It’s always nice meeting a good whisky friend, especially Jorn who’s a real whisky lover and a good friend. Last time he visited Israel, we could not meet due to schedule issues, but this time we arranged to meet and share some beer and drams. We set to meet at one of Israel’s best pubs (in my opinion) and Israel’s #1 whisky bar, by far. We had a couple of Israeli boutique beers, and then shared a Balvenie 17 peated cask, and then an unusual Bruichladdich finished in “Kosher” Carmel wine barrels, offered to us by the barman. Jorn brought over a wee sample of a very old cask strength 40 year old Glenfarclas , and this bottle of his. If you remember, I really liked the sister cask of this one , which was matured in Ex-Bourbon, and was eager to try the sherry cask counterpart. Between drams, Jorn told me of his whisky plans for the coming months ( a few visits to Scotland) and also about a very interesting journey he’s about to go on in the coming months, I guess i will write about that in a separate post, when he starts his journey.
As you can imagine, this Springer finished in a fresh sherry butt, is awesome, and I’m really debating with myself, which is 
better…
This lovely cask was filled 15/10/1999 and bottled 28/8/2008, so it’s basically 9 years of age.
Springbank Sherry cask 332 vintage 1999 , 58.6% ABV , 120 btl
Nose : Big sherry and winy stuff. Lots of prunes Jam. Smoke and sea spray. Brine. Cinnamon. Wood and leather. a really lovely nose, and a tad better even than the ex-bourbon nose. All you can ask for in a springer. really. and then some more.
Mouth: Lots of smoke and leather. Peat, plum marmalade , turning bitter with espresso. Burnt sugar. Sea brine. Indeed much more peat than you would get in OB springbanks, and for a peat lover with a a sweet spot for wine, it’s perfect.
Finish: Smoke. Dark chocolate. Brine. distant traces of prune juice.
A real cracker. complex, strong, thick and rewarding. A turbo charged Springbank.I think it’s maybe a point better than the ex-bourbon, if you are a sherry head. and I am. An A+ in by book.
Score: 91/100
Many thanks to Jorn for this one!