
September 17, 2020

A wee basket of natural Longmorn

Angus was having some Longmorns the other Saturday and I found his notes pretty intriguing. That’s as good as any other excuse for having a few at Whiskyfun headquarters as well…

Longmorn 17 yo 2002/2020 (56.2%, Signatory Vintage for The Whisky Exchange, cask #800638, bourbon barrel, 229 bottles)

Longmorn 17 yo 2002/2020 (56.2%, Signatory Vintage for The Whisky Exchange, cask #800638, bourbon barrel, 229 bottles)
Colour: white wine. Nose: this is fully Longmorn au naturel, so rather all on orchard fruits, with a wee greasy chalkiness in the background. Granny smith, green pears, gooseberries, greengages, perhaps a little lemon and a spoonful of porridge. With water: grist and simply barley. Mouth (neat): thick, oily, almost creamy and very fruity, with a full sack of wine gums, jelly babies, fruit loops, muesli, all that covered with a sweeter kind of vegetal oil and a little olive oil. With water: doesn’t change a lot, except that it would get a little more citrusy, with fewer candy-like flavours. Finish: medium, fruity, with a good barley-y structure. Comments: it is not, perhaps, very ‘idiosyncratic’ (why do I keep using this stupid word?) but I think it just delivers.
SGP:651 - 86 points.

Longmorn 21 yo 1994/2016 (51.5%, Douglas Laing, Old Particular, cask #11334, 265 bottles)

Colour: light gold. Nose: rather similar but with some menthol, aniseed, and even eucalyptus, as well as touches of hand cream, scented soap (rose petals) and dry cider. With water: wax and green apples, and no mentholy notes anymore. Mouth (neat): much simpler, grassier, on apple peel and green plums. With water: similar, no further development. Finish: medium, rather simple. Apple juice. Comments: not too mindboggling but still fine. Another one that’s not very ‘idiosyncratic’.
SGP:451 - 80 points.

In general, I believe proper sherry does much good to these batches. Or older age, naturally, let’s opt for the latter…

Longmorn 36 yo 1975/2011 (50.6%, The Perfect Dram, bourbon hogshead, 163 bottles)

A wee glory that I had kept for future enjoyment and I say now’s the time, Charlie. Colour: gold. Nose: another galaxy, full of pink grapefruits, mangos, mead, apricots, petit manseng and bergamots. Superb and luminous. With water: clay, chalk, chlorophyl, cut grass, fruit peel, earl grey. Luminous and superb. Mouth (neat): how perfect indeed, this is a perfect age that needs no flavouring and no make-up. Nectarines, mint leaves, ripe peaches, bits of bananas, acacia honey, honeysuckle and just a touch of cinchona and pepper. It is 36, after all. With water: game, set and match. Beeswax joining the dance, which just always works in my book. Finish: medium, on that famous ‘honeyed fruit salad’ that’s typical of these old unsherried Longmorns. Comments: these batches have always been flying pretty high but sadly, the breed seems to be extinct.
SGP:651 - 91 points.

Longmorn 1975/2015 (46.7%, Malts of Scotland, Warehouse Diamond, bourbon hogshead, cask #MoS 15065, 196 bottles)

Another one that we had kept for harsher times, no need to tell you that there’s certain hope here… Colour: gold. Nose: I cannot not think of an old high-class wine from Jurançon, such as and early vintage of Dagueneau’s Jardins de Babylone. Deeply sorry if that doesn’t ring any bell but in fact, it is the same idea as that petit manseng grape that we had found in the Perfect Dram. So, apricots and peaches, touch of muscat, hint of roses, drop of litchi juice, mountain honey, sultanas, beeswax… It is rather extraordinary, would you mind calling the Anti-Maltoporn Brigade before it’s too late? With water: chalk! Mouth (neat): brilliant and cakier, more on butterscotch and roasted raisins than the PD. Tokaji Eszencia. With water (not that water’s needed): fresher fruits, peaches, bananas, whatnot. Absolutely perfect. I was about to forget to mention quinces. Finish: long and amazingly fresh, complex, fruity and honeyed. Touches of resins and balms in the aftertaste – after all this one is 40. And perhaps even some ‘botrytis’. Comments: holy featherless crow! These malts are often split into periods, like say at Bowmore, or Laphroaig, or yeah, Picasso. 1965-1975 would be the rose period at Longmorn, one of the most prestigious, while earlier, 1950-early 1960 vintages were rather ‘blue’. Yeah I agree, not all analogies work.
SGP:651 - 92 points.

(Thank you Max!)

Check the index of all Longmorn we've tasted so far