Hazelburn 12 year old

Originally operating from 1825-1925, the Hazelburn Distillery was once the largest distillery in Campbeltown producing over 860,000 litres a year. Unfortunately, the distillery closed down in 1926. After a long time lost, the Hazelburn brand was resurrected in 2005 by the Springbank Distilling company in order to expand and experiment with their portfolio without alienating existing brand loyal patrons of Springbank. This month, we present the Hazelburn 12 year old.

Hazelburn 12 year old is made from completely unpeated barley, which is malted at the distillery. One of the few distilleries left who still malt their own barley, incidentally. It is also distilled 3 times compared to 2.8 times for Springbank. To explain, Springbank has 3 stills, but only 80% of the first still goes into the second still. The other 20% goes straight into the third still, where is mixes with the top cut of the second distillery. This gives Springbank the broad flavour profile, and its power.

Hazelburn 12yo is fully triple distilled, so it has a cleaner spirit than Springbank, which makes sense as the cleaner spirit showcases the malt. The oak really shines through this whisky. As near as I can figure, there is a blend of European oaks, not just sherry, but with cognac, maybe some rum and grappa flavours.