Review by: The Muskox
Like many of you, I’ve drooled over all of The Whiskery Turnip’s Longmorn reviews. I’m big on the kinds of big floral-tropical drams that he deftly describes, but there just aren’t all that many out there. I thought I’d be getting that experience with an Old Particular bottling a couple months ago, but, while tasty, that whisky seemed somewhat off-profile. This one looks a bit more promising…
Distillery: Longmorn.
Bottler: Signatory Vintage.
Region: Speyside.
ABV: 51.1%. Cask strength.
Age: 26 years. Distilled April 10th 1992. Bottled May 29th 2018.
Cask type: Cask #48502, a hoghsead.
Price: N/A, sample.
Color: Light amber. Natural Color. Non-chill-filtered.
Nose: Bright and fresh. A greenhouse’s worth of sweet tropical flowers. Peach nectar, passionfruit, white cherries, and craisins. Banana peels, jungle ferns, and slightly green pineapple. Watermelon agua fresca? There’s some underlying heft of old varnished oak, along with citronella, sandalwood, and coconut water. Some milk chocolate-covered macadamia nuts complete the Hawaiian scene.
It gets sweeter as it sits, with more brown sugar and barley emerging. With 5 drops of water, it’s meltier and a bit nuttier, and even more floral.
Palate: Medium-thick texture. Waxed tart fruit, brown sugar, and woody spices on the arrival. Strong oak on the development, then a blast of tart peach, grapefruit, lemongrass, and flowers. Various tropical fruits that I can’t quite pin down, as well as rum, cherries, and rhubarb pie. Some wood varnish and burnt-sugar bitterness, but then sweet demerara sugar, honey, and Bananas Foster come in. Fragrant spice notes of exotic woods, tobacco, and nutmeg.
The water and time work to take the oak down somewhat, balancing things out.
Finish: Long and bursting with freshness. Sun-ripened nectarines, yellow plums, orange zest, preserved lemon peel, demerara sugar, and varnished oak. Lightly nutty and malty. Lingering green flowers.
Possible SMWS bottling name: “Ukulele luthier’s orchid-smuggling side-gig”
Conclusion: Now that’s what I’m talking about. This is such a richly tropical and floral dram. The form on the palate is gorgeous, as tart, sweet, floral, oaky, and spicy flavours all pop in and out as it sits in your mouth. I actually thought it was too oaky at first, but it really grew on me as it opened up with time and water. This was one of those whiskies that just got better and better as I kept sipping. I’m officially a Longmorn convert.
Final Score: 90.
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 