Springbank Distillery | Legal Since 1828

Founded officially in 1828 by Archibald Mitchell, Springbank was the 14th licensed distillery in Campbeltown. However, Springbank distillery sits on the site of Archibald Mitchell’s original illicit operations; the only remaining evidence of which is a local coppersmith’s ledger evidencing Mr Mitchell’s need for a kettle-shaped piece of copper prior to 1828.

Thankfully, for whisky enthusiasts, the Mitchell family have kept many of the old methods for distillation. Springbank is the only distillery in Scotland to carry out 100% of the production process on site (from malting, to warehousing and bottling). Springbank distillery is well worth the trip to Campbeltown, even if just to see how they did it back in the day.

Springbank Distillery Whisky

Springbank

A lightly peated, complex, full-bodied, maritime dram that is “not for novices”. A tasting of the Springbank 10yo is available as part of the standard Springbank tour.

Longrow

First distilled in 1973, Longrow whisky is the result of an experiment to prove that you can produce an Islay-style single malt on the mainland. Longrow Red is an annual small release bottled at cask strength. A different type of red wine cask is used each year to mature the whisky.

Hazelburn

First distilled in 1997, using air-dried only (unpeated) malt and triple distilled. The Hazelburn 10-year-old is one of my favourite whiskies – it is super smooth and very drinkable!

Where is Springbank Distillery?

Springbank Distillery is at 85 Longrow, Campbeltown PA28 6EX, on the west coast of Scotland.  Campbeltown is a 3-hour drive from Glasgow via the A83. For more information on getting to Springank Distillery, see our post on Why Campbeltown Scotland is Worth a Visit for Whisky Lovers

Springbank Distillery Tours, Pricing & Bookings

Springbank Distillery Images

Springbank Distillery Process

Malting

The process begins with soaking barley grains in tanks or ‘steeps’ of cool, clean water from Crosshill Loch.  The barley will stay in the water for up to three days to trigger germination – the grains will swell and produce the enzyme amylase, which is a vital part of the mash process later. Once removed from the steep, the barley layered six inches deep on the malting floors.

There are 2 malting floors at Springbank distillery, which hold ~10 tonnes of barley per floor. Six people form the production team, and during malting, 3 shifts run over 24 hours, with 2 people on each shift turning the malted barley at least twice per shift. The production team use malt shovels to turn the barley – they walk back and forth through the malt grains, aerating and redistributing them as they pass.

The malted barley sits on the floor for up to 4 days before it is drained from the malt floor onto the mesh drying floor in the kiln.

Very few distilleries still malt their own grains as the process is incredibly labour and space intensive. Springbank Distillery is the only distillery in Scotland to malt 100% of their grains on site.

Kilning

The kiln temperature reaches around 45-60 deg c during kilning, and the different whiskies need different drying times and air compositions.

• Springbank: 6 hours of peat smoke, 30 hours of hot air.
• Longrow: up to 48 hours with peat smoke.
• Hazelburn: 30 hours of hot air (no peat!).

After kilning, Springbank store the malted barley in one of 10 grain silos. Each silo holds up to 22 tonnes of malted grain.

The malting/kilning process will continue for ~12 weeks. The milling and distillation process begins once all 10 silos are full.

Milling

Next up is the milling stage. Springbank’s 1940s Porteous mill crushes the dried malt into grist. The grist comprises 20% husks, 70% middles and 10% flour.

Fermentation

In another hark back to tradition, Springbank transfer the sugary wort to wooden (Swedish boatskin larch) washbacks, rather than more modern stainless steel.

There are 6 washbacks in total at Springbank, each able to hold roughly 21,000 litres. Yeast is added to the wort in the washbacks, and over a period of 72 to 110 hours, the yeast ferment the sugars in the wort.

This produces a liquid that resembles milky tea, and is closer to beer than whisky. At approximately 4-6% alcohol, the liquid in the washbacks is now ready for distillation.

Distillation

The liquid from the washbacks passes through 2 (Longrow), 2.5 (Springbank) or 3 (Hazelburn) of Springbanks’s copper stills. Unlike many distilleries, Springbank heat the wash still (first still) externally by oil flame and internally by steam coils.

The low wines and feints produced in the wash still transfer into the low wines and feints receivers via a worm condenser.

Springbank whisky is distilled a total of two and a half times, meaning that the low wines from the first distillation are collected and re-distilled with the feints so that some of the spirit has been distilled twice and some three times.

Cask Filling + Maturation

All 3 whiskies are casked at 63.5%. Malt will be converted into roughly 115,000 litres of whisky once distilled. Springbank’s maximum capacity (for all spirit) is 750,000 litres annually.  Volumes produced will be in the order of 80% Springbank, 10% Longrow, 10% Hazelburn.

Each cask gets 3 fills for maturing whisky. ‘A’ casks are first fill, which will give the darkest finish to the whisky. B casks are on their second fill. C casks are on their third fill and will result in the lightest coloured whisky. Springbank is bottled at minimum 10 years maturation, using a blend of Springbank whisky, matured minimum 10 years in casks A to C.

There are 8 warehouses on site at Springbank distillery, 2 racked and 6 dunnage. Approximately 13,500 casks are maturing on site.

Springbank distillery do not chill-filter nor artificially colour any of their whiskies.

Accommodation Near Springbank Distillery

For accommodation recommendations see our Guide to Visiting Campbeltown.

References & Further Reading