One more Longmorn 1975 before we move to other drams. It was bottled by The Whisky Agency in the Still Lifes series.

Longmorn 35 yo 1975 (52,5%, Whisky Agency ‘Still Lifes II’ 2010, bourbon hogshead, 107 btl.)

Nose: this one starts much more old-style, with a dustiness and plenty of oily / waxy notes. Some grassy notes and hay. Less tropical than the Daily Dram Germany version, but it picks up fruity notes after breathing. Honeydew melon, peach, papaya. Vanilla. Barley sugars. Sweet almonds. Mouth: punchy, with fruity notes struggling to balance the big amount of oak spices (pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, mint). Pineapples with soft mocha / milk chocolate. Liquorice towards the finish. Finish: long and spicy with citrus candy.

On the nose, the expected juicy fruitiness of this Longmorn is muted by oily and grassy notes. On the palate, the oak spices are slightly overwhelming. Therefore not my favourite of the bunch. Around € 170.

Score: 88/100

Our next Longmorn 1975 in this little series. It was bottled by The Nectar of the Daily Drams (the Belgian series). It’s a follow-up for the Longmorn 1975 at 44% bottled in 2010 (lower strength but slightly darker) and it will be the last cask we’ll see in the near future.

Longmorn 35 yo 1975
(50,8%, Nectar of the Daily Drams 2011)

Nose: holds the middle between the Daily Dram Germany and the Whisky-Fässle releases. Banana and papaya mixed with soft grassy notes, citrus and oak polish. More beehive notes and wax I would say. A slight nose prickle which seems to come more from the spices than from the alcohol. The same mint, nutmeg and soft pepper. Water makes it more citrusy in the style of the 1976 Longmorns. Mouth: very fruity (do I need to repeat the oranges, apricots and tangerines?) with a spicy kick. Honey and marmalade. On par with the Whisky-Fässle bottling, with added hints of aniseed and liquorice. Water seems to make it a little sweeter. A second wave of fruits in the aftertaste. Finish: long, spicy with lingering fruits.

This Longmorn is certainly up there and it has the advantage of being able to play around with water and bring out different elements. I still prefer the 44% bottling and it’s a little more expensive than the others: around € 200.

Score: 91/100

Here’s another Longmorn 1975, also sourced in Germany. The big difference seems to be the higher alcohol strength (49% vs. 40%).

Longmorn 35 yo 1975 (48,8%, Whisky-Fässle 2010, bourbon hogshead #2943)

Nose: more flowery than the Daily Dram version. Buttercups. Green banana. Green apple. Kiwi and citrus. Very fruity, but a more sour kind of fruitiness. A bit more grassy notes as well, due to the higher strength maybe? Soft spices in the background (pepper, eucalyptus). Mouth: very spicy and fruity, in the same league as the Daily Dram (orange, papaya, banana, passion fruit) but without the oak juice. The added strength really helps this one. Some nutmeg. Finish: quite long on liquorice.

On the nose, I think this one lacked a little juicy sweetness, although some airing took away most of the differences. On the palate, it’s clear this is the better choice for being less oaky / tired. Still available from Whisky-Fässle, around € 170.

Score: 91/100

It seems every bottler wants to have a mid-1970’s Longmorn these days (check this, this and this). No suprise as some of them were really wonderful. Here’s one bottled by The Nectar of the Daily Drams, exclusively for Germany.

We’ll have it side-by-side with three other Longmorn 1975 releases published in the next couple of days.

Longmorn 35 yo 1975 (40,5%, Nectar of the Daily Drams for Germany, bourbon hogshead)

Nose: sweet and fruity Longmorn, with honey, tangerine and apricots. Lots of papaya and ripe bananas. Spanish membrillo. Almond cookies. Very sweet and rounded, with hints of white chocolate and a little mint and pepper to add to the complexity. Mouth: a fair amount of oak which adds a sourness to the otherwise great fruitiness. Oranges, apricots, passion fruits…  Then showing some more oak juice, fruit tea and grapefruit. Finish: not too long, citrusy and minty with traces of fruit compote.

A great nose with a slightly oaky palate. I started with a big 92 score but the palate brought it down to 87. Still an interesting malt, no doubt. Available from eSpirits, around € 180.

Score: 87/100

This Banff 1975 won a silver medal in the 2010 Malt Maniacs Awards. The label says “bourbon cask” but I really wouldn’t be too sure about that…

Banff 34 yo 1975 (44,1%, A.D. Rattray 2010, bourbon cask #3354, 250 btl.)

Nose: old sherried Speyside. Rancio aromas, cigars, walnuts, rum & raisins. Hints of smoke (gunpowder?), but overall impressively gentle, waxy and distinguished, with old roses and leathery touches. Precious wood as well. A gentleman. Mouth: perfect strength with more sherry influence and a lovely dustiness. Dried fruits. Plenty of walnuts, this time also softly bitter notes (orange peel and clove). Liquorice. Some nutty notes. The wood (or rather wood polish) comes through, but it’s never dry or tannic. Hints of tea and spices. Finish: not too long, with walnuts, cigars and a spicy edge.

As we’ve seen before, Banff with heavy sherry maturation can work out really nice. Around € 145 but getting hard to find.

Score: 91/100

North British distillery (near Edinburgh) is one of the largest Scotch grain producers. They were founded in 1885 and their spirit is used in blends like The Famous Grouse, J&B, Johnnie Walker, Cutty Sark, you name it… Occasionally casks are bottled as single grain whisky.

This 48 years old 1965 release is a joint bottling of The Whisky Agency with Komplex Whisky in Sweden.

North British 48 yo 1962 (47,9%, The Whisky Agency ‘Perfect Dram’ 2010, bourbon hogshead,
146 btl.)

Nose: grains and ripe banana with a lot of coconut and vanilla but some earthy notes as well. A little glue. Close to other single grains, but quite smooth and balanced. This one adds a little wax, leather and some icing sugar. Cinnamon. A faint hint of Nivea cream as well, maybe. Mouth: starts fairly gentle but picks up strength. Corn and vanilla with a certain grassy spiciness. Coconut milk and nougat. Banana milkshake. A little kirsch. Finish: medium length, sweet, with a nice caramelized banana aroma.

This is exemplary grain whisky. Downside: it doesn’t show the same complexity as old malt whisky. Upside: not at all tired, plenty of punch and much cheaper than malt whisky. Around € 140.

Score: 88/100

Greenore, the Irish grain distillery run by Cooley, released a 10 year-old single cask bottled at cask strength. It is only available in Belgium.

Greenore 10 yo (52,9%, OB 2011 for Belgium, cask #87, 394 btl.)

Nose: typical banana ice cream aroma (banana, whipped cream and vanilla) with hints of Pïsang Ambon or chocolates with banana filling. Nice and quite unique. There’s also a honey coating and a corn sweetness that you don’t find in many other grain whiskies. A little coconut. Certainly attractive but I feel it doesn’t speak loud enough – underneath the alcohol the aromas are quite soft and fluffy. Mouth: sweet vanilla with freshly cut wood kicking in. Banana. Coconut milk. Hints of barley and caramel. Again quite creamy although there’s a slightly spirity bite towards the end (a drop of water helps). Finish: medium length, with dark sugar and a little Malibu.

A nice expression of this Irish single grain, which reminded me of certain rums. I like the nose better than the palate. Around € 50.

Score: 83/100

Duncan Taylor is the most active supplier of good Caperdonich. Until last year, they were released as part of their Rare Auld series, but since the demolition of the distillery (October 2010), new bottlings are part of the Rarest of the Rare series. It’s sad but Caperdonich will never come back.

Last February, a Caperdonich 1969 cask #3250 was bottled, as well as the Caperdonich 1972 cask #7460 we’re reviewing here. Earlier this week, cask #7440 was bottled (53,6% as well).

Caperdonich 38 yo 1972 (53,6%,
Duncan Taylor Rarest of the Rare 2011,
cask #7460, 160 btl.)

Nose: very close to the 1972 bottled by Whisky Agency, which is currently my benchmark Caperdonich. Furniture polish and oak (which fades out over time) with tangerine, yellow plums, oranges and a little mango. Very juicy, a tad more citrusy than the TWA version. Maybe a bit more spices: cinnamon and mint, a little pepper. Vanilla. Slightly less beehive notes, although there’s certainly some wax and honey involved. Again very attractive with great depth. Mouth: assertive and punchy. Initially there’s a certain sharpness from the oak but over time it gets smoother. Very fruity: apricots, fig marmalade, honey. Plenty of spices (pepper, mint, cloves) and a faint bitter note from the oak. Finish: ginger and liquorice, mixed with honey.

Another wonderful Caperdonich! One point less for having a slightly less unique nose, but on the other hand this is priced well below the TWA version. Around € 140 which makes it quite a bargain. It seems most of the allocation went to Germany.

Score: 93/100

In case you haven’t noticed already, there’s now a Facebook page for Whiskynotes.be. Head over there if you’re interested in “informal” notes and early suggestions before they appear on the blog.