and reopened in 1989. In 1993, it was revealed that Springbank was the supplier of miniature whisky bottles that were being sold at Balmoral Castle.
The company distilled its Hazelburn brand for the first time in 1997.
Production
Springbank is the only Scottish distillery to perform every step in the whisky-making process, from malting the barley to bottling the spirit. Several distilleries malt some percentage of their barley and source the balance from an industrial malting facility, such as Port Ellen; however, Springbank maintains a traditional malting floor that provides for 100% of their distillate.thumb|left|The malting floorSpringbank then dries its barley using peat sourced from Islay for various lengths of time (30 to 48 hours) to imbue different levels of the smoky flavour associated with Scottish whisky.
- Hazelburn receives 30 hours of hot air
- Longrow receives 48 hours of peat smoke
- Springbank receives 6 hours of peat smoke and 30 hours of hot air
Once dried, the barley is ground into grist, mixed with warm water in a cast-iron open-top mash tun to extract the barley sugars. thumb|left|The washbacksThe wort is then cooled and pumped into six boatskin larch washbacks to ferment for 72 to 110 hours and produce what is now called 'wash'. The alcoholic wash goes on to the stills for the distillation phase. thumb|left|The three [[Pot still|copper pot stills]]Springbank uses three copper pot stills (one using direct-fire, the other two using steam) used in various combinations to produce its malts: Hazelburn (unpeated) is triple-distilled to produce a lighter, higher ABV end product of 74 to 76% ABV.
- Springbank Single Malt is available as a 10-year-old, medium-peated and distilled two and a half times. A cask-strength 12-year-old bottling which is released annually and is slightly different each year, as well as 15-year, 18-year, and 21-year olds making up the core lines.
Cadenhead’s Old Raj London dry gin variants
- Saffron Infusion; incorporating juniper, coriander seed, angelica root, lemon and orange peel, orris root, cassia bark, and almond powder.
Red Label
- Bottled at 46% ABV.
Blue Label
- Bottled at 55% ABV.
See also
- Campbeltown single malts
- List of distilleries in Scotland
- List of whisky brands