🥃 Whisky Auctioneer

I was already guessing it from the reddish color: it's one of the great old Springbanks from the 80s from an Italian importer (Sutti). Thus it is very close to the Springbank 10yo, 59%, 100% Pure Malt, "Tappo Sughero" (Link: https://www.whiskybase.com/whisky/41678/springbank-10-year-old ). It should be also close to the famous Springbank 12yo 100proof from Samaroli actually. Just Perfect!

Mini Springer H2H 1)-1968 10 year 59% cask 1786 Black Label OB– 95/95/94 (WB 14490) 2)-12 year green thistle 50% 100 proof bottled 1996 OB – 92/91/92 (WB 10997) 3)-12 year green thistle 57% 100 proof OB – 92/92/93 (WB 18033) 4)-1972 10 year 10 year 57% cask 206 Sutti Import – 93/93/94 (WB 14492) Leaving the 4 glasses with lids on after they were tasted, coming back to them the nose on the 68 is the best by some margin and reminds me how good the empty glass of the 35 year Millenium was, I will taste that soon with the other Millenium bottles. The 10 year bottles were better than the 10 year, but they were single casks, the 1968 is a Legend in my view and the liquid was much darker than the bottle page shows? 1)-1968 10 year cask 1786 Nose Neat is rich, full of chocolate and raspberry filled marshmallow cakes, black cherry, damson plums, faint burnt matches and the smell of polished mahogany. Palate Ultra rich, and for this strength surprisingly smooth, the balance neat is excellent. The mouthfeel is quite chewy, everything the nose promised is on the palate but even richer. There is a little peat and as you go on a lovely fizzy spice mixes with the dark and red fruits.. With a little water The nose is a basket of dark fruits, red fruits, plump raisins, rich dark chocolate, too many flavours to mention. The palate is lovely, it is the mouthfeel of the liquid that you notice, chewy is not a good enough descriptor more like viscous. The finish neat or with a tiny amount of water is almost endless, can I say beautiful??? Long and majestic. To be able to drink something so easily at 59% abv gives you an indication of the depth of quality, I would like a bigger sample to try this again and play around with water. Awesome, this could be one of the best whiskies I have tried, I was going to try a 1969 IB Springer next but I will try the 12 year 50% and the 12 year green thistle 100 proof 57% to compare with this wonder. 2)-12 year 50% Green Thistle Nose Very nice, mixed dark fruits, similar to the 1968 but not as talkative, dark raisins, Christmas cake, baked figs, blueberry. Palate Quite spicy, full of dark fruits, that are very juicy to say the least, good balance, black berry, a little red currant jelly. The mouthfeel neat is pretty good, no need for water. Finish Good medium length, getting a little sweeter on the tail With water The mouthfeel suffers a little bust still very tasty. The 1968 59% was indeed a very hard act to follow. 3)-12 year 57% Green Thistle, last tasted almost 8 years ago from a different bottle to this one Nose This has been in the glass about 30 minutes, similar to the 12 year 50% but more closed at the higher strength. Dark fruits, fig, date, black forest gateaux Palate Sweet and very fizzy, it attacks the surface and side of your tongue but I Like it because it is entertaining. This is creamy and there is some peat in the mix, nice flavours but neat the spice is dominating everything, this is not a negative but I will add a splash of water. With water No real change on the nose but even more fizzy spice than when it was neat on the palate. Adding a little more water the balance improves but this lacks a little balance in my view. High quality, very entertaining 4)-10 year 57% cask 206 Nose Soft sweet spices, hints of caramel, milk chocolate, blackberry, a little raspberry jam, damson plum, very good Palate Very sweet at first on a lovely raspberry/blackcurrant and black cherry combo, really fresh. The spice is really fizzy but at the same time the balance is very good. It punches the end of your tongue Finish Gains power, long finish, shouting all the time, very enjoyable With a little water The nose is more delicate, the palate is a little sweeter but the remorseless power is still there, balance is a little out of sync now but just as enjoyable. The finish is epic, fades slowly. An excellent whisky but the 1968 10 year has even better balance.

Chocolate, espresso, dark fruits, liquorice, prunes, raisins, cherries, orange, cinnamon, cloves, pepper, hay, tobacco very close in profile to the tappo sugghero, possibly with a bit more fruits, really deep and complex, brilliant

A superb Springbank, quite simply.

scbp-4662, the barrel brings too many negative factors, which greatly affects the enjoyment. Decanting can improve the flavor, but the improvement is not significant.

I tried it compared to 1966 #442, and this one has a better intuitive way of drawing characters.

Face to face tasting: 1. Springbank 1967 10yo Cask 3129 WB 14489 2. Springbank 1972 10yo Cask 206 WB 14492 3. Springbank 10yo Tappo Sughero WB 41678 Springank 1967 was less fruity and not that balanced as the other 2. So it is third winner and got 97 points. Springbank 1972 is very fruity, super complex and balanced with a long aftertaste. It is 2nd winner and I scored 98 points. Tappo Sughero was dark fruit basket, super complex, really well balanced and slightly dry in aftertaste. It is the winner with 99 points. All 3 are outstanding good Whiskies, no doubts but Tappo Sughero is the winner for me. But Cask 206 is very, very close to it.

Nice complexity for its age. Quite austere and introspective style but very pleasant.

This is one of the best Springbank that I drank! Just fantastic whisky! I hope one day I can compare it with Springbank from Silvano Samaroli ...

One of the best Whiskys i ever had

One of the best single barrel whisky Springbank!