Tag: springbank whisky school

#74.6 The Springbank Whisky School

Everything comes to an end
(day 5, Friday, and epilogue)

 

TL; DR: The final day at the whisky school was Teresa’s birthday and exam day: an open-book test marked by Findlay Ross himself, followed by awards from the distillery manager Gavin and a celebratory lunch in the Washback Bar. The post wraps up with our reflections on the experience: a unique, hands-on look at an old-school distillery, with great people. 

(missed Part 5/Part 4/Part 3/Part 2/Part 1?)

The very last day, Friday, was Teresa’s birthday! (And yes, there was a cake involved thanks to Marie) Different to the previous days, we had a late (full Scottish) breakfast (8am instead of 7am), then cleared our room by 10am and showed up at the distillery for the exam at 10.30. It was an open book exam, so not too difficult, and Findlay Ross himself came to mark our tests. Obviously, we took the chance to ask him some nerdy questions. On reflection, it’s a shame that a Q&A with him was not included in the overall experience, that would have been uber-nerdy! But we can also see the challenges in doing it given how busy he must be.

Anyway, everyone scored more or less close to the maximum (including those who didn’t read some questions in full, lol) so after that, we headed to the Washback Bar and got our awards from the distillery manager Gavin (wonder if we can write that on our Linkedin profile…), together with the self-blended bottles. Teresa got an extra 20cl bottle of her choice for winning the Scholar of the Week award, “for her determination in rolling the casks”. She also got a dram from our good pal Aly, who was there waiting for the next tour. Not a bad birthday!

  • No pictures of the exam, so you get pictures of us learning…

We had lunch all together with Gavin, a cold platter with three types of salmon, cheese, oatcakes and other bites (thanks again Donald for the tasty haggis mini-rolls!). Another nice touch, they gave us the list of available cage bottles, and if we could buy up to two per person, avoiding the usual scrum in the morning before the shop opened. We weren’t greedy, so we just picked up one each: a Longrow and a Springbank. Actually, we got a third one for Gianluigi’s brother, who always appreciates some cage juice! After a wonder in the bottling hall (where the equipment was getting moved to the new building) and a couple of extra drams kindly poured by Chris, we got a goodbye pint with the others at Feathers before leaving the Wee Toon, feeling grateful but also a bit sad.

  • …and working “hard”?

What. A. Week. That. Was. We are wrapping the write-up of the whisky school a couple of months after the fact, after some other trips to London, Orkney and Speyside. Importantly, we had time to reflect on what we did and how this experience fits in the context of our whisky experience and knowledge (avoiding hard to use the word “journey” here, eww!) and of whisky hospitality more generally. Based on our experience up to now, it is going to be hard to match the Springbank Whisky School.

The malting floor was a highlight…
  • …for all of us.

First, it is a unique learning experience. We could see first hand how the distillery day-to-day operation looks like, with its challenges and peculiarities, the fast-paced moments and the slower ones. Many distilleries are fully or partially automated, where operators can stop everything from a computer keyboard. Definitely not the case for Springbank’s (or Glengyle), where we felt that the almost 200-year history still contributes to what is produced now, and to what will be made by future generations. Also, one week of intensive learning and “living” a distillery is not the same as visiting a place more than once – we got a lot of knowledge from our many distillery tours and tastings, but it’s only during this week that we understood and appreciated certain nuances of whisky making (please don’t take it as we now feel we know everything, quite the opposite if anything).

  • Find Wal..Stephen.

Second, we think that there is no other place like Springbank. We don’t want to sound too cheesy, but in a world where the most important thing seems to be shareholders’ returns, they decided to keep their own pace, and not to overstretch or up their prices by taking advantage of the pandemic frenzy that hit the world of whisky. Instead, contrary to many, they’re playing the long game. Yes, they almost doubled production around 2018 (before that, they were alternating malting and production), but they didn’t go crazy like other companies trying to add X million-litre-per-annum capacity, only to mothball other distilleries sometime later, with the consequent loss of jobs in often rural areas. Providing over 100 jobs in a remote place like Campbeltown is one of their prides, and it should be. So, for us, touching that reality for a week was really special and difficult to replicate, let alone that not all companies would allow a half-dozen geeks to roam around production for 20 weeks a year (for a price, more on that later).

  • A happy student/distiller.

Third, but not less important, the people we met, both the other “students” and the staff. It’s easy to bond with people sharing the same enthusiasm for whisky as you, so somehow we expected (and hoped) to get along with the other students, but we also couldn’t exclude the possibility of meeting absolute jerks or simply someone we wouldn’t connect with. We were lucky to spend the week with very nice and fun guys like Graham, Robert and Stephen, and hopefully we’ll reunite as a group at some point (at a future Campbeltown malt festival maybe?). As for the staff, their patience dealing with us and their efforts to make sure we got the most out of the time with them were genuinely impressive. We were most likely an impediment to their work more than anything else but still, everybody made us feel welcome, and it was great to hear people’s stories (for example, in shocking news to us, it turns out that many of the staff don’t like whisky). 

  • Before rolling casks…
  • …and after (sort of).

So now, the elephant in the room: it is a very expensive experience, or at least, that was how we felt at over two grands per person. Something we really appreciated, though, was Springbank management not trying to sell it as an “ultimate luxury”, “premium” or whatever crap other companies are coming up with to try justifying their greediness, so to actively exclude whisky fans and tourists alike from visiting some distilleries (more rants coming on the blog soon probably). On the face of it, it did feel a bit overpriced, but at the same time we think it must be complicated (aka costly) to comply with all the legal requirements (including insurance) that can make the school happen…And let alone the time the staff take to show us around, explain processes and answer questions, plus the tastings and the tours, and the whole full-pension for a week. Also, as we said, we are not sure how much we really helped, except Teresa with her cask rolling determination, of course! Obviously, it is not like a tour you would do every year, and probably not even every other or so. For us, it was more of a lifetime experience, a gift to ourselves, and it really was a great one!

  • Thank you for a really great week!

So, here the important questions: in hindsight, would we still do it? Absolutely! Would we recommend it? If you’re a whisky enthusiast, and can spare enough time and money, definitely! Would we repeat it? Probably not, but maybe in a couple of decades (when enough changes might accumulate). Something we would do at some point, maybe for a special occasion, is the Barley to Bottle tour, which includes some of the fun activities of the school (an in-depth tour, the warehouse tasting and the blending session) and lasts five hours “only”. One of the many things we like about Springbank is that they offer a wide range of experiences, with tour prices starting from as little as £12 up to a lot: there really is something for everyone, from the casual tourist to the experienced whisky geek. And by attending any of these experiences, you will only increase the appreciation for their work!

That was a long one, we hope you enjoyed it! Next time something lighter, or maybe a rant, stay tuned to know! Until then, slàinte!

Springbank Whisky School

Link: https://www.springbank.scot/whisky-school/

#74.5 The Springbank Whisky School

From production to
the blending lab
(day 4, Thursday)

 

TL; DR: Day four at whisky school was a busy one. We spent the morning in production – mashing, fermenting and distilling Longrow, plus chatting with the operators. The afternoon brought cask regauging in the warehouse, a tour of Glengyle distillery (where we had a stunning 20y triple-distilled dram), and finally a blend-your-own Springbank session. 

(missed Part 4/Part 3/Part 2/Part 1?)

We won’t lie, after the many drams we had on Wednesday, on Thursday morning we didn’t wake up fresh as summer flowers. But we’d seen worse, and it wasn’t something that a good shower and a tasty breakfast couldn’t fix: that morning we had pancakes with crispy bacon, another favourite of ours. It was the last “working” day of the whisky school, and we were eager as ever to learn as much as possible.

Our group (us and Graham) spent the morning in production – mashing, fermenting and distilling. The operators on shift are always two, and they run all three processes. Daniel showed us around and, to start with, he introduced us to the paraflow, an “ancient” heat exchanger that had been there for decades, but still going strong (to a maintenance guy surprise, we heard).

  • The paraflow, an impressively old heat exchanger.

We also assisted the filling of a washback with wort, and we could throw in the yeast, which comes in 25kg bags (they use three per mash). Then, they steamed clean another washback, and after that the room was very foggy, like a steam room in a spa.

They rely on a combination of shorter (not really short, 72 hours) and longer fermentation (110 hours), depending on whether it goes through the weekend or not. The result is a wash about 6%abv strength, which is lower compared to most distilleries we visited: usually we are told between 8% and 10%. Probably this is due to the really manual, old-fashion production, which might carry some inefficiencies as Robert pointed out (he has a degree in brewing and distilling). However, it is most likely part of what gives Springbank its unique character, and to us it makes a lot of sense that management think it twice before deciding to change anything.

  • Before…
  • …And after.

The operators also showed us how they take the alcohol strength reading during distillation, using the hydrometer and the thermometer – after years of experience, they know exactly when to start taking these readings. At that point, the wash still was running (the first distillation), so they told us to go back in the afternoon to possibly have a sip of the newmake spirit coming off the second distillation. That day they were producing Longrow newmake spirit, so a traditional Scottish double distillation. Longrow’s second distillation usually happens in the last of the three stills, the one with the worm tub condenser, while the middle one has a shell-and-tube one and is used less often for Longrow. When they produce Hazelburn, the spirit is distilled three times and each still is used once, while when they distil Springbank, they go for 2.5 distillations, where part of the second distillation is redistilled in the third still (but it’s a bit more complicated than that).

  • Longrow in the making.

You can tell the morning was more about watching than working, so there was plenty of time for a chat with the staff. We talked about how some people come from abroad to apply for a job there, and how the distillery offers great job opportunities, especially in a rural area like Kintyre. The operators also shared some of the anecdotes from past terms of the whisky school, including some nasty but clumsy attempts to steal newmake from the safe and others that we won’t share to avoid spoilers (and possibly disappointment).

At noon we were back at the guesthouse for lunch, where Donald had prepared chicken pasta with garlic bread. As Italians, we are always wary when we get pasta, but we have to say that it was delicious.

Back at the distillery, the afternoon was busy. First, the courtyard team showed us how to regauge a cask: this is the process of checking the volume of the spirit left in the cask and its strength, and it usually happens once in a while or when the cask is about to be used for a release. In our case, they used a “sacrificial” cask in Warehouse 3, that undergoes regauging every time there is a school term: a 14/15y (vintage 2011) 1st fill American oak sherry hogshead. They showed us how to meansure the volume with a stick, and how to take the strength with beker, hydrometer and thermometer. The scientific effort was rewarded with a sip of the malt: dense and delicious stuff, typical sherried Springbank!

  • Learning how to regauge a cask.

Fun fact, we were in the warehouse with wee Andrew and John, respectively the youngest and oldest of the distillery staff. With Robert there too, we basically had three generations working together, with knowledge passed down!

  • Three generations of Springbank staff.

After the regauging, Ben picked us up and took us to Glengyle for a tour. Active three months a year, Glengyle produces Kilkerran malt (the name Glengyle is owned by another company) and is a modern distillery. It was re-built in 2004 by J&A Mitchell to raise the number of Campbeltown from two to three, so that the Scotch Whisky Association wouldn’t take away the regional status to the town. That was because, at that time, the Lowlands had only three distilleries: Glenkinchie, Auchentoshan and Bladnoch. Now Fife alone (within the Lowlands) has 7 (!), and the whole region almost 30 plus a few grain distilleries: how things change!

  • Glengyle, a more modern distillery.

Back to Glengyle, the original distillery was built in 1872 by another branch of the Mitchell family, but like many others closed around the mid-1920s. The current one is similar to many others we visited throughout the years, but with a few interesting facts: a Bobby mill donated by Craigellachie when they replaced theirs, a 4.5ton mashtun, four wooden washbacks (filled from the top, as opposed to Springbank’s ones that are filled from the bottom), stills from the silent Ben Wyvis distillery (not to be mistaken with the recent Glen Wyvis). Except for the mill, every piece of equipment is in the same big space. Most of the production is double distilled and lightly peated as per their signature style, but they also produce unpeated and heavily peated expressions, again double distilled. Moreover, they get to fill a few dozens of casks with triple distilled unpeated newmake spirit. Near the stills, Ben made us try the newmake spirit and a dram of an almost 20y old triple distilled (from an ex-bourbon cask), which was a tropical fruit-bomb (and our favourite every time we did the Kilkerran Warehouse tasting…A pity they recently increased the price of for the 35cl bottle from £60 to £80). That was unexpected, such a nice surprise!

  • Thanks Ben for taking the perfect group picture!

We were already quite happy with the activities of the day, but we still had one to go before dinner: a blend-your-own Springbank experience with Donald, where each of us had to make a 70cl blend from 6 different expressions: a 10y 1st fill ex-bourbon cask, a 10y refill ex-rum cask, a 13y refill ex-Sherry cask, an 11y 1st fill Sherry cask, a 8y 1st fill Madeira cask and finally a 7y 1st fill Sauternes cask. The rules were at least two expressions and no more than 50cl from one (it was how much we had available of each component).

  • A challenging job.

Long time ago (in 2019) we had done a similar experience at Strathisla distillery – blending together five whiskies from the Chivas Brothers/Pernod Ricard range. The results were dire: we opened both 20cl bottles in 2020 during the pandemic, we hated them and so we ended up using them for either cooking or for highballs. So, while excited we were also worried about the result…This time, however, we were “less clueless” than last time. We started by looking for a suitable base for the blend. The ex-bourbon (the obvious candidate) was very maritime, the rum was the smokiest one, the refill sherry was very dry, while the 1st fill sherry was (again) a classic sherried Springbank, akin to the 15y from the core range. The Madeira was the sweetest one, and finally the Sauternes was (as expected) weird. Teresa used four expressions, while Gianluigi ended up using them all for a challenge (which took substantially more trials and time than for the others, to everyone’s amusement), with the Sauternes used like you’d use the fish sauce in a curry, just a dash to enhance the flavour. We won’t give away our recipes (muahahaha!), but we are hoping to use both bottles in a tasting with the Edinburgh Whisky Group at some point (keep an eye on our social media, Instagram and Substack).

  • Let’s hope for the best!

It was a great day of “work”, which ended with another tasty meal (chili con carne and cheese board) and a couple of half pints at one of our favourite pubs in town, the Fiddlers’ Inn.

Stay tuned for (finally) the last post of this long series! Until then, slàinte!

Springbank Whisky School

Link: https://www.springbank.scot/whisky-school/

#74.4 The Springbank Whisky School

Back to shovelling!
(day 3, Wednesday)

 

TL; DR: Day three at whisky school started with shovelling barley destined for Springbank production into the kiln, followed by helping out packing Kilkerran Heavily Peated on the soon-to-be-moved bottling line. The reward was an incredible Springbank warehouse tasting with David, featuring a 1990 Springbank and gorgeous old Hazelburn and Longrow. Dinner at the guesthouse ended with an unforgettable cheesecake, then a fun Watt Whisky tasting capped off the evening. 

(missed Part 3/Part 2/Part 1?)

On Wednesday morning (day 3 of the school) the weather looked “meh” with an overcast sky. Thankfully it improved during the day. Breakfast was again the full Scottish, and again Gianluigi “had” to help Teresa finish it (she’d then ask for a reduced portion for the Friday, Gianluigi didn’t). While preparing for the day, we realised how little it took to get into a new routine. We also realised that our grand plans to go for a run before the school had already gone right “oot the windae”, so our running shoes had come just for a trip.

  • Morning clouds.

At 8.00am, we went straight to the malting floor, as there was more shovelling for us! First, we shovelled the barley from the floor into wheelbarrows, to then put it down a hatch where, thanks to a conveyor belt, it was moved into the kiln. When we were finished with that, the team took us inside the kiln, where we spread the barley evenly with our shovels, and turned it slightly to make sure air and smoke could pass through. That barley, in fact, was going to be used to produce Springbank – in this case, the kilning starts with 6 hours of peat smoke, followed by 48 hours of hot air (powered with a gas burner). The way the barley is dried up indicates what it’s going to be used for: for example, 30 hours of hot air for Hazelburn, and instead 48 hours of peat smoke for Longrow. Kilkerran is the same as Springbank (so, lightly peated). However, the malt for the unpeated Kilkerran, the base of their blended malt Campbeltown Loch, and the heavily peated Kilkerran are sourced elsewhere.

  • Climbing the barley mountain in the kiln.
  • Only the conveyor belt was ready for this picture.

Throughout the year, they start with Hazelburn, followed by Longrow and then Springbank, until they close the distillery to switch to producing Kilkerran at Glengyle for the last 3 months. When we were there, they were malting barley for Springbank, filling Hazelburn newmake spirit into casks, distilling Longrow, and bottling Kilkerran, so in a sense (a veeeeeeery loose sense), we contributed to the production of all four main malts!

After the break, the group divided again. Graham and the two of us went to the bottling hall (next to the parking lot) to assist the team with boxing. At first, Graham was putting protective cardboard squares around the neck of bottles, Gianluigi was putting the bottles inside the box, and Teresa was helping piling the boxes into pallets. They were bottling the next batch of Kilkerran Heavily peated, which is a batch of a few thousand bottles. One cool thing they do with batches (so, excluding single casks) is to marry them in a large vat first, to then re-rack the married whisky into well used casks for 6 months to allow the liquid to settle. These casks are quite recognisable as their end is black, with only a few numbers on them. After the 6 months, these casks are emptied into another vatting tank, which is connected with the bottling line. They have two bottling lines, one automatic (for all the bottles with the classic Springbank/Kilkerran/Campbeltown Loch shape) and the other one semi-automatic, for all the bottles with alternative shapes (Cadenhead’s dumpy square, tall square “olive oil” style, and a couple of different tall round, at least). To make things easier, they told us that they will move soon to another shape of bottle for all Cadenhead’s and Springbank Society bottlings.

  • The automatic bottling line.

Work on the bottling line was briefly interrupted at 10.50am, when we went back to the maltings to see the kiln being lit: almost like the crossing of the wildebeests in the Serengeti!

  • And the peat is on.

At noon we walked back to the Still Guesthouse, where Donald had prepared us a chicken burger with potato wedges and salad, again very much appreciated (how many favourites can we have??). Back to the bottling line, we assisted the staff on the line for a wee while, until Chris showed us around the bottling hall. We were the last school term to “work” in the old bottling line, as the works for the new one were almost complete, and the lines were going to be moved to the new building at the end of the week. The old building is going back to be a maturation warehouse. We could sense the bottling team felt both emotional and excited about the move.

Chris also showed us where they store labels, boxes and bottles, and how the whisky is filtered three times before going into the bottles. Once the pallets are done and full with boxes, they are transported with a forklift to the dispatch point, which is also going to be moved to the new bottling hall. Like the old bottling hall, this building (between Springbank and Glengyle distilleries) is also going to become a warehouse – you can tell they are in need of warehousing space.

At some point, Chris very kindly allowed us to grab some drams, leftovers from previous bottlings. We were also given the chance to disgorge a vatting cask of the Kilkerran Heavily Peated into the larger vat and, while we were at it, try a sip of the whisky. So nice of them!

  • Where casks are disgorged.

The last activity of the day was a great reward for the shovelling (we guess), a Springbank warehouse tasting, reserved for attendees of either the Whisky School or the Barley to Bottle long-day premium tour (£250.00). We walked into Warehouse #3 together with David, the sales director, who hosted the tasting. The first three drams were quite spectacular, first a 2001 Hazelburn, matured in a refill cask (natural abv ~48-49%), followed by a 1990 (!!!) Springbank from a refill ex-bourbon hogshead (41.6%), and finally a 2001 Longrow from a 3rd fill ex-bourbon hogshead (we missed the abv). Finally, a younger Longrow, only 4-year-old, from a Virgin oak octave cask: definitely punchier compared to the three balanced and soft tropical drams we had before. During the tasting, David talked about the challenges of selling Springbank in an ever-hungry market, so to maintain it available for fans while also trying to slowly expand. All this while making sure that supplies are used as intended (for drinking) and not hoarded by collectors, as much as possible at least. In the current market this is probably a good problem to have, but we can definitely see how it must require a lot of effort, and we cheer them for doing so!

  • A superb dram.

After the tasting we had some spare time before dinner, so we went to the Cadenhead’s Tasting Room to use the extra dram voucher we’d gotten the day before at the warehouse tasting. Dinner was salmon fillet, followed by another incredible dessert: one of the best cheesecakes we ever had! So, good that Gianluigi had two (!!), which Sandra took as a compliment (and indeed it was, still dreaming about that cake!). (Side note, Teresa is no longer amazed at how much Gianluigi can eat, but it was funny to see the others genuinely impressed by the performance.)

  • The unforgettable.

After dinner, we joined Graham, Andrew and his wife, and other visitors for a Watt Whisky tasting with Mark, at their shop near the Feathers Inn. It was a 6-dram tasting, very much Mark’s style, with a lot of delicious ex-bourbon cask Speysiders, but also a great “tea-spooned” Campbeltown blended malt (i.e. Glen Scotia), and a final peaty-sherry bomb, a 6y Staoisha (from Bunnahabhain distillery).

  • Great end to a great day.

After the tasting (and an extra dram or two), we briefly stopped at the Feathers Inn and soon went to sleep, amazed again by the quality of whisky you can find in the Wee Toon!

Coming next week, another post about the Springbank Whisky School! Until then, slàinte!

Springbank Whisky School

Link: https://www.springbank.scot/whisky-school/

#74.3 The Springbank Whisky School

Keep rollin’ rollin’ rollin’ rollin’
(day 2, Tuesday)

 

TL; DR: Day two of the whisky school, filling and rolling casks all morning, watching the mashtun being filled, then more cask-rolling into the dunnage and racked warehouses after lunch. Reward came with a Cadenhead’s Warehouse Tasting of eight drams, standouts being a Palo Cortado Benrinnes 11y and old Laphroaig and Bowmore. 

(missed Part 2/Part 1?)

The second day of the school started like the first one: alarm at 6am, breakfast at 7am. That morning we got scrambled eggs and smoked salmon, a favourite of ours! Well fed, we walked to the distillery for the 8am start. It had rained during the night, so everything was wet, however the sun was shining when we arrived. That was pretty much the weather during the whole week, showers here and there, but generally sunny and not too cold…“breezy”, if you want.

Anyway, the first activity of the day was not a heavy one, just watching the steep tank being filled with water while chatting to the staff in the malting floor.

  • We don’t think this counts as quality control.

After that, it was time to get serious: our next job was rolling casks! (To note, when the Whisky School is on, the filling day is Tuesday instead of the usual Friday.) A number of casks were already aligned in the courtyard, just outside the filling room: our job was to roll them in, pass them on to “wee Andrew” (“wee” because he’s in his 20s, he’s taller than most of us) who would fill them, and once filled, closing them with a bung. Meanwhile, Gavin was keeping the records on the weight and volume of newmake spirit that went in.

  • The wait before rolling.

Once closed, we rolled the casks back to the courtyard and wrote down the cask number on the cask end with stencil and white paint. That day the casks were filled with Hazelburn, mostly ex-bourbon barrels, but also some sherry hogsheads.

  • Stencilling away.

It was a hard job, especially to get the casks positioned in the right way (with the writings up), but it took us occupied and time went quickly while rotating tasks between the five of us. We took a break for coffee at 10am, and at 11am we went to production to watch the mashtun getting filled. There, Daniel showed us how they regulate the flow of grist and hot water going into the mashtun, in order to maintain the temperature as close as possible to 63.5°C. The stream is regulated with a mechanism manoeuvred by a chain, and a slight movement can make the balance change quite quickly – not an easy job. At noon we went back to the guesthouse for lunch, this time through a shortcut in the backyard, through a scrapyard: almost romantic. A hearty soup (delicious) and sandwiches were waiting for us.

  • The mashing-in magic.

After lunch and a much needed coffee, it was time to roll casks again: this time from the courtyard to the warehouse where the Kilkerran Warehouse tasting is held nowadays (and where the Cadenhead’s Warehouse tasting used to be held). The staff showed us how to put the casks in the right way, so when you roll them on the staves they end up with the stencils facing up. The warehouse was a two-floor dunnage, and the casks we rolled in were destined to the upper floor, so a winch was needed. Upstairs, we helped put the casks on the manual lift used to position the casks on one of the three levels. We’ll spare you the intricacies of getting the right orientation of the bung depending on the spot assigned to the cask – that was tough!

Then, we moved to the racked warehouse next door, where we rolled casks on to a forklift, which the staff used to put the casks at rest in the free spots, sometimes quite high up. 

Rolling casks is a tough job…
  • …but someone has to do it.

Again, manoeuvring full casks is no easy task, and it was a good workout, but in this case being short people helped: Robert and Graham, much taller than us, had definitely a harder time!

Fortunately, this effort was well rewarded with the first tasting of the week: the Cadenhead’s Warehouse Tasting. The brand ambassador Andrew (Graham’s brother-in-law but also well known to us from festivals and tastings) took us to the new warehouse space where the tasting is held, near the Cadenhead’s tasting room.

  • Thankfully these casks don’t need to be moved…

The lineup was similar to the one we had in December, but with a few key differences. We started off with two known drams, an English single malt – the Spirit of Yorkshire/Filey Bay, fully matured in Madeira, at a low abv of 47% (the cask was almost empty at that point), and a 14y Glen Garioch finished in a rum cask (55%), tropical juiciness. The third dram was a Glenfarclas 15y (56%), that started maturing in a refill ex-bourbon barrel but was then re-racked into a Ruby Port hogshead in 2019 – more a double maturation rather than a finish. This was the first time we tried a Glenfarclas that was not in a sherry or bourbon cask, and it didn’t disappoint. Then, one of the best drams of the lineup for us, a Benrinnes 11y, first matured in refill bourbon and then in a Palo Cortado sherry hogshead for 3 years (54%). We bought a bottle, and strangely the last time we were in Campbeltown we also got a bottle of Benrinnes (but from Watt Whisky). Two is a coincidence, three is a trend…Let’s see next time. The fifth dram was a Tullibardine 11y, re-racked for the last 4 years in a fresh (aka 1st fill) oloroso hogshead (52.1%). The sixth dram was, as per custom, a peated one, a delicious 11y Caol Ila (58.2%) from a bourbon barrel – the same we’d tried in December, but we’re very happy to go over it again, as it was delicious. We also had two extra drams, a 23y old Laphroaig from a bourbon hogshead – a stunner, one of Gianluigi’s favourite drams of the whole week – and a 28y Bowmore also from a bourbon cask, again a stunner, delicate and tropical. What a tasting!

  • A much easier job.

After that Graham left, and the four of us went back to the guesthouse for dinner. That night the menu was a tasty steak pie, followed by a delicious Eton mess: Sandra really knocked it out of the park! Tired from all the rolling and dramming, we soon went to bed for a well-deserved rest.

Coming next week, more shovelling! Until then, slàinte!

Springbank Whisky School

Link: https://www.springbank.scot/whisky-school/

#74.2 The Springbank Whisky School

Barley on my mind
(day 1, Monday)

 

TL; DR: First day of the Springbank Whisky School, so exciting! We spent most of the day in the malting floor – shovelling, grubbing and turning barley while understanding all the steps before milling. We were also treated to a walking tour to discover the sites of the many lost distilleries in Campbeltown!

(missed Part 1?)

On the Monday morning, we woke up early but excited: it was the first day of the Springbank Whisky School! A shower, then breakfast in the dining room: a full Scottish fried up by the lovely Marie, but also some fruits, yogurt, and toasted bread. It was a big plate, and as per usual Gianluigi helped Teresa clean it up! At 8am sharp Donald walked us from the Still Guesthouse to the distillery (only 5 minutes or so away).

  • Big breakfast for a big day ahead.

While arriving we saw (and smelled) grey peat smoke coming from the distillery kiln chimney: maybe no pope were made on that day, but still a very good sign! We met the distillery manager Gavin introduced himself and the school, gave us some study material, and briefly showed us around: first our lockers in the staff room, then a brief distillery tour.

  • Kiln in action!

But soon after, it was time for us to get “serious” and…Shovel barley! (We’ll spare you the jingle that Gianluigi came up with, but yes, there was a jingle about shovelling barley.) A little premise here: malting is a key part of Springbank’s production: for a long time, they were the only distillery where every step was done on site, from malting to bottling. Now Dunphail distillery (in Speyside) is also malting 100% of the barley on site, while other distilleries are at 10%-30% (Kilchoman, Laphroaig, and Bowmore on Islay, Benriach and Balvenie in Speyside, Glen Garioch in the East Highlands – we might have missed some). Most of the Scottish distilleries source malt from maltsters (or send theirs to be malted elsewhere, like Ballindalloch, Bruichladdich or Daftmill). For Springbank, the decision to keep malting in-house was not by accident, as for a period between 1960 and 1992 they also sourced it outside. It was Hadley G. Wright, the former chairman of J&A Mitchell (sadly passed away in 2023), who decided to bring it back to create more jobs for the Campbeltown community.

Malting starts by taking the green barley from the bins where the lorries unload it. When ready, it is transported with a conveyer belt through three hatches into the steep tank (13 tons if it goes to the slightly larger lower malting floor, 10 tons if it goes to the upper malting floor), where it is soaked with water for 14 hours. Water is then drained, and after 12 hours the barley is soaked again for another 14 hours. After draining, it is shovelled through another hatch if it goes to the lower malting floor, or shovelled outside the steep if it stays on the upper floor. That day we were on the lower malting floor, and a pile of wet barley was waiting for us, ready to be spread. So, for about 30-40 minutes, we shovelled barley on to wheelbarrows, that we then used to spread it on the floor, under the supervision of Joey and John, who levelled out the most uneven bits. Being five (plus the staff) doing it, it went quickly, and it was already time for the 10am break, when we gathered at the washback bar for a hot drink and some sweet treats.

  • Working hard. Were we doing a good job? Oh well.

The second activity of the day was a walking tour with Findlay, hunting down the sites of lost distilleries. Having read David Stirk’s Whiskypolis book recently, Gianluigi was already acquainted with the story of the 30-odd distilleries that used to be in town. Only two survived all the shocks of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, that led to many closures in the 1920s and 1930s. The two are obviously Glen Scotia (formerly only Scotia) and Springbank, while Glengyle was resurrected in 2004 by J&A Mitchell in order for Campbeltown to retain its official whisky region status. And we’re happy for that, as Kilkerran (the brand name under which they sell Glengyle’s whisky, as the name is owned by another company) is a tremendous dram! Two other old distillery names live on as Springbank variants: Longrow, heavily peated and double distilled), and Hazelburn, unpeated and triple distilled. Some of the spots gave it away that there used to be a distillery – for example, Benmore is a now the name of the street, but you can still see half of its pagoda roof and the name on the old gate.

  • What remains of a glorious past.

Some others were less straightforward to spot, like the site of Lochead distillery, which is now home to…a Tesco. Apparently, when they had their application approved by the Argyll and Bute Council, they were supposed to include in the architecture something that hinted at the fact that there used to be a distillery, so they came up with “pagodas” on the roof. Pardon our French, but they look a bit shite. The old Hazelburn distillery is, instead, one of the best-preserved buildings. Some warehouses of Glen Nevis also survived. Nice touch, during the tour we also popped into Glen Scotia, where we said “hi” to Greg, who gave us the excellent Warehouse Tasting back in December.

  • The oddest rendition of a pagoda.

After the tour, it was time for lunch back at the Still Guesthouse: scotch pie, keeping it traditional. Common theme for the whole week: the food was delicious, we were (happily) spoiled! Anyway, after the one-hour lunch break, we were split in two groups, Graham and the two of us in one, and Robert and Stephen in the other. While Robert and Stephen went on to look at mashing, fermenting and distilling, we went back to the maltings, where the staff showed us all the nitty and gritty of what is done there. First, we watched the steep tank being filled in with barley, and how it gets evened out. To see how the steep tank gets filled with water, we had to wait for the next morning.

  • Step 1, filling the steep tank with barley.

Anyway, once spread on the floor, the barley is turned every four hours to keep it aerated and break up rootlets. The three of us got to turn a few rows of barley with both the grubber (manual) and the turner (electric). Every step and relevant information is noted down on paper registers, things like when the barley is turned, temperature, humidity, etc. It was quite exciting to see some old registers going back many years!

  • Quality control.
  • Turning…Less easy than we thought!

The team then took us outside in the internal courtyard, where they keep both wet and dry (under a shed) peat, and where the old oil tanker still lays, which was used before they switched to natural gas. Back inside, we went up to the last floor, which is not used to spread malt, but to store the barley from two local farms (wink, wink) waiting to be processed. It’s also where we could see the top of the malt bins (and a conveyer belt!).

  • The oldest destoner we ever saw.

We then checked out the destoner above the Porteus mill, a very old piece of equipment in a wooden box, which weighs the malt to send to the mill in 25kg “coups”. All very nerdy details, and of course we loved it!

With that, our first day was over. While the afternoon was a bit slow, it was a solid start of the school, and we were looking forward to the second day! We went back to the guesthouse, where Sandra had cooked us a delicious dinner, chicken Balmoral with fava beans and mashes, followed by a trifle: we still dream about it! We then had a couple of drams with Stephen and Robert in the sitting room, before retiring to our rooms.

Stay tuned to know more about our second day! Until then, slàinte!

Springbank Whisky School

Link: https://www.springbank.scot/whisky-school/

#74.1 The Springbank Whisky School

Getting ready to go!
(prologue)

 

TL; DR: Sooner than expected, we had to get ready for something that had been on our wish list for a long time – the Springbank Whisky School. We were so excited for this once-in-life opportunity! This is just an introductory blog post to our intense week in the wee toon, more (much more) to come. 

A few weeks ago, back in March (2026, for you reading from the future!), we ticked off one of the whisky experiences in our bucket list: the Springbank Whisky School! In a few words (but many more are about to come), it’s an intensive week at the distillery, ‘working’ and learning everything about the nitty and gritty of their production, from malting the green barley, to sliding bottles in a cardboard box, ready to be shipped anywhere. With a few drams in between, obviously. Obviously a heaven for Springbank lovers, but overall an experience that attracts many whisky nerds and enthusiasts from everywhere.

We found out about the school during the pandemic, but at the time it was closed, for obvious reasons. Gianluigi first enquired back in November 2022, after they restarted, but we were told that after losing those two years, the queue was estimated to be seven years long! Fair enough, we were ready to wait until 2029, and that was just to join the waiting list. But then, very suddenly, in October 2025 we received an email from the distillery: they were reopening the waiting list. We signed up right away, again expecting to finally do the school towards the end of 2026 or even in 2027. But that wasn’t the case, possibly because (as we learned later) after the pandemic they moved from running it 10 weeks a year to 20 weeks, halving the waiting times. When the confirmation email arrived, asking us to choose three potential terms, we realised that we could do it as early as February/March 2026: only a few months away, such a nice surprise! And so we did, we selected the second week of March, to avoid a clash with the Fife Whisky and Independent Spirit festivals. Soon after, our good pal Stephen from the Edinburgh Whisky Group, a massive Springbank fan also on the waiting list, managed to book for the same week: “los tres amigos” going to Campbeltown, yay!

  • Los tres (oh sorry, quatros) amigos.

The adventure started on a sunny Sunday afternoon, when we slowly left Edinburgh towards Glasgow, where we picked up Stephen who was visiting friends. We met him at the CostCo petrol station, so in the meanwhile we filled the tank (the diesel was “only” £1.349 per litre then….It seems so long ago!). We then swiftly left Glasgow and drove to Campbeltown, aiming to check in just before dinner. The Whisky School includes accommodation in the lovely Still Guesthouse (owned by J&A Mitchell and used by staff visiting the wee toon), a few minutes walking from the distillery, in front of the Co-Op supermarket.

The school normally hosts 6-7 attendees per week. However, when we arrived, we realised that in our term we’d only be five: the three of us, Robert and Graham. Robert is from California, but he used to live in Scotland, where he obtained the master in Brewing and Distilling at Herriot Watt University and then worked at Fierce Brewery, before moving back to the US. He’d flown all the way from San Jose to attend the school (and for a following trip to Islay)! Much closer to home, Graham lives and works in Glasgow, but since his wife is from Campbeltown, he stayed with the in-laws. Not the first time we’d met him, as we were already introduced to each other at the Fife Whisky Festival the previous weekend.

  • The Still Guesthouse, hard not to guess what this is all about.

Stephen and Robert were given two rooms on the ground floor (the “15” and the “12”), while we shared one of the three rooms upstairs (the “Single cask”). While the rooms downstairs had a shower, ours didn’t, but since we were the only two people upstairs, we still had the one bathroom to ourselves. There is also an annex, but obviously nobody used it during our term.

In the room, we found the gear provided by Springbank: a set of five t-shirts (orange, red, green, purple and black), a black jacket and a high-vis vest. On the initial form the smallest size was a unisex S (which fits Gianluigi), but they were super kind to get a XS set of t-shirts and jacket for Teresa (who is a tiny lady). After the school the high-vis vest are in the van, don’t know how good of an idea this is, since the big mark on the back with “2026 Springbank Whisky School”. A thing we had to get ourselves were the safety boots: we both got some hybrid models with all the safety requirements, but that could be used for hiking as well. Our old hiking shoes were long done (Teresa’s died last year on Ben Nevis), so we killed two birds with one stone.

  • All sorted!

All meals from Monday morning to Friday lunchtime are also provided by the school, and it is a fixed menu (obviously taking into account food allergies or diets) for the three meals. So, on our arrival on Sunday evening we had to get food somewhere, and the obvious choice for us was the Ardshiel Hotel. After a tasty meal and a pint, we went back to the guesthouse, where we met Robert.

  • A fine, fine week ahead!

We had a dram all together in the cosy sitting room, where a bottle of Campbeltown Loch blended malt (46%) and a Seven Star blended scotch (46%) were left for us to enjoy. We also found a liquor cabinet in the kitchen, where previous guests had left a bottle of Longrow from the distillery’s shop demijohn (that gets constantly refilled, in a solera-ish fashion), and some other liquors/spirits. Good find and nice way to ‘connect’ with students from previous terms (we’d also leave some of our samples for students after us), but we all concurred that it wasn’t a good night for dramming given the big start the day after. We soon went to bed to get a good rest before properly starting the adventure on the next day!

Stay tuned for the rest of the adventure! Until then, slàinte!

Springbank Whisky School

Link: https://www.springbank.scot/whisky-school/