Aged Spirits  
  
  Whisky  
  
  Brandy  
  
  Cocktails  

Fahrenheit 173 - Aged Spirits

"If it's not good enough to drink slowly, then it's not worth drinking"

Longrow

 7 Jun 2005  

The peaty, musty, intense Longrow seems to be a bit of a curiosity, for those who believe that Springbank defines the character of Campbeltown single malts. It is true that Springbank has been the leading Campbeltown brand since the Campbeltown whisky collapse at the beginning of the 20th century. However, the current Longrow whisky, named after the Campbeltown dis­til­lery that closed in 1896, is actually closer to the old, tra­di­tional Campbeltown style.

Longrow 14 yrs. 46%: Nice, peaty, muscular nose with a softer note of fruit. The fruit grows stronger in the palate but in the finish the fruit overflows and somehow collapses. For me, this almost ruins the whisky; a veritable anti climax. (76 p)

Longrow (SMWS) 1990 14 yrs. 56.9%: Peaty and musty with an unusual fruitiness and ditto spiciness. Hmm, curry? Curry sausage! The society nickname for this whisky is "smoked sausages and curry" =) Fairly sherried, but with an unusual sherry. Very nice finish, however. (85 p)

Longrow (SMWS) 1990 14 yrs. 57.8%: Light, bal­anced palate with a nice fresh fruitiness at first, then de­velops quite a bit of peat (86-87 p)

Longrow 1992 10 yrs. 46%: Light, sweet nose, with a candy-like articifial fruitiness and also peat. Light palate with fruit, spice and peat. Fairly dis­ap­point­ing finish. (87 p)

Longrow "Dreams" (Moon Import) 1987 45%: Unusual nose with peat and a note of engine oil. Quite peaty palate with a musty peatiness. Busy and power­ful but calms down a bit towards the finish. Wonderful palate and finish. (88 p)

Longrow (Cad) 1992 9 yrs. 56.8%: Powerful, peaty, musty nose with a shy note of oranges hiding behind the peat. Full, rich palate with lots of flavour: Musty peat, "youthful" spice and also very nice sweet fruit. At nine years, one of the best bourbon casks I've tasted. The new whisky of the month! (88 p)

—   o   —

More articles:

Three new Swedish single malt whiskies
A review of Swedish single malts Box "Pioneer", Hven "Merak" and Smögen "Primör".

Five single malts from Cadenhead's
A review of Ardmore 1997, Balblair 1990, Glen Moray 1992, Strathisla 1987 and Strathmill 1995.

World whisky
A review of single malts from the Czech Republic, England, Germany, India, Sweden and Taiwain.

Six Irish whiskeys
A review of Green Spot, Yellow Spot, Tullamore Dew 12, Redbreast 12, Powers John's Lane and Midleton Barry Crockett Legacy.

Index of all articles