A bag of Longmorn, randomly, Part Dos


January 7, 2025

A bag of Longmorn, randomly, Part Dos

We’re back. Wow that new 30/1994 ‘Rothes Glen’ yesterday!

Goldrush apple (Pour de Bon)

Longmorn 15 yo (54.2%, Morisco Spirits, first fill bourbon, 2022)

Colour: white wine. Nose: this will be quick—ultra-precise, green apple and damp chalk, with a touch of honeysuckle. It’s reminiscent of a cool-vintage Sancerre (they’re getting rare) from Vacheron. With water: quinces and mirabelles appear, yet it remains nicely focused. Mouth (neat): splendidly fruity and utterly typical. Lemon, green apples, green pepper. Another beautifully natural malt with sharper angles. With water: it turns slightly softer, with apple juice, cinnamon and a hint of barley sugar. Finish: medium length, very clean, with that signature fruitiness and a slightly more peppery aftertaste. Comments: beautiful in its simplicity.
SGP:551 - 86 points.

Longmorn 13 yo 2011/2024 (58.2%, Lady of the Glen, PX finish, cask #1721, 297 bottles)

Well, I’ve just learnt that in pharmacy, PX can sometimes be shorthand for ‘prescription’, but can anything be inferred from this in the realm of whisky? Colour: deep gold. Nose: total butterscotch, walnut cake and cinnamon rolls. Nice prescription. With water: few changes, probably just a little Bénédictine. Old bottles of Bénédictine can be absolutely superb. A touch of good-quality black tea. Mouth (neat): indeed, thick PX but PX that works—sweet but not overly so, with peppered raisins and plenty of cloves. Even a hint of chilli. With water: softer, rounder, but Spanish orange liqueurs step in to keep it all in check. Finish: long, on sultanas, orange marmalade and pepper. Comments: about as good as a PX finish on a young Speysider can be.
SGP:661 - 85 points.

Longmorn 22 yo 1997/2020 (58.7%, The Single Malts of Scotland, hogshead, cask #163301, 240 bottles)

My word, 2020 was already five years ago. Colour: white wine. Nose: it’s remarkable how a good age—22 years is certainly a good age—brings complexity and starts to deconstruct primary aromas. Here we’re moving towards layers of pastries, apple tarts, turnovers, strudel, with hints of vanilla pods and honeysuckle… In the end, we land on apple compote, the kind we all ate by the ton as children, didn’t we? With water: fresh barley emerges, which is amusing. It’s not the first time this has happened with these Longmorns. Mouth (neat): oh, citrus, pepper and mint! Though the alcohol does block things just a bit. With water: and there it is—a cavalcade of ripe orchard fruits, joined by lemon, grapefruit, aniseed and liquorice. Finish: fairly long, with similar notes. A very citrusy aftertaste. Comments: for lovers of grapefruit, among whom I’m counting myself.
SGP:651 - 87 points.

Longmorn 22 yo 1992/2014 (51.4%, Signatory Vintage, handpicked by The Whisky Exchange, hogshead, cask #48488, 224 bottles)

Attention, we’re diving into this one with all sirens blaring! These 1992s from SigV were absolute bombs. Colour: deep gold. Nose: lovely nose—tobacco, roasted chestnuts, etc.—but you can already tell the magic will happen on the palate. With water: a slight basaltic edge of the finest sort, followed by hints of varnish, like in a very old Sauternes turned mahogany. Mosses and mushrooms. Superb nose. Mouth (neat): the purest expression of bitter orange, with an added amontillado-like note. Was this a sherry hogshead? Yet there are also touches of old bourbon. Never mind, not so long ago nobody cared about such details—it was either sherrywood or everything else. Or perhaps just ‘American’ or ‘European’. With water: splendid. Let’s call it American amontillado (apologies, apologies, apologies). Finish: long, leaning more towards earthy tones and coffee. Coffee dregs—but what a coffee it was. Comments: licking the edge of 91 points, as we sometimes say.
SGP:562 - 90 points.

Longmorn 24 yo 1983/2007 (51.6%, Riegger's Selection, hogshead, cask #51)

I’m sorry, no image found, except perhaps of a comparable bottle. 2007—those were the good old days when not everyone was obsessed with flooding the internet with content of questionable necessity. Colour: deep gold. Nose: lovely nose of orange liqueur, sultanas and old herbal liqueurs. A stunning combination of pine and mint on top of it all—highly invigorating—with hints of verbena and chartreuse. With water: oh, all those honeys, how beautiful! Mouth: but this is so good! I can’t say if it was already this superb back in 2007, but this kind of blend of fine liqueurs with figs and dates works wonders. With water: marvellous—more mineral and waxier. This two reminds me of Clynelish—we’ve had some sublime Clynelish 1983s, including one from Samaroli. Finish: rather long, smooth, leaning towards roasted hazelnuts and old Madeiras, with a wonderfully herbal aftertaste. Comments: thank you, Roger—18 years later (better late than never, I suppose). If anyone still has bottles of this little marvel, take good care of them!
SGP:661 - 91 points.
UPDATE Wee picture has been replaced, thank you Tom!

Longmorn-Glenlivet 1969/1991 (43%, Berry Bros. & Rudd Glasgow)

Straight from Dunreath Avenue, Glasgow, but with the label ‘3, St. James’s St., London’. Already a 70cl bottle, yet still bearing BB&R’s old presentation, along with a well-made screw cap. Colour: copper honey. Nose: let’s not waste time—this is pure marvel, the kind only the 1950s or 1960s could produce. Astonishing honeys, ripe apples, cherries, pollen, vineyard peaches, incense, old cognacs, then camphor and even a few maritime touches. This whisky is the boss, not you. Mouth: sheer class. Mandarins, wild strawberries, old yellow chartreuse, more honeys, a drop of pine liqueur, fruit ganaches, and—dare I say it?—two or three drops of moutai. Go on, one, two, three, and-we-bow. Finish: unbelievably long for a whisky at 43% from a bottle that’s already thirty-four years old. But let’s not forget this Longmorn was only 21 or 22 years old when bottled. There’s just a touch too much leather in the aftertaste to reach 93. There’s also a hint of salty/smoky broth—unexpected, but perhaps not that much. Comments: what a beauty, still bursting with energy.
SGP:661 - 92 points.

There we have it, another session-breaker. It looks like we’ll need to come back a third time with some more Longmorns.

(Thank you, Geert, thank you Roger)

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