Welcome back Ladies & Gentlemen. A few weeks ago I got this bottle on a very good price and the other day I found a sample of it which I must have bought when it was initially released into the market in 2022. I drank it and guess what, it was delicious. I think this whisky deserves a post of its own. Also I took the bottle out yesterday for a photoshoot and the pictures turned out quite nicely in my opinion. But let's see what is Hazelburn, who makes it and what does this whisky tastes like. Let's get into it.

A little history of Hazelburn distillery & Hazelburn Single Malt

Hazelburn distillery was a distillery in Campbeltown, Scotland, which was in operation between approximately 1825 and 1925.

By 1871 was owned by the Greenlees brothers of Lorne Highland Whisky who also owned Dalaruan and Lagavulin but by 1881 this had become the firm of Greenlees and Colvill. Also in 1881 Captain Samuel Greenlees bought out the partnership of Daniel Greenlees and also acquired the Moy estate.  

In 1886, it had 22 employees and produced 192,000 (726,800 liters) gallons of whisky per year, making it the largest distillery in the town. On 9 September 1893 Princess Helen of Waldeck and Pyrmont and family were on the Royal Yacht Victoria and Albert which arrived in Campbeltown Loch. They were given a tour of the distillery by Samuel Greenlees of Greenlees and Colvill Ltd. 

In 1921 Greenlees & Colvill Ltd went into liquidation and the distillery was offered for sale. It was bought by Mitchell & Co., but shut down in 1925 and demolished in 1926. Mitchell & Co. owned two other distilleries, including Springbank Distillery. 

Since 2005 Springbank Distillery bottles a whisky called Hazelburn Single Malt.

Hazelburn is produced at and by the Springbank distillery. This is one of the three Single Malts they produce. Springbank distillery produces three single malts with different characteristics. The Springbank which is two and a half times distilled and lightly peated, Longrow which is double distilled and heavily peated and Hazelburn which is triple distilled and unpeated.

Springbank distillery is a family-owned single malt whisky distillery on the Kintyre Peninsula in western Scotland.

It is owned by J & A Mitchell & Company, which also owns the Glengyle distillery, the oldest independent bottler, William Cadenheads, and several blended scotch labels. Licensed in 1828, Springbank is one of the last surviving producers of single malt whiskies in Campbeltown, an area that once had over thirty active distilleries. The majority of its distillate is bottled as a single malt, with a small percentage sold to larger blenders or ending up in one of J&A Mitchell's own blended scotch labels, such as Campbeltown Loch.

Springbank is the only Scottish distillery to perform every step in the whisky-making process, from Malting the barley to bottling the spirit. Several distilleries malt some percentage of their barley and source the balance from an industrial malting facility, such as Port Ellen; however, Springbank maintains a traditional malting floor that provides for 100% of their distillate.

Any bottle, bottled by Springbank distillery is very desireable and carries very high price and value on the secondary market.

Hazelburn 12 years old distilled 2010 - Natural Color, Non-chill filtered, 49.9%

"An unpeated 2010 Hazelburn single malt, released in early 2023, that was matured exclusively in oloroso sherry casks for 12 years, before being bottled in November 2022. The nose brings aromas of sea salt, dried fruits, raisins, dates and a rich earthiness, complemented by notes of liquorice, ginger, prunes, sticky caramel and vanilla on the palate. Lingering hints of Black Forest Gateau and brambles build in the finish. 1 of 9000 bottles"

Nose: A bit chaotic at the start. After leaving it in the glass for a few minutes, sweet and round aromas starts to rise such as milk chocolate and hazelnuts. Christmas spices. You can definitely feel that it is indeed Oloroso by its dry character. However it is very sweet and fruity at the same time. Dried figs, prunes and dates. Very malty and very "Campbeltown-y". Cherries with sugar and caramelized dark oranges with wet earth and a hint of brine. This is just an absolutely beautiful nose.

Taste: On the palate the aromas are just overflowing and at first you are left there in awe without a word to say. Grandma's fruit jam. Dark berries, raspberry and strawberries. Dark plums, figs and dates. Milk chocolate and a very round malty base. Spices such as cinnamon and cardamom. Oranges, a hint of salt and again that wet earth that is part of the Campbeltown DNA, the Campbeltown funk. The mouthfeel is very thick, syrupy, round and dry but sweet at the same time. This is a stellar quality dram. I can't emphasize how deep, complex and tasty this is.

Finish: The finish is very long and round. The ABV is very well integrated and it doesn't bother me at any point in the tasting. This is a very well put together whisky. Sweet and dry with forest fruits and dried figs and raisins.

One thing to note is that this is lacking the Springbank distillery DNA a bit. Perhaps the casks were very or even too active and those took away from the originality of this whisky. However put aside this and just enjoy this thing of beauty. If you can get this for the RRP I would say get it but please, for the love of God don't pay the secondary price because it is just insane. If we keep buying these bottles for secondary prices, they will never come down in price. We have to resist and perhaps when the sellers can't sell they might lower the prices we never know. This is one of the best whisky I've had in 2024 so far. 91 / 100

I have had a photoshoot of a few of my Bushmills bottles and created a reel of it on Instagram. Make sure to check it out HERE. Also check out my reel of all the whiskies I have reviewed so far HERE.

Follow me on Instagram for more pictures and stories, and to get notified of my new articles, content there as soon as possible. HERE.

Check out the points on all the whiskies I've rated and ranked head-to-head over HERE.

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. To many more. Sláinte.