With the distillery established in1828, Springbank Ten is distilled at J & A Mitchell & Co in Campbeltown and is a Speyside whisky. Springbank Ten is matured for over ten years in quite rare distillery where every part of the process from malting to bottling is carried out at the distillery. This single malt whisky is matured in a mixture of both bourbon and sherry casks and is not chill-filtered which means it's also free from artificial colouring.
Whilst bourbon casks are mainly used for maturation, allowing the distillery character to shine through, a number of sherry casks are also used for added body. The light colour of this malt belies the richness of its character. Whilst the nose suggests a wide range of aromas, from citrus fruits to pears and a hint of peat, the palate excites even further with touches of smoke, vanilla essence, nutmeg, cinnamon and the salty tang we have come to expect from Springbank. (Distillery Notes) "Gold color, fresh sea breeze aroma, with vanilla and delicately soft fruit. Medium body. Appetizing, exciting flavors of vanilla, toffee, brine and subtle note of coconut and spearmint. Long teasing finish." - The Malt Advocate.
Established in 1828 on the site of Archibald Mitchell's illicit still, it is the oldest independent family owned distillery in Scotland. The Springbank Distillery is now in the hands of his great great great grand son, Hedley G. Wright.
The distillery actually produces 3 different malts Springbank, Longrow and Hazelburn. Springbank is distilled two and a half times. The malt is dried for only 6 hours above a peat fire, then for 24 hours by warm air. The result is a less peaty malt than your normal Campbeltown malt. Springbank is one of just two distilleries that bottle their whiskies at the source, using the original water for the reduction to bottling strength (when they reduce at all). Glenfiddich is the only other.
Every drop of whisky made at Springbank is sold as single malt. It is bottled at many different ages, and with many different finishes. It is quite a unique whisky from a unique distillery.
The next Real Ale Trails is on Saturday 7th September!
There are only 1,000 tickets for sale so be sure to keep watching for them to come on sale in August! The Real Ale Trail is a bus based beer festival running from Mold and up onto Halkyn Mountain. Now better than ever with an increased number of buses and tickets limited to 1,000 to aim at RAT Shuttle buses operating four times an hour at each pub between 11am and 11pm. See what journalist Rhodri Clark of Wales On Sunday had to say in the Daily Post about our last September RAT run!
Ten pubs will be en-route providing a wide variety of real ales, other refreshments and some entertainment.
A RAT Shuttle Bus Pass will allow you to use the special buses all day. There will be pick-up points in Mold (at the back of the Gold Cape which is the Wetherspoons pub in Mold).
Travel details to the start point in Mold can be got from Traveline.
Hailing from North Wales, David Burton is an accomplished songwriter and instrumentalist who has composed many thought-provoking and foot tapping songs.
This month we have another talented bunch and as usual Dave will be doing his stunning guitar thing...
Having performed solo and with his band up and down the country for over ten years David has supported fine artists such as Eric Roche and also played backup guitar for numerous talented singer songwriters including a stint with Duffy.
Over time he has honed a unique fusion of jazz, rock and folk known as fraz. His virtuoso guitar skills leave audiences open-mouthed as he performs his own compositions whilst also playing tribute to the work of acoustic guitar heroes such as John Renbourn, Bert Jansch and Pierre Bensusan.
Here's a bit from Dave to keep you going...
Like all of the music here at the Blue Bell Inn, it's a lovely sound and we would love to see you at the next one! Dave Burton, here every 2nd Saturday each month from 8ish.
Our traditional singing night is probably the busiest and most fun night of the week and Roger Hampson is at the keyboards, every Friday night.
Roger starts off next week at about 9pm, has a break around 10pm before we start again and we finish at around midnight. You can sit and listen, join in from your seat or get up and take the microphone.
This isn't karaoke, this is for grown ups, just like we used to do it years ago, a really good old fashioned singing night!
The Rantin' Dogs - a fantastic sounding folk quartet (look I know there are 5 in the picture, they're the two either side of centre!), Steve, Dugie, Mark & Michael would like to let you know that they rehearse and play here every 2nd Monday each month from 9ish (after the Welsh class), playing traditional acoustic folk with a Celtic leaning.
Note that the Rantin' Dogs will be here a week early in December on Monday 3rd.
Check out where they got their unusual name from here cos there's no ranting with this group, like all the music here at the Blue Bell Inn, it's a lovely sound.
