Springbank: Hazelburn and Longrow

Type: Distillery and brand

In 1973, Springbank set out to make an Islay style malt on the mainland. The experiment became Longrow, one of three whiskies made at the same Campbeltown distillery. Three copper stills serve three distinct approaches: Springbank is distilled two and a half times, Longrow twice and the unpeated Hazelburn three times.[2][3][5]

At a glance

What Springbank is known for

Springbank’s character begins on the malting floor. Its own floor maltings and different distillation regimes offer a clearer introduction to the distillery than any single description of flavour.[2][3]

The producer says it carries out its own floor malting, adds no colouring and does not chill filter its whisky. These are specific production choices; understanding the malt treatment and distillation behind each name remains essential.[2][5]

The shared site also explains a common source of confusion. Hazelburn is not a separate working distillery. Nor is modern Longrow made at the lost distillery whose name it carries. Both come from Springbank, alongside the whisky bearing the distillery’s own name.[2][4][5]

Springbank, Hazelburn and Longrow compared

Read the name first, then the age statement. Each name identifies a different production approach, not a different location. The producer’s accounts set out the distinctions below.[2][3][4][5]

Sources: Springbank’s Process, Whisky, Longrow and Hazelburn pages, checked November 2026.[2][3][4][5] The dated Hazelburn releases are detailed below and are not presented as permanent expressions.

When comparing bottles, put malt treatment and distillation alongside age. An age statement alone cannot explain the differences between these whiskies.[2][3][5]

From floor maltings to three stills

Barley spends up to three days steeping before floor malting and kilning, according to Springbank’s published process. The kiln then runs for 30 to 48 hours, with the malt treated differently according to which whisky is being made.[2]

The equipment gives the process a tangible sense of place. The producer describes a Porteous mill dating from the 1940s, a cast iron mash tun and six boatskin larch washbacks, the vessels in which fermentation takes place.[2]

Source: Springbank, Process, checked November 2026. Equipment descriptions and timings are the producer’s published account, rather than independently measured operating data.[2]

The maltings’ history includes a long interruption. Whisky Auctioneer records their closure in 1960 and reinstatement in 1992. Today’s floor malting is central to Springbank’s identity, but it has not continued without a break.[9]

Longrow: a mainland experiment

Longrow began with a question: could a mainland distillery make an Islay style single malt? According to Springbank, its chairman initiated the experiment to establish just that, and Longrow was first distilled in 1973. The producer says it was initially intended for a blend. Islay supplied the stylistic reference; Campbeltown was the place of distillation.[3][4]

Its name reaches further back, to a lost neighbouring distillery. Scotchwhisky.com dates the original Longrow to 1824, identifies John Ross as its founder and records its closure in 1896. Springbank says the former distillery’s warehouse now serves as its bottling hall.[4][8]

The whisky’s arrival and the brand’s launch were separate events. Whisky Auctioneer dates the Longrow brand launch to 1985; Springbank says Longrow has been part of its core range since the 1990s.[4][9]

Cask details can also belong to a particular release rather than the name as a whole. For the 2024 Longrow 18 Year Old, the producer specifies 90% sherry casks and 10% port casks. Those proportions describe that edition, not necessarily every edition carrying the same age statement.[4]

Hazelburn: unpeated and triple distilled

Hazelburn takes the unpeated route through Springbank’s stills. First distilled in 1997, according to the producer, it uses unpeated, air-dried malt and triple distillation. Its malt treatment sets it clearly apart from Longrow’s peated approach.[3][5]

The first distillation came before the brand launch. Whisky Auctioneer gives 2005 as Hazelburn’s launch year: 1997 marks the first spirit, while 2005 marks the brand’s introduction. The two dates record different stages in its development.[9]

Springbank identifies Hazelburn 10 Year Old as the flagship expression, matured in bourbon casks and bottled at 46% ABV. Its published releases also include a 2023 edition of Hazelburn 21 Year Old and Hazelburn Sherry Wood 8 Year Old in 2025. The expression name and release date identify which version of this unpeated, triple-distilled whisky is being described.[2][5]

A history with a disputed founder

Springbank’s own account says Archibald Mitchell’s family built the distillery in 1828 on an illicit still site, making it Campbeltown’s 14th licensed distillery. It records John and William Mitchell taking over in 1837. Springbank, Our Story.

The founding claim is Disputed. Springbank attributes its beginnings to the Mitchell family, while the trade accounts identify William Reid or the Reid family.[1][8][9] The supplied record does not resolve the competing accounts, and the earliest known source was not established from the sources checked: Springbank, Our Story; Scotchwhisky.com, Longrow; and Whisky Auctioneer, Springbank.

The shared establishment date is 1828; the disagreement is over who founded the distillery. Keeping the date and the family attributions separate preserves that distinction without treating either founder account as settled.[1][8][9]

A later turning point came in 1973, when Longrow introduced an experiment in making Islay style malt at Springbank. Springbank, Longrow and Whisky.

The claim that Longrow began in 1973 as a test of whether a mainland distillery could make Islay style whisky is Documented. Springbank describes the experiment and dates Longrow’s first distillation to that year. Independent contemporary evidence is not supplied in the record, and the earliest known source was not established from the sources checked. The accounts are Springbank, Longrow and Springbank, Whisky.

Springbank’s account of the 1837 takeover is also recorded in Springbank, Our Story. All sources for the accounts and verdicts above were checked in November 2026; the exact day was not reliably established.

Production timeline

Springbank’s history is not an unbroken run of production. It includes interruptions, a return to regular distilling and the arrival of two additional whisky names. The dates below separate those changes from the establishment of the distillery and distinguish first distillation from brand launch.

Common mistakes

Treating Campbeltown as only a historical designation. The town’s former distillery population gives its history considerable weight, but the name has a present legal meaning too. Campbeltown is a protected locality under regulation 10 of the United Kingdom’s Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009.[10]

Assuming Springbank buys in its malt. The producer describes its own floor-malting process. That is the current published account; Whisky Auctioneer’s record of closure and reinstatement explains the interruption in the maltings’ history.[2][9]

Reading Longrow’s Islay reference as an origin statement. Islay describes the experiment’s intended style. Campbeltown is the place of distillation. Hazelburn’s separate name likewise identifies a different whisky, not a separate working production site.[2][3][4][5]

Where to go next

• Glen Scotia: explore the other distillery named alongside Springbank in the producer’s account of 1934.
• Glengyle: Kilkerran: follow the neighbouring distillery’s separate history.

Sources

1. Springbank. Our Story. Producer’s account, undated web edition, checked November 2026. https://www.springbank.scot/about/story/
2. Springbank. Process. Producer’s account, undated web edition, checked November 2026. https://www.springbank.scot/about/process/
3. Springbank. Whisky. Producer’s account, undated web edition, checked November 2026. https://www.springbank.scot/whisky/
4. Springbank. Longrow. Producer’s account, undated web edition, checked November 2026. https://www.springbank.scot/whisky/longrow/
5. Springbank. Hazelburn. Producer’s account, undated web edition, checked November 2026. https://www.springbank.scot/whisky/hazelburn/
6. Springbank. Place. Producer’s account, undated web edition, checked November 2026. https://www.springbank.scot/about/place/
7. Companies House. J. & A. Mitchell and Company, Limited, SC003582. Company register entry, checked November 2026. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/SC003582
8. Scotchwhisky.com. Longrow. Trade reference, undated web edition, checked November 2026. https://scotchwhisky.com/whiskypedia/2062/longrow/
9. Whisky Auctioneer. Springbank. Trade reference, undated web edition, checked November 2026. https://whiskyauctioneer.com/learn/explore-whisky/distilleries/springbank
10. legislation.gov.uk. The Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009, regulation 10. SI 2009/2890, original made version, 2009; supplied sheet checked November 2026. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2009/2890/regulation/10/made

This article is desk research based on verified fact sheet TOP-A234, distinguishing producer accounts, company records, trade references and legal text.

Last checked: November 2026