Orchard fruits like peaches and Granny Smith apples; white chocolate; lemon Pledge furniture polish; hot coastal sand in summer time (feel it squeezing between your toes); a very slight hint of creosote, but only a 1.5 on the Ardbeg scale; sea breeze; burlap sacks in a root cellar; a draft of peat smoke; and, finally, damp muslin curtains at the sea shore. Wow, I keep coming back to the whole coastal theme in this bottle. It kind of surprises me, but its undeniably there. I hadnt noticed before that it was quite so pronounced. Very nice, very nice. Now I want to drive to the coast in a vintage racing car, and take this bottle with me. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!
Im reminded a bit of the new Kilkerran 12 Year Old. Initially on the palate, bitter oak greets ones taste buds, kind of like the nostalgic taste of chewing on a Popsicle stick, and who hasnt done that as a kid? Walnuts emerge, along with stone ground mustard, and some nutmeg. I know, I know, this review is already making the Green sound more complex than it actually is. Well, thems the breaks. Im anything if not thorough. Moving on . . . a few sweet impressions help to balance out things on the back-end. Im getting candy corn, Canary melon, and vanilla cookies. Not to be outdone by candy corn on the back-end of the palate, therea also blackened BBQ corn-on-the-cob , which brings us full circle to the next sip of industrial/bitter oak. Oh yeah. Its the same thing, all over again: bitter, industrial, sweet, and then a few kernels of fire-roasted corn. Hey, I like that
sort of a Yin & Yang thing happening. Not bad for a rather straightforward, and some might say pedestrian, 46% 12-Year-Old Springer. Finish: Medium-long. On the death a nice vanilla creme note surfaces, along with the suggestion of black licorice, if the whisky has been left to steep for a spell in ones glass. Time and oxygen really help, as they usually do, at least in a bottle that is still three quarters full. A few drops of water simplifies the dram, creating a more uniformly smooth whisky, albeit a less creamy one. Does that sound like a paradox? Put another way, a half teaspoon of water does a fairly good job of eliminating bitter oak on the palate, if that offends. Industrial notes in the nose also fade, and the finish becomes a tad shorter. I dont taste much vanilla on the finish after my drams ABV percentage has been reduced. Instead, Springbanks distillery character reigns supreme. Final Thoughts In the case of this fairly restrained Springer, the distillate is king. Twelve years in oak leaves behind more bitterness than one typically finds in Springbank 12-Year-Old Cask Strength offerings, which are drawn from a combination of first fill and second fill sherry casks, as well as bourbon casks. Even though the Springbank 12-Year-Old Green was aged exclusively in bourbon barrels, quite a few must have been refill. Personally, I think some of the reviews on the Internet tended to exaggerate the sweet side of this dram, although it is fairly creamy. If the 12-Year-Old Green were a little less expensive, then I could whole-heartedly recommend buying a bottle. Theres nothing objectionable here, but neither is there anything outstanding. It drinks well, one glass after another. What was that old Schaefer beer tagline? The one to have when youre having more than one. I think this comparison is apt, if only in theory since old school beer and old school whisky are separate animals from a different genus and species. To use the time-worn cliche of whisky reviews, this 12-Year-Old Green would make a great daily dram, aside from its price tag. Then again, I can recall tasting an especially good batch of the OB Springbank 10-Year-Old , which I seem to remember liking even more. But that was quite a while ago years, actually. I can definitely say that the Springer Ten currently in my cabinet is not as creamy, as rich, or as interesting as Mr. Green. Since Im rather thorough, and somewhat obsessive, I actually compared the two, side-by-side. Mr. Green won handsomely. However, I also took out a couple of different 12-year-old cask strength bottlings to compare. OMG, they were both sooo much better. And they also cost quite a bit less. Sorry, Mr. Green. You could of been a contender. So many refill bourbon barrels, and so little time. . . . This said, Ive got an 18-year-old single cask refill sherry Springbank that is just extraordinary. Id put that fellow up against anything in his class: a gentleman from sole to crown, with a complex finish that goes on and on and on. So let that be a lesson to you: refill casks neednt always be equated with lifes simpler pleasures. Final Score: 86/100 [ SHOP FOR A BOTTLE OF SPRINGBANK GREEN 12-YEAR-OLD ]
Medium-long. On the death a nice vanilla creme note surfaces, along with the suggestion of black licorice, if the whisky has been left to steep for a spell in ones glass. Time and oxygen really help, as they usually do, at least in a bottle that is still three quarters full.
