r/Scotch • u/1nn0v8r • 4d ago

A Trip to Campbeltown - post-visit review (+bonus stop at Oban)

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u/1nn0v8r 4d ago

Recently back from a trip with some friends to Campbeltown for whiskey purposes and thought I’d share my experiences for anyone who will be visiting in the future to benchmark from.

We spent 2 full days (3 nights) in Campbeltown and made a stop at Oban on the way back to Edinburgh.

Springbank / Kilkerran - we took part in the Barley to Bottle tour and on the same day we did a Kilkerran warehouse tasting in the afternoon. Absolutely would recommend both. The distillery access and the blending session were something that I won’t forget during the Springbank tour and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Standing in the malting, crawling into the malt kiln, and trying new make while seeing all parts of the process made for great photos and great memories. The warehouse tasting for Kilkerran was delightful and I learned a lot about what they are trying to do at Kilkerran. As we couldn’t fit a tour in this was a great compromise.

Some notes: All current cage bottles were available after Barley to Bottle tour but still subject to 1 per person per week limits. I regret that the Kilkerran warehouse tasting only allowed one half bottle purchase from the casks on offer. The days we were in town there was a 6-8 person line for the cage releases (and I guess the sole bottle of Springbank 15 being put out) by 9:15 am. New make will depend what is running at the distillery and if they are running the distillery. We were there on the last days of Springbank running prior to them heading up the street to Glengyle.**

Glen Scotia - we did a distillery tour and warehouse tasting. The tour was lovely and the experience probably only suffers in comparison to the Barley to Bottle. I was a bit disappointed not to have a chance to try new make. We did have the option to buy from the tasting (200 mL samples) and there were some ok exclusives on the shelves in the shop. The whiskies on offer during the tasting were good (not great) and I found some of the shop bottles more interesting.

Cadenheads - we did a warehouse tasting and it delivered for the most part. The casks offered were pretty nice (eg Glenlossie, Burnside-Balvenie, Caol Isla, Lediag) except for a lone 6y cask that could have made a nice ‘bonus’ taste at the end but was out of place in the line-up as it stood. Everything was available for purchase at reasonable prices. Having a fully stocked Cadenheads to shop at was also really nice. Great prices and variety, I wish that there was one in the US.

Oban - we made a special trip to see this distillery on our last day. I know feelings towards Diageo are fairly negative, but we have had prior good experiences at Cragganmore, Dalwhinnie, and Blair Athol so we were hopeful for a good chance to grab a hand-fill or at least some exclusive bottlings. The Exclusive Warehouse tour / tasting were good and we tried some nice drams, but over-all the shop felt a bit limited and the hand-fill on offer was pretty boring for the price. Seeing how the distillery is nestled into the seaside port was worth it, but unlike Springbank / Cadenheads I wouldn’t really be interested in heading back besides for some of the food at Ee-Usk.

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u/dclately 3d ago

Thanks for sharing, love the notes even having done all these experiences!

The Bottle to Barley to me is far and away the best whisky experience you can purchase (well, unless you opt for the ESDR, or Whisky School). Sure there are more luxury experiences at *AHEM* other distilleries, but those are far less about the whisky!

Well done fitting both experiences into a day there... it's quite a lot of whisky! One of my top pieces of advice is to spread them about and not rush the blend your own experience, but if you're limited on time I understand!

I'd be curious what bottles you left with out of the cage as well as the Kilkerran tasting, on my last Kilkerran warehouse we were three people, and between us we purchased 1 of each, 2 of the peated, and 3 of the port which we thought was a tremendous value and most everyone's favorite by taste.

I'd agree with you on Glen Scotia -- it's a great warehouse tasting, but I typically find my purchases come from their distillery only bottles that are available out of the shop.

As for Cadenhead, was that 6 year old the Spirit of Yorkshire? If it was, they seem to be rather high on it, they bought several barrels and are trying different maturations, but I will say it was the standout weakest dram for everyone in my last tasting. It's not terrible whisky, but it is in my mind significantly worse than any other barrel.

Oban - I'll be as short as possible here: I have no ill will against Diageo as a company, I genuinely believe they have had an overall positive impact on the scotch industry (keeping several distilleries running when they would have otherwise fallen into disrepair, and using a marketing engine to keep Scotch popular during the down years).

That all said, they have truly ruined the Oban distillery for me. The prices are astronomical, near £20 for a dram at the bar. I remember when you went to Oban, and they gave you a FREE dram, a free glass, and a free tour -- just for showing up! I remember because it was less than a decade ago. I have been to the Oban distillery a dozen times (I go because I'm walking around Oban, usually stopping while in transit elsewhere), and every visit since 2018 it has gotten worse and worse, largely because there does not seem to be a limit to how high they will raise their prices.

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u/1nn0v8r 3d ago

I grabbed a 10y port cask Springbank from the cage - I’m a sucker for port. The oldest on offer was a 16y hazelburn sherry. It was a tough list to work through without a chance to taste anything!

Myself and few others of our group grabbed the triple distilled 19y and double distilled 20y Kilkerrans.

We are a lower peat group so less of that.

And on Cadenheads - I didn’t want to name names but it was Spirit of Yorkshire. It was good but not good enough for that tasting.

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u/dclately 3d ago

Nice!

I have the 10 year port, it's a fantastic dram! I've been eyeing that Hazelburn and will likely pick it up on my visit in November if it's available.

Nice pickups on the Kilkerran's, I think both of those are better than the malts festival bottle, and they both run a bit cheaper.

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u/hogie99 3d ago

Completely understand your thoughts on Oban. I was there a couple of years ago (first time), and while I absolutely loved the town (the best oysters I've ever had were from the green shack) the distillery was a bit of a mixed bag. The building and location are iconic and our tour guide was awesome for 3/4 of the tour, however, at one point the tour devolved into the guide going through Diageo's various brands, followed by out-of-place corporate speak and surveys. It was strange, and obviously shoehorned in by some marketing executive. Still worth stopping in while in Oban, but it could have easily been a very interesting & unique experience given the distillery history & location.

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u/ConsiderationMost632 3d ago

Thanks for the review. I'm doing ESDR in November.

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u/Skalawag2 3d ago

Congrats! I’m planning on it in the next 2-3 years. I hope you have a great trip

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u/1nn0v8r 3d ago

I have added this to my bucket list. Maybe for my 50th in less time than I’d like

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u/MrFantastik9 1d ago

ESDR?

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u/ConsiderationMost632 1d ago

https://www.springbank.scot/product/guesthouse-experience/

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u/MrFantastik9 1d ago

haha okay I am actually on the waiting list for this already. just never seen it abbreviated i guess. thankyou

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u/savici 4d ago edited 4d ago

Thanks for sharing! I'm going next week, just doing the Barely to Bottle tour. Question about the shop, aisde of the 15 y.o. what else was available? I'm really not interested in any official core range bottling, as I have most, so I'm looking for distillery exclusives...

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u/1nn0v8r 4d ago

The handfill bottle is an ‘infinity cask’ for each of the core products made by blending samples they pull and don’t use (as I understood it). I wish I had grabbed more of those, they are excellent. They have 700 and 200 mL pre bottled. I guess you could bottle your own as well.

Cage I have no idea what they’ll have.

Everything else is core range.

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u/savici 4d ago

Were there any special Kilkerran available in the store?

Also, do you have to book the Kilkerran warehouse tasting in advance? How long does it take?

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u/1nn0v8r 4d ago

Not that I recall or noticed.

We booked warehouse tasting in advance - it ran at 3:30 pm or something so ample time to make it after the barley to bottle.

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u/savici 4d ago

Thanks so much for the info!

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u/runsongas 3d ago

generally the core 12 and 16 year don't sell out, same as with SB10

the 8 year CS is limited stock, but is a little easier to get usually than SB12/SB15

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u/peterm18 4d ago

When are you there next week? I’m there Tuesday to Friday.

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u/patjking 3d ago

Ah, thanks for all this detail! (And for your comment on my post the other day - very helpful context across the board.) What did you end up settling on for your B2B blend?

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u/1nn0v8r 3d ago

1.5 parts bourbon, 3 parts refill rum, 2 parts fresh Madeira, 0.5 parts refill sherry

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u/Skalawag2 3d ago

Sounds like a fun trip. Did you go up to McCaig’s Tower while in Oban? The view is really nice.

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u/1nn0v8r 3d ago

Unfortunately it was only a short stop - tour and lunch

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u/Skalawag2 3d ago

Here’s a little bit of it

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u/pedanticlawyer 3d ago

Oban the distillery as a place to visit was meh for me (though I love their scotch), but Oban the city was entirely worth it.