Springbank Distillery: History, Owner, Range and Visitor Guide
Updated: 2 days ago
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Springbank at a glance
Distillery fact | Verified detail |
|---|---|
Region | Campbeltown, Scotland |
Ownership | J&A Mitchell & Co |
History | Licensed 1828; family ownership since 1830s |
Whisky and production | Three whisky styles: Springbank, Longrow and Hazelburn |
Named expressions | Springbank 10 Year Old, Springbank 15 Year Old, Longrow Peated |
Visits | Verify public access, current tours and opening times with the distillery before travelling. |
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Springbank is a family-owned single malt distillery on the Kintyre peninsula in western Scotland. It is one of the last survivors of Campbeltown, an area that once had more than thirty active distilleries. This guide covers its history, owner, process, range and the questions people ask most.
Where is Springbank Distillery?
Springbank is in Campbeltown on the Kintyre peninsula in western Scotland.
Springbank history
Springbank was established by the Reid brothers and licensed in 1828. They sold it in 1837 to John and William Mitchell, and the business later became J&A Mitchell after John Mitchell's son joined. The partnership was dissolved in 1872, when John Mitchell bought the distillery for £5,055 and William Mitchell built the Glengyle distillery.
A storm in December 1883 collapsed the distillery chimneys, and another in 1904 tore part of the tun room roof off. The distillery shut temporarily in 1926 because of the effects of Prohibition in the United States and began operating again in 1936. It closed in 1979 because of the poor state of the UK economy and reopened in 1989. Hazelburn was distilled for the first time in 1997.
Who owns Springbank?
Springbank is owned by J&A Mitchell and Company, which also owns the Glengyle distillery, the independent bottler William Cadenhead and several blended Scotch labels.
How Springbank is made
Springbank is the only Scottish distillery to perform every step of whisky making, from malting the barley to bottling the spirit. It keeps a traditional malting floor that supplies 100% of its distillate. The barley is dried using peat from Islay for different lengths of time.
Hazelburn: 30 hours of hot air, unpeated, triple distilled.
Longrow: 48 hours of peat smoke, heavily peated, double distilled.
Springbank: 6 hours of peat smoke and 30 hours of hot air, medium peated, distilled two and a half times.
Mash tun: cast iron and open topped.
Washbacks: six boatskin larch washbacks, fermenting for 72 to 110 hours.
Stills: one wash still (10,000 litres) and two spirit stills (6,000 litres), one direct fired and two steam heated.
Condensers: traditional worm tubs.
Water source: Crosshill Loch.
Capacity: 750,000 litres a year.
Casks: mainly ex-bourbon and ex-sherry, with wine, rum and Calvados casks also used.
None of the malts is chill filtered, and none contains colouring such as caramel E150.
Springbank range
Springbank
Springbank 10 Year Old
Springbank 12 Year Old cask strength, released annually and slightly different each year
Springbank 15 Year Old
Springbank 18 Year Old
Springbank 21 Year Old
Longrow
Highly peated and double distilled, named after a mothballed distillery of the same name. The standard bottling carries no age statement, and an 18 Year Old also features. The annual Red edition uses a different wine cask each year. Longrow won Best Campbeltown Single Malt at the 2013 World Whiskies Awards.
Hazelburn
Unpeated and triple distilled, first distilled in 1997 and named after a discontinued distillery near Springbank. It is bottled as a 10 Year Old, and a 12 Year Old was released in 2009.
Interesting facts about Springbank
Hazelburn leaves the still at 74 to 76% ABV, Springbank at around 71 to 72% and Longrow at 68%.
In 1993 it was revealed that Springbank supplied the miniature whisky bottles sold at Balmoral Castle.
Official website
Visit the official Springbank website
Springbank timeline
1828: William Reid takes out a licence for Springbank
1837: Reid sells to his in-laws John and William Mitchell
1872: William Mitchell leaves and John's son Alexander joins
1897: J&A Mitchell and Company founded
1926: distillery closes
1933: back in production
1960: floor maltings close
1969: J&A Mitchell buys the independent bottler Cadenhead
1979 to 1987: mothballed, then a limited run
1992: floor maltings reinstated
1997: first run of the malt that becomes Hazelburn
1999: Dha Mhile, billed as the world's first organic single malt, launched
Dates are from ScotchWhisky.com Whiskypedia. Sources differ on the founding story. Whiskypedia credits William Reid with the 1828 licence, our earlier source says the Reid brothers, and The Single Cask names Archibald Mitchell's illicit still on the site. Whiskypedia says William Mitchell left in 1872 to join his brothers at Riechlachan, while The Single Cask and Scottish Delight say he left after a family quarrel over sheep and went on to found Glengyle. The Single Cask says the closure ran from the late 1920s to the mid 1930s.
Campbeltown's decline
Whiskypedia says Campbeltown reached 35 distilleries at its peak, helped by a fast sea route to Glasgow and a small coal seam at Machrihanish. It says only Springbank, Glen Scotia and Hazelburn survived the 1920s collapse, and by the 1960s only Springbank and Glen Scotia were left. The Single Cask says only Springbank and Glen Scotia came through and speaks of more than thirty distilleries. Treat the exact counts as approximate.
Equipment and numbers
Whiskypedia describes an old Boby mill, an open top cast iron mash tun, six boatskin larch washbacks of 25,000 litres and three stills. The wash still is 16,000 litres in size with a 10,500 litre charge, and the spirit still is 12,274 litres with a 7,100 litre charge. The wash still is heated by direct fire as well as steam kettles. Fermentation runs 72 to 110 hours and capacity is listed at 0.75 million litres a year. Water comes from Crosshill Loch.
Malt specifications listed there are Springbank at 8 to 10 ppm, Longrow at 50 ppm and Hazelburn unpeated. The Single Cask describes the Springbank kiln schedule as about six hours of peat smoke, and Longrow as about 48 hours of peat. These measure different things, so do not compare them directly.
Three styles, three distillation regimes
Springbank is partly triple distilled. Whiskypedia explains that stronger low wines go 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 from the spirit still. That mix makes up 80 per cent of the final charge. New-make is collected at about 71 to 72 per cent. Longrow is collected at 68 per cent, and Hazelburn is triple distilled and collected at 74 to 76 per cent. Casks include ex-bourbon, ex-sherry, wine and rum, plus 60 litre rundlets and 50 litre kilderkins.
The family firm
Whiskypedia credits Hedley Wright, a descendant of the Mitchells, with ending sales to blenders after the 1987 reopening to focus on single malt. The Single Cask says Wright chaired J&A Mitchell for over sixty years and died in 2023 aged 92, and that the company also owns Glengyle and Cadenhead. Confirm the current leadership before publishing.
Visiting
Whiskypedia gives the address as 85 Longrow, Campbeltown, PA28 6ET and says to contact the distillery for opening hours. The Single Cask describes tours of the working floor maltings, tastings and a whisky school, and the Campbeltown Malts Festival each May. It also mentions a countdown to the 200th anniversary in 2028. Book ahead and check the official site.
2026 whisky awards, releases and international availability
Springbank's official 'Where to Buy' directory lists distribution contacts for Australia and Canada, including province-specific channels such as Ontario's LCBO and Quebec's SAQ, and for European markets such as Austria, Belgium and the Czech Republic. Availability of the 10 Year Old, 15 Year Old and limited single casks can vary markedly; use the official distributors list rather than assuming a bottle can be shipped internationally.
Photo credits
What makes Springbank distinctive?
Three whisky styles: Springbank, Longrow and Hazelburn
Springbank whisky bottle and expression comparison
Bottle / expression | Age | ABV | Cask maturation / notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Springbank 10 Year Old | 10 years | Check bottle | Three whisky styles: Springbank, Longrow and Hazelburn |
Springbank 15 Year Old | 15 years | Check bottle | Three whisky styles: Springbank, Longrow and Hazelburn |
Longrow Peated | NAS / batch varies | Check bottle | Three whisky styles: Springbank, Longrow and Hazelburn |
This compares documented expressions, not live shop stock. Strength, age, casks and availability can vary by release; check the producer's bottle information.
Historic Springbank, Longrow and Hazelburn bottles
Genuine archive photographs show Springbank 15 Year Old, Longrow 10 Year Old 100 Proof and Hazelburn 8 Year Old. These are historical labels and packaging, not a representation of the bottles currently on sale.
Explore more Scotland distilleries
Continue with other whisky producers across Scotland.
Frequently asked questions about Springbank
Where is Springbank distillery?
In Campbeltown on the Kintyre peninsula, Scotland.
Who owns Springbank?
J&A Mitchell and Company, a family-owned business.
When was Springbank founded?
It was licensed in 1828.
What are Longrow and Hazelburn?
Two other single malts made at Springbank. Longrow is heavily peated and Hazelburn is unpeated.
Does Springbank malt its own barley?
Yes. It is the only Scottish distillery to perform every step of whisky making on site, from malting to bottling.
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Sources, image credits and official links
Springbank, ScotchWhisky.com Whiskypedia: https://scotchwhisky.com/whiskypedia/1892/springbank/
Springbank guide, The Single Cask (3 August 2026): https://www.thesinglecask.co.uk/blogs/distilleries/springbank
Historical bottle gallery photo credits: Springbank 15 Year Old and Longrow 10 Year Old 100 Proof, photographs supplied by Peter Currie, Springbank Distillery; Hazelburn 8 Year Old, photograph supplied by Springbank Distillery. All three Wikimedia Commons files are released under CC BY-SA 3.0 and were used without alterations.
Original historical research and source notes are preserved in this guide. Producer details, distillery access and releases may change.
Additional image and release sources
Image of Springbank Distillery. Photo: Lirazelf / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Image source · Licence
About the author
 | Filip Janczak Storyteller, drinker and explorer of all things whisky. Read more about the person behind Whisky Clan and explore additional reviews and distillery guides. |
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