After a Glendronach party, we decided to taste something from one of our favorite distilleries, Springbank. We choose the peated version, Longrow: ladies and gentlemen, we’d like to introduce the Longrow Red, 11 years old (7 years in refill sherry casks and 4 in ex Cabernet-Sauvignon casks… Does it sound weird? Yes, but the Barolo finish was great! The color is amber.
N: today we’ll avoid the verbs. Longrow’s soul (peat “muffler style”, pepper), sweet DNA (a few vanilla), cloves, blackberry (and red wine!), ink, licorice. Ok, the verbs can return. The soul is also a lost soul: the heavy red wine notes are not integrated. Increasing sense of menthol. The main quality? The alcohol is not overwhelming. After some minutes you get used to this funky nose.
P: the terrible, the bad and the ugly. It shows a strong personality, but that’s the problem: we did expect some “dirty” shadows of wine on the Longrow’s soul, but here everything is upside-down. The tannins are extreme without a reason, and the astringency is total, exacerbated by an alcohol more than present. The red wine is “the elephant in the room”: strong, plasticky and disturbing. Nothing Longrow style here? Maybe a hint of orange and an intense, “polluted” smokiness.
F: bitter, paraffin, pepper, cheese. Long, intense and persistent. Unfortunately…
Wine and whisky doesn’t agree: there’s a total mutual repugnance, indeed. The nose is weird but tolerable. Palate and finish are – in our opinion – really controversial. We remembered a positive review by Serge, but… we misremembered! In fact, he’s very critical on it, even if he says that someone could appreciate such an intense and unique whisky. We’re not among them, but we encourage you to try it: you can love it or hate it, but it’s an experience. Anyway, 72/100.
Recommended soundtrack: violence without a cause with the Dark Funeral and their My Funeral. What an original title, isn’t it?
