End Date : Apr 01 2026 08:19 PM
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Springbank 21 Year Old. Bottled circa 1990. Archibald Mitchell label. 75cl. 46%. In presentation box.
The rarely-seen Archibald Mitchell Springbank 21-year-old was a short-lived edition bottled between the mid-to-late 1980s and the very early 1990s and was one of the first Springbanks with the dumpy bottle and ‘parchment’ label presentation. Archibald Mitchell was the original illicit distiller on the site where the Springbank distillery was founded in 1828 by William Reid (who was an in-law of the Mitchell family). Archibald’s sons John and William Mitchell bought Springbank in 1837 and the distillery has remained in their family ever since. Despite being distilled in the golden era of the late 1960s or very early 1970s, these paler 21-year-old Springbanks are often underrated - although there is still plenty of sherry influence evident on the palate. An elegant, mesmerising old beauty.
Springbank is one of the giants of the Scotch whisky world, an independently-owned distillery dedicated to preserving the traditional methods of distillation. For a long time Springbank was flying the flag for Campbeltown whisky almost alone but the distillery’s fortunes have improved since the 1990s, and in 2000 Springbank expanded their operations with the purchase and subsequent reconstruction of the Glengyle distillery, home of Kilkerran.
The Springbank distillery produces three distinct single malt whiskies, with the regular lightly-peated Springbank malt complemented by the heavily-peated Longrow and the unpeated, triple-distilled Hazelburn. Of these secondary malts, Longrow has a longer history and more passionate fanbase, with the 1973/74 vintages in particular attracting eye-catching prices at auction. The standard Springbank spirit remains one of Scotland’s greatest whiskies, and auction prices for old bottles continue to rise.
Distillery bottlings are, as the name suggests, bottled by or for the distillery from which the whisky has originated and are thus often referred to as Official Bottlings or OBs. Distillery bottlings are generally more desirable for collectors and usually fetch higher prices at auction than independent bottlings. They are officially-endorsed versions of the whisky from a particular distillery and are therefore considered the truest expression of the distillery’s character.
This ideal of the distillery character is regarded so seriously by the distilleries and brand owners that casks of whisky that are considered to vary too far from the archetype are frequently sold on to whisky brokers and independent bottlers. When this happens, it is often with the proviso that the distillery’s name is not allowed to be used when the cask is bottled for fear of diminishing or damaging the distillery’s character and status.
| BID | DATE | TIME | |
|---|---|---|---|
| £825.00 | 1st April 2026 | 08:09 PM | |
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