Man, I had such high hopes for this Springbank 10 year. It came so highly recommended. I mean, Ralfy’s always going on about Springbank!

It wasn’t cheap either. I paid $54.99 for it. I just loved the way it looked. The color scheme. The typography.



What a beautiful, non-E150 enhanced color. This is what whisky is supposed to look like.



It’s plainly stated right on the label that Springbank is free of artificial colors. It’s also non-chill filtered. That means it’ll fog up or “haze” when you add cold water or ice to it. So don’t freak out when it gets all cloudy looking after adding a few drops of water to it.



Unfortunately, it’s bottled at 46% and I think it’s just a wee bit too strong for my liking. I think I’ll stick with the 40-43% stuff. It’s just too strong to enjoy. (For me anyway.) It’s true: the higher the alcohol, the more it’s likely to have an anesthetic effect on your tongue. It just numbs you out. It’s hard to pick out the subtleties when your tongue is anesthetized. To smell the stuff, it’s like rubbing alcohol.

I added a little bit of water to it and let it sit for a few minutes. The whisky haze was immediately apparent. The water didn’t do a lot for it. It lessened the effects of the alcohol, but in my opinion, it left the whisky flat and dull. It’s not like I overdid it. I tried it on a few occasions, and was left with the same impression.

In any case, there really is no such thing as a bad bottle of whisky. Some are just better than others. I’ll revisit this guy another day. Maybe in 6 months. Maybe in a year. We’ll see. Maybe by then my appreciation for it will be there.