Longmorn was founded by John Duff who also started the BenRiach and Glenlossie distilleries. It is one of the few distilleries who never stopped production during the 20th century. The spirit is seen as one of the better blending malts, and the heavily sherried independent releases from the 1970’s are brilliant. At the moment, there is one official bottling, the 16 years old which is just so-so.
Longmorn 14y 1994
(50%, DL OMC 2008, ref. 4804, 352 btl.)
Nose: fresh on citrus and barley. Also sweeter notes of honey. Hints of cake. Balanced oak influence (cigar box) with some spicy touches (vanilla, ginger, cinnamon). Mouth: very spicy (peppery) attack. As soon as this calms down, there’s a huge vanilla wave. Bitter oranges. Finish on vanilla with hints of cherries. Citrus and oak again. Quite sweet at first, gets more bitter towards the end. Apple cake.
Quite good, this Longmorn from a refill hogshead has character and a firm taste.
Score: 82/100.
This blog is my personal collection of impressions, written while searching for the ultimate single malt whisky.
