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Next Auction starts Friday 29 March. Bottle Deadline: 18 March.

Springbank 1919 50 Year Old

Lot: 259598

Springbank 1919 50 Year Old

Winning Bid: £16,200
(Reserve has been met) This lot currently has: 45 bids

Currency Estimate

Important: Currency exchange rates are constantly changing; this feature is to be used as a guide price only. All final transactions occur in British Pounds (£).
Lot:
Distillery: 
Springbank
Age: 
50 year old
Vintage: 
1919
Region: 
Campbeltown
Bottler: 
Official
Cask Type: 
N/A
Bottled Strength: 
66.3 proof
Bottle Size: 
26 2/3 fl oz
Distillery Status: 
Operational
product Details

Springbank 1919 50 Year Old 

If you had propositioned the rarity of this whisky at the time when it was distilled, you would find have found few who would entertain such a fanciful notion. Although 1919 was approaching the end of the Campbeltown distilling heyday, it was still very much a powerhouse region in its prime. When Alfred Barnard visited Campbeltown in 1885, he counted no fewer than 21 distilleries, all but one of which were in the town itself.

Sadly this was not to last. Campbeltown had once thrived on its perfect cocktail of proximity to coal, a good water source and fertile barley farms, all within an 8 mile radius. Its coastal location on the Kintyre peninsula also served it lavishly, allowing easy import of peat and barley from the Western Isles and Ireland, and an unrivalled proximity to export markets in the US. Sadly, this latter hand was to take back all that it had given. So strong was the Campbeltown distilling industry that it was able to survive the enforced closures of the first world war, but it was no match for Prohibition, a two-headed snake that eliminated both a key market, but perhaps crucially, a supply of used bourbon casks.

The Volstead Act of 1920, which banned the production, sale and consumption of alcohol in the US, partnered with the closure of the Drumlemble coal mine and a loss of favour among blenders for the traditional Campbeltown whisky character, created a perfect storm which saw off 17 of the region’s distilleries in the 1920s.

Springbank, thankfully, was one of the two eventual survivors. While the distillery today reserves all of its production for single malt, this was not always the case, and it is close to miraculous that a vintage like this was still warehoused by the time it was bottled in 1970. This whisky survived not only a long period where the single malt category was an unfashionable corner of whisky, but an era when its entire industry seemed to be collapsing around it, seeing more whisky dumped into Campbeltown Loch than actually bottled. With a 10 year old age-statement this would have been impressive, at 50 years old this is unprecedented.

This is the original "pear-shaped" bottle release of the 1919 vintage. It was later rebottled in the late 1970s and early 1980s as the equally illusive release which once held the Guinness world record for most expensive bottle of whisky.

Widely misdescribed as 43%ABV (including on the import sticker here), this is known to be bottled at 66.3 proof.

Important Notice

We would recommend viewing/close inspection prior to placing any bids. If this is not an option and you have questions beyond the offered description and images, please contact us for a more in-depth condition report. Otherwise lots will be sold as seen in the images.

Please note: Due to the various ages of bottles and their seals, condition of liquid is at the buyer's discretion and no claim can be lodged against failure/leakage in transit.