Our AirBnB was only a block away from the Springbank Distillery. This allowed us to sleep in a bit before our private tour. Springbank has a modest sized gift shop but they provide a special 10ml bottle for distillery visitors only. This is also true for Cadenhead’s warehouse tours.
Springbank has always been a favorite of mine. We were lucky enough to have a private tour with David. Springbank shares their production staff with Glengyle Distillery which means Springbank produces spirit 9 months of the year and Glengyle produces 3 months of the year. When we visited, Glengyle was alive and Springbank was resting.
One of the best features of Springbank, aside from the briny flavor, is that they are one of the few distilleries that manage the entire Scotch making process from malting to bottling. These processes are maintained for Glengyle. We learned so many interesting production notes; such as the local barley for the local barley production is stored inside the top floor to keep it out of the silos and separate from the normal barley. Local barley has a smaller husk and therefore it takes more barley for production. These are two primary factors that go into the premium price and taste of the Springbank Local Barley expressions.
We also learned that the structural support poles throughout the Springbank malting floor are painted different colors from a staff party.
Springbank produces 750,000 liters annually, my guess is about 1 million bottles. The Distillery runs 80% of the production for normal Springbank. The remaining 20% of the production is split between Longrow and Hazelburn. http://springbank.scot/whisky/
The lightly peated Springbank is distilled two and half times, as they like to say. The washbacks produce a ‘beer’ that is 4-6% ABV. This is first distilled in the wash still and produces a distillate at 20-25%ABV called “Low Wines.” Springbank takes 80% of the Low Wines and distills that in Still #1 producing a 76-94% ABV distillate (this is the ½ distillation). This high alcohol distillate is mixed in Pot Still #2 with the other 20% of the Low Wines. Here, in Pot Still #2, the heads and tails are recycled and the distilled Middlecut is captured at 60-76% ABV, or rather 76-60% ABV because the start of the capture is at the higher end of the ABV. Springbank New Spirit is cask filled at 63.5% ABV.
The heavily peated Longrow is distilled twice like most Scotches. The Beers come from the washbacks at 4-6% ABV and are first distilled in the wash still. The Low Wines are captured at 19-20% and then distilled a second time in the Pot Still. The final distillate Middlecut is captured at 69-58% ABV and put into casks at 63.5% ABV.
The unpeated Hazelburn is distilled three times. The Distilled low wines are at 20-25% ABV. The Second Distillation from Pot Still 1 is 94-77.5% ABV. And finally, the new spirit is condensed from Pot Still #2 at 79-63% ABV. Casking is at 63.5% ABV.
Springbank is not highly automated despite all that technical writing. Chalk boards at the kiln, grist mill and other production points illustrate the production methods used for 100 years. I get the feeling that the promotional tour boards around the distillery are used by the staff as much as the visitors.