Longrow 21 Year Old is a late 2019 release from Springbank distillery. This is a permanent addition to the core range, so now Springbank 21 Year Old isn’t left alone at this age bracket.

It was matured in Sherry casks (60%) and bourbon casks (40%) and bottled at the customary abv of 46%. 3600 bottles were released to the market and some are still out there for sale.

Longrow 21 Year Old (46%, £199.95/€229)

Source: thewhiskyexchange.com

Nose: Very elegant. For some weird reason my brain keeps popping out images of elegantly clothed gentleman from early 20th century. Smoke, the lovely Campbeltown dirt, oils, toolbox, green tomato vines, fruitiness leaning hard toward exotic and tropical, used leather, tobacco and a spoon of honey. Continue reading →

Longrow 14 Year Old Sherry Cask Matured was one of the 2018 limited editions from Springbank (along with the Hazelburn Oloroso) and it was released exactly 12 months ago in August 2018.

Interesting enough, even a year later it’s still widely available (unlike most Springbank limited editions), so we need to review it and understand why…

This Longrow was distilled November 2003 and Bottled in July 2018, the refill oloroso casks yielded 9000 bottles at 57.8%

Longrow 14 Year Old Sherry Cask 57.8% (€97/$109.99)

Nose: Dirty, gun powder and mild sulphur. Then dried raspberries, strong espresso, fresh sour berries with lingonberries and cranberries, cocoa and sour plums. Continue reading →

While I was really planning a curfew on whisky reviews this week in preparations for Feis Ile 2018, today my social media feed is full of pictures of friends celebrating the Campbeltown Malts Festival, so damn this self-inflicted reviews break – I’m gonna break the break 😀

And what’s more befitting than a Springbank whisky review to celebrate Campbeltown Malts Festival? Let’s review this Longrow 2007 9 Year Old matured in Fresh Sauternes Hogsheads for Springbank Society. It was distilled 11/2007 and bottled 10/2017 (so one month short of being a 10 Year Old whisky). 1134 bottles were produced at 56.3%.

Longrow 2007 9 Year Old Sauternes for Springbank Society (56.3%)

Source: whiskyauctioneer.com

Nose: Sweet white wine, then gentle peat smoke, a touch of greenery, dry champagne, pears, green grapes peels, green mango, honey, toffee, refreshing. After a while, peaches, fudge, rich and heavy. Continue reading →

Longrow RED 12 is the 4th installment in the Longrow RED series. I had reviewed the first one on the blog (right here) and liked it a lot. I also happened to taste the 3rd one (full maturation in port casks) and here comes the new one which deviate from the 11 years formula with additional one year as it’s 12 Year old.

But it’s not the only noteworthy change. Previous editions were fully matured (port cask) or finished for a couple of years (4 years for Cabernet Sauvignon and 5 years for the Australian Shiraz) and this 2015 edition is finished in Pinot Noir for only 1 year. How much influence can the cask impart on the whisky during a single year?

Longrow RED 12 Year Old (Pinot Noir Cask Finish) (52.9%, £65/€75/$109.99)

Nose: Light smoke and sweet peat but the wine shine through with sweet fruit notes at first and then it incorporates some sour red berries, earthy red wine notes. Not many wine tannins here probably because of the short finish period. With additional time and air exposure, it’s getting sherry-like spiciness with nutmeg and cinnamon. With water: smoke is gone, but it’s sweeter with added spiciness. Continue reading →

Next in line is a review of the old NAS offering from Springbank which was discontinued, the Springbank CV and along with it we’ll review the Longrow CV which was replaced (or merely renamed) with Longrow Peated.

The CV name stands for Curriculum Vitae. Yes, similar to what’s going on with job interviews, it’s called this way as there’s a long road behind it – a vatting of different casks types and styles (bourbon, sherry and port wine) and different ages (7,10,14 years).

Springbank CV (46%, €33.95)

Nose: apples,pears, coconut, vanilla custard, spiciness, white pepper at first that it calms down and we get creamy and malty notes. Zesty, some dried fruits in background and sherry spices. Continue reading →

Following yesterday review, It’s time to cross off yet another distillery from the my personal unpublished distilleries list – Springbank. But instead of reviewing a ‘straight’ Springbank whisky (that will happen too eventually,  we’ll go for their muscular young brother – the Peated Longrow brand and the Longrow RED 11yo whisky.

It was matured in Bourbon casks for 7 years and then moved to Cabernet Sauvignon Hogsheads for another 4 years for a total of 11 years.

Aren’t you curious to see how the red wine impact meshed here with the peat?

Longrow RED 11yo (52.1%, Cabernet Sauvignon, 9000 bottles, € 69,95)

Continue reading →