The equipment at Springbank remains firmly traditional, featuring an old Boby mill, an open-top cast-iron mash tun, wooden washbacks made from boatskin larch, and three stills—one with direct fire, and another with a worm tub.
The malt is processed in three distinct ways to create three unique whiskies: Springbank, which is medium-peated; Longrow, which is heavily peated; and Hazelburn, which is unpeated. Fermentation times are very long, exceeding 100 hours, with low-gravities, resulting in a low-strength wash and high ester levels. This fruity wash is distilled differently depending on the whisky being produced.
Springbank undergoes partial triple distillation. The wash still, which is direct-fired, produces low wines. The strongest portion is sent to the spirit still charger, while the rest is redistilled in the intermediate still, which has a worm tub, and combined with heads and tails in the feints receiver.
This mixture constitutes 80% of the final charge, with the strongest low wines making up the remaining 20%. The result is a complex new make spirit, collected at an average strength of 71-72%, offering light smokiness, oiliness, fruitiness, and a delicate yet powerful fragrance.
Longrow, by contrast, is heavier and smokier. The malted barley and distillation in the direct-fired wash still and the spirit still with the worm tub contribute to this. It is collected at a lower strength of 68%, compared to Springbank.
Hazelburn follows a standard triple distillation process and is collected at a higher strength of 74-76% ABV.
All three whiskies mature in a variety of casks, including standard ex-Bourbon, ex-Sherry, and refill casks, as well as other types such as wine and rum casks, and in different sizes, like 60-litre rundlets and 50-litre kilderkins.
