Longmorn 39yo 1969 (57,7%, Gordon & MacPhail for TWE 2009, cask #5305)

Nose: very rich and intense. Excellent old sherry (chocolate, figs, rancio). Surprisingly fresh notes as well. Violets. Bramble. Black cherry. Furniture wax. Hints of blood oranges. Spicy christmas cake with notes of cinnamon and cardamom. Mint. Mouth: starting mostly on coffee. A bit sour at first and overall rather dry. Figs again with dark chocolate. Developing on spices and strawberry jam. Very intense. A drop of water helps to loose the alcohol and brings out hints of passion fruit. Finish: long with predominant cocoa / coffee. Strong fig notes.

A great Longmorn for intense sherry lovers. The sherry character is spot on and the power is impressive at such an age. It’s even better with a small drop of water. Around € 240, available from TWE of course but other shops as well.

Score: 91/100

This Longmorn won a Gold medal in the 2006 Malt Maniacs Awards.

Longmorn 34 yo 1972 (45%, Gordon & MacPhail for LMdW 2006, cask #1088, 607 btl.)

Nose: obviously first fill sherry, but very fresh and lively. The usual raisins and dark chocolate are present, but there’s also fresh raspberry, apricot, banana and a few tropical notes. Gentle smoke. Really heavy sherry with beefy notes. A drop of water makes it slightly more herbal but it also amplifies the lush red fruits. Mouth: more smoke now, a few earthy notes and much more wood. Lots of kirsch and Mon Cherie. Moving to liquorice and almonds. Water adds bitter chocolate. Finish: more liquorice, plain salt and Ginjinha (Portuguese cherry liqueur). Long but a bit too dry and rather oaky.

A great Longmorn. The beefy nose and oaky finish will probably appeal to sherry lovers only, but it’s perfectly clean and pretty complex. Long gone.

Score: 91/100

Longmorn 37 yo 1972 (51,3%, Whisky Agency & Three Rivers Tokyo 2010, Perfect Dram IV, 231 btl.)

Nose: superb refill sherry – it shares a lot of influences with the LMdW bottling, but it’s definitely more elegant. The fruity side is bigger (mostly tangerine, banana and mango) and there are more flowery notes (violets and rosewater with some dry flowers). Big hints of furniture polish and cake. More almonds. Rum & raisins. A delicate whiff of peppermint. The heavy sherry of the LMdW bottling made place for a more fragrant and more complex profile with a better balance. No smoke in this one. Water brings out more red fruit (lovely redcurrant) and amplifies the flowers. Really outstanding. Mouth: very rich with lots of red fruits but also apricot marmalade and apples. Leather. Hints of tea yet never too dry. A bit of water makes it even more juicy with fresh figs and lush forest fruits. Finish: very long. The oak is easy to notice but it’s not nearly as invading as in the LMdW.

This Longmorn is exactly how I like my sherry bottlings! One of the best sherried whiskies I’ve come across lately, so “Perfect dram” may well be the truth! Around € 185, but sold out in most places. Too bad I didn’t discover it a bit earlier, because this is a jewel…

Score: 94/100

Longmorn 32y 1976 
(53%, The Whisky Agency 2008, 120 btl.)

Nose: starts very fruity, typical for old Longmorns. Banana, pears, apple skin, some apricot and citrus. Quite some waxy notes and delicate oak. Very light coal smoke underneath. Soft vanilla. Mouth: very punchy with a nice mouthfeel. Again really fruity (banana, yellow plums, oranges, hints of Cointreau) but also a bit spicier (vanilla, herbal tea) and honeyed. The wood is much more present now. Finish: very long, probably because of the oak. Hints of cake and lots of spices (nutmeg, vanilla, cinnamon).

Again a proof of Longmorn’s possibility to age well.
This whisky is anything but tired at 32 years old, although maybe a tad oaky. Around € 165.

Score: 87/100

This Longmorn is rather legendary, especially in Belgium. Some of our Malt Maniacs discovered this in Paris and advised the Belgian importer to make it available. A wise decision, as we will see.

Longmorn 1990/2005
(46%, Berry Bros. 2005, cask #30111 & 30112)

Nose: very fragrant nose. Peach, grapefruit, strawberry. Fresh lemon. Cooked apple. Sweet and fruity, but there’s a lot more going on. Some vanilla. Mint. Milk chocolate with nuts. Dried flowers. A delicate layer of smoke. Hints of wax. What a wonderful complexity! Mouth: sweet and direct. Quite floral as well. Notes of herbal tea and citrus. Vanilla custard. Grapefruit again. Almonds. Light smoke. Banana. Finish: the same beat keeps going: vanilla, grapefruit and almonds, mixed with light peat smoke. Rather light in the end.

The nose is to die for. The mouth and finish keep developing the same flavours in endless variations. Around € 50 at the time. Now impossible to find. Damn!

Score: 91/100

 
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.

Longmorn 13 yo 1996
(49%, The Nectar of the Daily Drams 2010)

Nose: a fresh youngster. A few hints of new spirit which disappear after a while. Lots of pears and apples. White fruits. Candied citrus. Gummy bears. Honeysuckle. Hints of almonds. Quite light and fruity. Mouth: very sweet attack. Pear drops. Flower honey. Slightly waxy. Interesting hints of peat smoke in the background, they add quite a lot of depth. Cocoa notes. Finish: oily texture, with nutty notes and subtle smoke.

An uncomplicated but perfectly nice summer dram, this Longmorn.  There’s a BBR bottling with similar specs for less than € 50 and a recent Signatory bottling for € 35 , so its price (around € 60) is perhaps the only thing speaking against it.

Score: 84/100