Longmorn 16 Year (Discontinued)

Stop number 58 on the SDT is Longmorn. This is my first from this lesser known Speyside distillery. Bottled at 48% ABV, non chill filtered and natural color of amber gold. So far so good. First impression on the nose is that this is going to be thick and heavy. Dark sherry notes. Earthy mineral notes like wet stones on an ocean beach, this could be some light peat speaking. Caramel apples and maple syrup. Sure does feel like a sherry bomb to me. Pears, plums and raisins. It goes a bit sideways here with burnt oak, charcoal and faded smoke, but these notes don’t hang around too long. A little mint and licorice and fennel. Wood resin, cherry pie filling and saltine crackers. Honey, tea, orange peel, a little banana and a touch of new leather. This thing is all over the place and doesn’t really seem very cohesive. A little water smooths it out while bringing out a little more sweetness. A somewhat hot arrival on the palate from the higher ABV. Cinnamon apples and grape/cherry cough syrup. Slightly astringent. Dry oak, green oak, tannins and clove. Burnt toffee and caramel, bitter dark chocolate and dark sherry. Not as much of a sherry bomb on the palate as I was expecting. Honey, plums, leather and earthy minerals and peat. No smoke to speak of. Water doesn’t really change anything but tones the intensity down. Medium-full bodied mouthfeel, oily but dry. A long finish. Dry oak, sherry, cherry cough syrup and a little bitter. This is a very odd Speysider. Feels more like it would have come out of Campbeltown or an Island distillery. A strange combination of flavors and very different than most of the scotch coming out of Speyside. All over the place and very jumbled. Seems to be confused about what style it wants to be. Some good and some bad, but mostly good I guess. It’s complex, just not cohesive, the flavors don’t all work well together. Some may love this one, some may hate it. As for me, 3.25. Thanks to @Telex for the sample. Cheers

This is the newer Longmorn 16 that comes in the purple packaging. From what I've read, there is a significant enough difference between this and the older, gray Longmorn 16 (featured in the picture^) that it's worth noting. Nose: Classic Speyside sweetness. Big butterscotch and lemon citrus notes. Granny Smith apple and pear, as well as honey, toffee, and raisin. I also get cinnamon roll and shortbread cookie. Finally, there is a burst spicy cinnamon, no doubt of a result of the higher ABV (48%). Great nose. Palate: Roasted nuts, caramel, vanilla, honey, and toffee. A bit of white chocolate. The lemon note is still present, but it's somewhat reminiscent of a Riccola cough drop here. I also get more of the cinnamon roll immediately after pouring; however, this dissipates the longer it sits in the glass. The other notes become more prominent with time. Before the finish, another cinnamon kick. Solid palate. Finish: Moderate to long, leaning toward the latter. It's all cinnamon spice, and coupled with some residual citrus, though it's more like lemonade now. Nothing new here, but a satisfactory end to a great pour. Yet another whisky that only gets better with time. I was not impressed when I first cracked this one. However, it's gotten significantly better with oxidation. Initially, this one seemed disjointed. It was all Speyside sweetness up and then an abrupt gear shift heavy spice. Like hitting a brick wall. With time however, this dichotomy has disappeared, and the transition has become smooth and subtle. This is precisely why I wait til I'm at least halfway through a bottle before reviewing it. This one bats above average in both nose and palate. My only complaint would be the price. $110 is a heavy price tag. However, it boasts a respectable age statement and ABV, and it delivers in the glass. I wasn't sold at first, but I've grown quite fond of this one. Looking forward to trying the gray box-Longmorn next.

As we continue to plow our way through all of the currently active distilleries in Scotland, we make our way to this Speyside distillery- Longmorn. This sample was graciously provided by our newest group member, @Telex. This is a distillery direct bottle of their 16 year old malt. It’s bottled at a robust and surprising 48% ABV. It’s a true golden color and produces slow-forming and short legs in the Glencairn. It’s oily as hell and clings to the glass even when it’s spun with a little force. The predominant aroma is green apples. There’s some faint, worn leather and some rustic oak tannins hanging out as well. There’s not much alcohol on the nose and that’s great considering the higher ABV. The palate is ridiculously hot to me with lots of oak spice and pepper. Mid sip is drying and strong but does wash away with some light, orchard fruit notes. It’s so hot, though, I felt like I had to suffer through the heat just for those light, leftover fruits. I can’t say it’s worth the pain, lol. The finish is long and dry and overwhelmed with hard, oak spice. This is a beast for a 16 year old. Overall, I had a hard time trying to find a sweet spot to make this enjoyable. I added a healthy splash of cold water to try and tame it some, but even after 10 minutes all it did was make it harder to keep the aroma in the foreground. Even the apples faded quickly. It’s definitely a heavy dram. It was a bit taxing on me even though I went in mentally prepared for a harder hitting, single malt. Perhaps this one needed to be cut to 40-43% to make it more palatable IMO. Thanks again, Jason for helping us tick off these distilleries. As it is, this was a 2.75 star dram. Cheers.

Nose: Woody and fruity. Apples, pears and some herbal notes. Raisins and caramel toffee, vanilla. Quite a strong oak presence. After oxidizing, a lot more citrus fruit, spice and leather became apparent. This is pretty tight to start with and the nose needs time to relax. Palate: Malty and fruity arrival, rich but again very tight and uninvolving initially. As it develops and opens up citrus notes (particularly lemon flavours), herbal grassiness, green tea and some spice emerge. There is a background oakiness that verges on resinous and never really becomes soft. Finish: Medium/long. Drying and tannic. When I first tasted this I remember being very unimpressed. The nose seemed faint and uninteresting and the palate a general confusion of mild flavours. Over time, however, I came to appreciate it more. The nose improved a lot as it oxidized in the bottle and giving it quite a bit of time to rest in the glass always paid off. The nose gained a lot of fruitiness and became more aromatic in general, and the palate developed spicy, nutty notes and dried fruit that together with the original toffee character gave an impression of light fruit cake. A dash of water also helps to speed the opening process and soften the all-encompassing oaky nature. At 48% it can take a dash of water with no harm. This review was based on the old grey-brown box edition. The new one in purple livery is similar, but different, with more bright fruit and honeyed tones. This has an almost legendary status for some folks but I can't imagine why. It's a good whisky, but that's all. “Good" : 83/100 (3.5 stars)

33 open bottles in my collection ranked through multiple blind tastings. Counting them down! #20: Longmorn. Single Malt Scotch. 48% ABV. 16 year old. Paid $94 I don’t regret buying. This is the discontinued gray box. The newer purple box (I heard) is not as good and is in the $110-120 price range. Not worth it anymore. This is just a solid example of a bourbon influenced Scotch. When the bottle was fresher, it had a wonderful spiciness that made me think this was finished in French oak. After a few months opened, the spiciness is mostly gone. What remains are the typical notes and flavors of a younger and cheaper bourbon matured Scotch, but richer and more confident, and accentuated by a maritime saltiness. Similar in profile to the Balvenie 12 year Single Barrel First Fill, but sweeter and more rounded. Orchard fruits, buttery vanilla, honey, just the right amount of wood. Still got some spice and salt, even now that the bottle is almost done. The bottle and the box have some panache without going overboard. The leather cushion on the bottom of the bottle is luxury with a purpose. The simple “Long no more,” greeting you when you open the box, has got to be the best marketing phrase printed on a box of whisky ever. MARK: 87/100 PREVIOUSLY, ON BATMAN: #21: Maker’s Mark 46. $35 (375mL). 47%. NAS. 87/100 #22: Benjamin Prichard’s Double Barreled. $104. 45%. NAS. 87/100 #23: High West Campfire. $62. 46%. NAS. 86/100. #24: Balvenie Single Barrel First Fill. $59. 47.8%. 12 years. 86/100. #25: Bulleit Barrel Strength Batch 5. $55. 62.7%. NAS. 84/100

Been away from tasting for some time (but been enjoying drams on the weekends). From the way back collection of samples, I settled on Longmorn 16 which @Telex provided for our semi-virtual touring group. Bourbon notes are detectable on the nose. Vanilla, caramel, with a hint of baking spices: cloves and cinnamon. Gala apples, pears, Entenmann's crumb cake. A light maritime brine permeates throughout. Sweet, but not overblown. An inviting nose that takes a great deal of time to open. Be patient. The initial draws are hot and biting. The body is weighty and oily. Once the palate adjusts, subtle butterscotch sweetness is detectable. Aged Oak, leather and ground cinnamon with traces of Irish tea. Simple, but rewarding. The finish is long, oaky and drying. Ginger root, cinnamon and oddly, artificial grape (like grape soda). A scotch that the comes on slowly, but the more time you give it, the more you realize you are sipping on a solid whisky. The subtle sweetness and slight spiciness compliment each other and do not try to overpower each other. A dram perfect for an autumn beach evening while the sun descends. [87/100][Tasted: 8/17/18]