Part 2 of Reviews from The Auld Alliance Singapore
Review by: Whiskery Turnip
Few whisky institutions came up as often as the Auld Alliance when I told people I was returning to Singapore for a spell. The bar had long been on my list of places to pop in, but the stars had never entirely aligned. I made sure it was on the schedule for this visit and met up with a whisky friend, though he might identify more as a rum head, for a visit.
The staff was amiable, and our whisky friend was immensely helpful in navigating all the possibilities while pointing out and ensuring we did not miss any of the absolute highlights. I ticked off a few distilleries I had never tried before and could have chased even more had I wanted. We did not do an organized flight during this visit. Still, we tried to slowly crescendo through cask, abv, and flavor intensity during the evening. The reviews are split between the three below that I spent the least time with and four more single reviews of bottles that received more focused attention.
Between the people and the whisky, the Auld Alliance was magical.
Distillery: Springbank Longrow
Bottler: North Star Spirits
Region: Scotland/Campbeltown Single Malt
ABV: 52.1%. Cask strength.
Age: 25 years. Distilled in 1994. Bottled in 2020.
Cask type: Refill Hogshead.
Nose: Apple blossom, vanilla, herbal tea, creamy vegetal fats, cedar and birch wood, charred citrus, cotton candy.
Palate: Medium-bodied, oily, charred lemon peel and fermented vegetables, orange rind and apple blossom, herbal grass and tea, wood char, wood oils toward the end.
Finish: Long and lingering with orange blossom, char, and sea brine.
Mental Image: Orange-Shaped Wrecking Ball
Conclusion: This Longrow was among the bottles a whisky friend told me I absolutely had to try, and he made sure we did. Good thing too as it turned out this was the last bottle in stock at the Auld Alliance. I have never seen a magnum bottle of Longrow— or any high-quality malt— but having one would be fun! For those wondering, the label does say distilled at Springbank, but the description of it as a double-distilled peated malt gives it away as a Longrow.
I am not particularly infatuated with Springbank or Longrow; sometimes, I feel like the only one. I am sure there are more of us out there that enjoy the malt but do not quite understand the incredible hype machine attached to it now. This superb bottle transcended the hype with a surprisingly delicate set of notes on the nose and a robust fermented quality on the palate. I would not have guessed this was a Longrow in a million years.
The wife described the aroma as soap— not the slightly off-putting quality of soapiness you might sometimes come across, but the combination of apple, vanilla, and cedar presented as fairly common soap aromatics. So not soap, really, but the common ingredients in a classy hand soap; perhaps comparable to pumpkin spice not actually being pumpkin, but the spices used to jazz up the squash.
Final Score: 88.
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 