Review by: dustbunna
This was one of two blind IB purchases I made recently, taking advantage of being quarantined within a 20-minute delivery window of K&L Wines and their broad selection of store picks/independent bottlings of Scotch. The old Longmorn 16 was one of my favorite finds (after a good deal of mellowing in the bottle), so I was happy to take a punt on an IB. Hunter Laing bottles all of their own selections at 50% ABV, but K&L’s selections are all bottled at cask strength, with this one coming in at 54.9%.
Distillery: Longmorn.
Bottler: Hunter Laing.
Region: Speyside.
ABV: 54.9%. Cask strength.
Age: 14 years. Distilled in 2003. Bottled in 2018.
Cask type: Refill hogshead.
Price: $65 USD.
Natural Color. Non-chill-filtered.
Bottle open across approx. 2 months, notes taken leisurely across that period. Bold notes taken beneath the shoulder, regular-formatted notes taken further into the bottle past the halfway point, italicized notes taken towards the heel.
Nose: all sorts of fresh, ripe fruits jumping out of the glass, icing sugar, some ethanol bite, nasturtiums and some grassiness, orange Sunkist jellies, the fruit notes concentrate into peach pie, pears, lemon curd, a bit of shortbread.
Palate: full-bodied but very clean-tasting ~ minerals, sweet fruits, warm but the heat is in check, water and/or time help to translate more of the nose to the palate, especially the fruit notes.
Finish: medium-long ~ the warmth carries more peaches, lemon and a little oak, water brings out some bitter notes on the tail end with a bit of fennel.
Conclusion: I found this one extremely drinkable, and it loves to swim, integrating a bit more with several drops of water. It’s totally spirit-driven, with very little wood influence at all, but that’s not a problem when Longmorn’s distillate is oily and full of estery flavor. Still, curiously it doesn’t strike me as drinking its age… I think it could have benefited from a slightly more active cask to add some more dimensions. Maybe, like the OB 16yr, this would open up and reveal more layers if the bottle had lasted longer. I’ve got a sample left to experiment with that.
Final Score: 81.
Scoring Legend:
- 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
- 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
- 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
- 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
- 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
- 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
- 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
- 50-59: Save it for mixing.
- 0-49: Blech.
Malt Runners 