Rumours of rotting fish barrels, a dispute with the Scotch Whisky Association and one of the last few remaining distilleries in Campbeltown. Oh my. Springbank Distillery sure has had an eventful past. And yet it has persevered for over 193 years and is now regarded as one of the most sought-after cult distilleries of Scotland.

A relatively small distillery compared to other giants in Scotland, limited production amount paired with substantial demand has led to difficulties finding Springbank whiskies at retail stores, with great prices put upon bottles coming from this esteemed distillery.

So let's find out a little more about Springbank and its colorful history. Here's 10 things you should know about Springbank.

1. Springbank is still owned by its founding family line. 

In an age where distilleries are being bought over by large organisations such as Diageo, Springbank is the odd one out.

Founded in 1828 by one William Reid, Springbank was the fourteenth licensed distillery in Campbeltown, built on the site of an illicit still operated by William Reid’s in-law Archibald Mitchell. An immigrant family, the Mitchells were well involved in the distilling scene from the start. The family owned a number of Campbeltown’s distilleries: Archibald Mitchell and his brother Hugh were partners in the Rieclachan distillery from 1825, while their sister Mary Mitchell built the now-defunct Drumore distillery in 1834. 

It wasn't all smooth for the distillery even after the tumult of the 1900s (More on this later). Years after its Prohibition-caused mothballing, the distillery had to shut down again in 1979 due to the recession in UK, and once more in 2008 because of rising oil commodities prices. 

Through decades of trails and tribulation, The Mitchell family would persevere. Now under the official name of J. & A. Mitchell Co Ltd, the Mitchells have family throughout the distillery, maintaining both family links, and stellar whiskies.

2. Springbank was built in Campbeltown, Scotland's old whisky capital

Campbeltown - a far-flung town located at the end of a western peninsular of Scotland, with a population of less than 5,000 people. This is where Springbank Distillery set down roots.  

Fertile barley fields of Kintyre, vast peat bogs, fresh water of the Campbeltown Loch and coal from Drumlemble mine to fuel stills ... Campbeltown had it all. With such a lucrative environment for whisky distilling, it was little wonder the mid-1800s were a period of boom for the small town. When the Victorian writer and distilling historian Alfred Barnard visited Campbeltown in 1885, he toured 21 distilleries including Springbank proclaiming Campbeltown to be ‘Whisky City’.

More importantly, Campbeltown had a deep sea port which enabled shipment of whisky to the fast-growing markets of Glasgow, London and the Americas. 

By the late 1800s, Campbeltown was a bustle of whisky making activity, with as many as 34 whisky distilleries. It was said that buildings were blackened with soot from distillery kilns and the smell of peat permeated the streets.

In fact, blended whisky bottlers (such as Johnnie Walker and Dewar’s) relied heavily from Campbeltown's production. Such bottlers purchased so much from Campbeltown’s whisky barons that by 1891, Campbeltown was the richest town in the UK on a per capita basis!

3. An expanding middle class caused Springbank's flavor profile to change.

The English upper classes now preferred softer and sweeter whiskies closer to the Speyside style. With changing times, those that did not change along were at risk of being left behind. In 1900, Springbank tweaked its recipe to begin producing a less-heavily peated whisky. During whisky making, toasted malt was toasted with some neutral-flavoured coal, replacing a portion of smoky peat soil.

This resulted in the oily, fruity and gently-peated Springbank expressions that we are familiar with today.

4. Springbank is one of only 2 distilleries to survive Campbeltown's fall from grace.

Everything was going swell in Campbeltown. Great production, a near-monopoly and the profits to match. The future was looking bright for Springbank and its fellow distillers. 

Until it wasn't. And the downfall came in many parts.

First came the “Pattison Crash” in 1906 which brought the Scottish whisky industry to its knees. Shoddy financial practices of some whisky companies were to blame. In particular, one fraudulent Pattison, Elder & Co. A major whisky seller at the time, it manipulated the prices of whisky-backed securities. 

That wasn't so much the issue. But when Pattison defaulted on its loans in 1896, a wave of bankruptcies swept across the industry and precipitated the crash in the prices of whiskies. This crash was a slow bleed on the industry, persisting into the early 1900s.

Price of whisky tumbled dramatically to less than half their original prices. Campbeltown, which relied heavily on its whisky industry, was disproportionately hit. Due to anticipated demand based on historical popularity, years of overproduction left Campbeltown distilleries with staggering whisky surpluses.

However, when demand fell far short of expectations, Campbeltown spirits ended up being sold for less than even half of whiskies from Speyside or the Highlands region.

But that wasn't the end of Campbeltown's troubles. 

Remember when I said Campbeltown's market crash was only the first part of its downfall? Well, the next three were external shocks that came at what might have been the worst time for Campbeltown in relentless succession.

The First World War took a sledgehammer to the world's economy, and base ingredient supplies of barley dried up. Around the same time, the Temperance movement reached a critical mass and transitioned to a mass movement in English-speaking countries. Yep, the Prohibition era officially began. The United States legislatively banned the consumption of alcohol and removed one of the largest export markets for Scotch. And in a dark twist, the US stock market crash of 1929 announced the start of the Great Depression. In a time where people were boiling shoes to eat the leather, a premium bottle of Scotch wasn't quite on the grocery list, and demand all but dried up.

At its peak, Campbeltown had up to 50 distilleries, but by the 1960s, the only ones standing were Springbank and Glen Scotia.

(Image Source: The Whisky Exchange)

 

With the Glengyle Distillery operational, this put the number of live distilleries in Campbeltown at three, on par with the Lowland region. This met the SWA's requirements, and it was forced to concede that Campbeltown deserved the same recognition.

6. Springbank was subject to baseless rumours that their whisky was stored in herring barrels.

Springbank wasn't the only distillery to fall victim to such rumours. To be fair, the rumours weren't all that baseless.

You see, during a period of uncertainty and crippling financial setbacks, many Campbeltown distilleries began cutting corners and trying to reduce costs with little regard for quality of spirit. Substandard casks were also used for maturation. Staying afloat came at a cost of quality, and who could blame them?

This is when rumours in the industry began, claiming that Campbeltown distillers were happy to store their whisky in barrels that previously held herring fish. No conclusive evidence was found to show that Campbeltown whiskies were ever stored in ex-herring casks. The reference to stinking fish was believed to be a derogatory jibe made by competing Speyside distilleries.

Whether there was any truth in this, history never took note, but it did confirm the declining quality of Campbelltown whisky. Many blenders began to turn their backs on Campbeltown, looking to Speyside and the Highlands for better quality products.

7. Springbank is one of the very few Scottish distilleries to malt, distil, mature and bottle its whiskies within its distillery grounds.  

A traditional barley malting room at Springbank Distillery (Image source: Malt and Oak blog.)

 

The production of Springbank's whisky begins with malting the barley by steeping it in water to allow it to germinate. This is intended to convert starch in the grain into sugars.

While the vast majority of distilleries today use high-tech commercial machinery to malt their barley, Springbank continues to use “floor malting” that is to malt barley the traditional way on the floor of a malting room. Raw barley grains are poured all across a stone malting room and steeped in water to trigger germination. Over the course of 7 days, the distillery staff take shifts every 4 hours to laboriously aerate and turn the barley using a shovel to promote even germination and prevent mold.

Proponents of floor malting believe it allows for a slower, more natural development of sugars and other flavor compounds in the barley. This can translate to a richer, more complex final flavor in the whisky compared to malt produced in faster, more controlled environments.

After the barley has been malted, it is transferred to the kiln for drying.

 

Malted barley being smoked and dried at 45° to 65° (Image Source: Ewan Graham)

 

The next stage is the kilning process. The damp malted barley is placed on a wire mesh resting floor above a kiln. Peat and coal are then fired up in the kiln, toasting and smoking the malted barley above.

 

(Image Source: Kensingtonwinemarket.com)

 

The toasted malt then milled into powder and sent for “mashing”, a process which cooks the malt in hot water until it becomes a porridge, inducing enzymes to break down even more starch into sugars. From this porridge, a sugary liquid is filtered and is known as “wort”. 

As per all whiskies, the wort is then fermented and put through a distillation process. Following fermentation, the mixture is distilled in Springbank’s copper stills to produce the final product that ends up in its casks.

8. The distillery produces 3 single malt labels: Springbank, Longrow & Hazelburn – each distilled and peated differently 

From right to left, The Hazelburn, Longrow and Springbank

 

The distillery is notable for three different labels of single malt: the Longrow label is heavily-peated and comparable to Islay style whiskies, the Springbank label is rich, oily and gently-peated, and the Hazelburn label is light, sweet and completely unpeated. 

Springbank puts extra care into their expressions, going further than simply double-maturing or blending their whiskies as so many other distilleries do. The kilning and distilling process, as we'll see, are specially catered to fit each whisky's profile.

 

(Image Source: Springbank Distillery)

 

To create the heavily peated Longrow, the malt is smoked for up to 48 hours by burning purely peat in the kiln. The milder but still peated Springbank is achieved by toasting the malt for 30 hours with non-peat alternatives such as coal, then smoked for a mere 6 hours by burning peat. To create the sweet and non-peated Hazelburn, 30 hours of non-peated burning suffices. 

 

(Image Source: Springbank Distillery)

 

Each offering also has its own distillation specifications. To create the heavy and oily Longrow, the fermented mixture is distilled twice. The slightly lighter but still weighty Springbank label is distilled 2.5 times. Finally, the fragrant, appley Hazelburn is distilled 3 times.

9. Springbank's whisky has an unusually long fermentation time. 

Traditional wooden washbacks for fermentation (Image Source: Springbank Distillery)

 

Slightly above average, Springbank ferments its wort for a minimum of 75 hours, up to 100 hours. During fermentation, yeast is added to convert sugars in the wort into alcohol.

The length of fermentation time greatly affects the final taste of the spirit. Fermentation lasting less than 50 hours tends to create more alcohol and a more pronounced cereal taste. Fermentation for a longer period of more than 60 hours tends to result in less alcohol, but a more complex, sweeter tasting spirit. 

 

(Image Source: Springbank Distillery)

 

Springbank’s distillery director Frank McHardy explains the intent behind the extra-long fermentation process: "That lengthy fermentation in larch [a type of pine tree] promotes loads of fruitiness, the lower OG [original gravity] helps to create esters… "

The original gravity reading indicates the density of the liquid, and the amount of sugars and malt particles within. The original gravity acts as an indicator of the potential alcohol content (ABV) of the final whisky. Higher OG readings typically suggest a higher potential ABV after fermentation is complete.

10. Springbank believes in traditional hand-crafted methods. 

 

Springbank has truly gone out of its way to preserve all its time-tested practices in making whisky. It has a focus on hand-crafted means rather than modern machinery, doing as much as they possibly can in the traditional way. 

Floor malting, fermentation and distillation are all done in the same manner and with the same tools used by forebearers hundreds of years ago. For example, while most distilleries in the modern age use steam to heat their stills. Springbank heats their stills using a direct oil flame from beneath.

 

Barley has been manually turned for malting at Springbank for over 193 years (Image Source: Springbank Distillery)

 

The distillery's deliberate nature has even led some to question the efficiency of its methods. For example, there is little hard evidence to confirm that floor malting contributes a superior taste as opposed to modern methods. From a cost perspective, floor malting is less efficient and requires intensive human labour. Other distilleries with even the slightest eye on profit have long switched to modern means.

But that's the thing, Springbank is less about profits, and more about maintaining the quality of their whisky. The giants of the scotch industry, such as Glenlivet Distillery, might employ 200 staff and produce 10,000,000 LPA (i.e. litres of pure alcohol) a year. In contrast, Springbank Distillery hires about 90 staff and produces only 750,000 LPA a year.

It's all about identity and staying true to their roots, and boy does Springbank do it well.

 

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Lok Bing Hong    A budding journalist that loves experiencing new things and telling people's stories. I have 30 seconds of coherence a day. I do not decide when they come. They are not consecutive.