Hazelburn is the unpeated, triple-distilled spirit produced at Springbank distillery — one of three distinct whiskies (alongside Springbank itself and the heavily peated Longrow) made on the same equipment by the same team. The name is borrowed from a long-closed Campbeltown distillery that once stood nearby, a small act of remembrance for a town that lost more than two dozen distilleries in the early twentieth century.
Where Springbank is two-and-a-half times distilled and Longrow is double-distilled with heavily peated malt, Hazelburn takes the third path: triple distillation, no peat, a deliberately lighter and more delicate spirit. It is the closest Springbank comes to a Lowland or Irish style, though the distillery's worm tubs and dunnage warehouses ensure it never quite loses its Campbeltown weight.
The 14 Year Old is typically finished or fully matured in oloroso sherry casks — a useful pairing, since the rich nuttiness of oloroso fills out Hazelburn's lighter frame without overwhelming it. Bottled at 47.8% and non-chill-filtered, it has the texture and integrity that mark all Springbank-made whiskies, and the gentle marriage of honeyed barley and dried fruit makes it one of the easier introductions to the distillery's work.
If Springbank is the muscular older sibling and Longrow the smoke-stained middle child, Hazelburn is the quiet one in the corner — and worth seeking out for exactly that reason. It rewards a slow evening and an unfussy glass.
