BLOG 14 Kintyre - West Coast; Campbeltown & Springbank Distillery

After our detour to Blackford, we head back west - the Kintyre Peninsula is our destination. We were here on our first trip to Scotland as young students 45 years ago, back then in Gerhard's parents' VW camper van.

Kintyre is not a well-known tourist destination but has two highlights for us: back then the song 'Mull of Kintyre' by Paul McCartney & Wings and today the history as one of the former strongholds of whisky distilleries in Scotland.

First it's 250km across country and mountains to Muasdale Holiday Park on the west coast of Kintyre. Despite the somewhat pompous name, it is a small campsite with only 10 pitches and a few fixed caravans, but beautifully situated right on the coast. Here we have the opportunity to relax a bit and enjoy the landscape - the temperature test of the water by Cosima (estimated 10 to 12 degrees) makes us refrain from a swim, although a few SU paddlers are on the way....

It then continues about 25 km to the capital Campbeltown. We save ourselves the long and quite tedious drive to the southern tip - the 'Mull of Kintyre', we were already there then - at that time it was no problem to spend the night in a VW bus - today it is forbidden and our mobile home is not really ideal at the very narrow streets.

Fortunately, we quickly find a parking space at the harbor in Campbeltown. Today's main destination, the Whisky Distillery Springbank, is in the middle of the city and has a parking space, but the narrow access lane keeps us from using it. So, as the weather is beautiful again and it's a pleasant 21 degrees, we walk through the streets of Campbeltown to our tour of the distillery.

Springbank Distillery with the Glengyle branch is, along with Glen Scotia, one of the remaining distilleries in the Campbeltown whisky region, which used to have around 30 distilleries. Springbank has been owned by the Mitchell family since 1837 and has retained its independence until today. At the same time, it is one of the few distilleries that produce more than one single malt - in addition to Springbank, they also have Longrow and, since the end of 1997, Hazelburn are also distilled here. These are named after the former Hazelburn (closed 1925) and Longrow distilleries (closed 1896) – all with quite different characters.

The distillery was founded by the Reid family in 1828, making it the fourteenth documented in Campbeltown. In 1837 the license to distil whisky was acquired. When Prohibition began in the United States in 1920, distilleries (not only) in Scotland suffered greatly from the slump in sales. Most of the more than 20 distilleries that existed on Kintyre at the time had to cease operations in the following years, and Springbank was also unable to produce from 1926 to 1935.

In today's world, the still high level of manual work at Springbank is quite unusual. While other whisky producers have largely automated production, Springbank is often referred to as a 'living museum'. There is not a single computer in production, and it involves many manual steps. Springbank employs far more people in production than e.g. the much larger distillery Glenfiddich.

What is also unusual about the Springbank distillation is that the tailings from the first still are collected and distilled three times, while the remainder is distilled only twice. Therefore, one usually speaks of two and a half times distillation. The malt used comes (as with Longrow and Hazelburn) exclusively from their own malthouse - making Springbank the only distillery in Scotland to carry out all production steps in-house still today.

The tour is very personal and, in contrast to the other distilleries, you can take photos and touch everything. Our guide was also quite funny and friendly. For us it was the best of three guided visits to distilleries. Highly recommended!

After the 'exhausting' tour and tasting, we strengthen ourselves in what is said to be the best restaurant in Campbeltown, the 'Number Forty - Two'. Cosima's fish is very good and Gerhard’s Fish Curry could be from India, but the chief is from Poland…

On the way back to the car at the port, we stop by the 'Lady Linda McCartney Memorial Garden' at the Burnet Building - so to speak, in preparation for the next day,

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After our detour to Blackford, we head back west - the Kintyre Peninsula is our destination. We were here on our first trip to Scotland as young students 45 years ago, back then in Gerhard's parents' VW camper van.

Kintyre is not a well-known tourist destination but has two highlights for us: back then the song 'Mull of Kintyre' by Paul McCartney & Wings and today the history as one of the former strongholds of whisky distilleries in Scotland.

First it's 250km across country and mountains to Muasdale Holiday Park on the west coast of Kintyre. Despite the somewhat pompous name, it is a small campsite with only 10 pitches and a few fixed caravans, but beautifully situated right on the coast. Here we have the opportunity to relax a bit and enjoy the landscape - the temperature test of the water by Cosima (estimated 10 to 12 degrees) makes us refrain from a swim, although a few SU paddlers are on the way....

It then continues about 25 km to the capital Campbeltown. We save ourselves the long and quite tedious drive to the southern tip - the 'Mull of Kintyre', we were already there then - at that time it was no problem to spend the night in a VW bus - today it is forbidden and our mobile home is not really ideal at the very narrow streets.

Fortunately, we quickly find a parking space at the harbor in Campbeltown. Today's main destination, the Whisky Distillery Springbank, is in the middle of the city and has a parking space, but the narrow access lane keeps us from using it. So, as the weather is beautiful again and it's a pleasant 21 degrees, we walk through the streets of Campbeltown to our tour of the distillery.

Springbank Distillery with the Glengyle branch is, along with Glen Scotia, one of the remaining distilleries in the Campbeltown whisky region, which used to have around 30 distilleries. Springbank has been owned by the Mitchell family since 1837 and has retained its independence until today. At the same time, it is one of the few distilleries that produce more than one single malt - in addition to Springbank, they also have Longrow and, since the end of 1997, Hazelburn are also distilled here. These are named after the former Hazelburn (closed 1925) and Longrow distilleries (closed 1896) – all with quite different characters.

The distillery was founded by the Reid family in 1828, making it the fourteenth documented in Campbeltown. In 1837 the license to distil whisky was acquired. When Prohibition began in the United States in 1920, distilleries (not only) in Scotland suffered greatly from the slump in sales. Most of the more than 20 distilleries that existed on Kintyre at the time had to cease operations in the following years, and Springbank was also unable to produce from 1926 to 1935.

In today's world, the still high level of manual work at Springbank is quite unusual. While other whisky producers have largely automated production, Springbank is often referred to as a 'living museum'. There is not a single computer in production, and it involves many manual steps. Springbank employs far more people in production than e.g. the much larger distillery Glenfiddich.

What is also unusual about the Springbank distillation is that the tailings from the first still are collected and distilled three times, while the remainder is distilled only twice. Therefore, one usually speaks of two and a half times distillation. The malt used comes (as with Longrow and Hazelburn) exclusively from their own malthouse - making Springbank the only distillery in Scotland to carry out all production steps in-house still today.

The tour is very personal and, in contrast to the other distilleries, you can take photos and touch everything. Our guide was also quite funny and friendly. For us it was the best of three guided visits to distilleries. Highly recommended!

After the 'exhausting' tour and tasting, we strengthen ourselves in what is said to be the best restaurant in Campbeltown, the 'Number Forty - Two'. Cosima's fish is very good and Gerhard’s Fish Curry could be from India, but the chief is from Poland…

On the way back to the car at the port, we stop by the 'Lady Linda McCartney Memorial Garden' at the Burnet Building - so to speak, in preparation for the next day,