As the rain continues to fall on Well Close and a cheery voice on the PA system informs visitors that umbrellas are available to purchase, it becomes clear that the Springbank open day at the Campbeltown Malts Festival is a tale of two cohorts. One, queuing in an orderly fashion to the right, empty wheely suitcases bumping down the cobbles behind them, are here solely for the bottles. The second, crammed into the dram tent at the far end of the courtyard, are here in pilgrimage and for the community. One to give and share; the other, it appears, to take. It is perhaps an exaggeration to suggest that the two do not mix — and the foul weather isn’t really conducive to any mixing — but at the same time, it is a striking image of the dichotomy of Springbank and Campbeltown’s resurgence.
Those who have spent time seeking out whisky content on the internet in recent years will be aware that the town’s distilleries are back in one of their periodic boom phases. Most content praising the brand is enveloped in comments from new fans and enthusiasts sharing their frustration that limited supply and strict allocations mean bottles can be hard to come by in most locations without paying a heavy surcharge to buy from the secondary market.
Whether you attribute this to a certain Manx Youtuber, the bloggers of the whisky-sphere, or the 43% and non-chilled-filtered evangelists of Reddit doesn’t matter. The fact is that Campbeltown is back on the map for whisky fans, and consequently, they are having to pay the price for this rediscovered fame. David Allen, director of sales and marketing at Springbank and its sister distillery Glengyle, sums it up succinctly: “Springbank has always been referred to as the ‘whisky drinker’s whisky’… but since Covid especially, it’s been the flipper’s choice.”