Longrow 15 Year Single Cask Chardonnay Cask

Tried something similar to this drawn straight from the cask from a cadenhead warehouse in an online drammers club tasting. Amazing stuff. Nose: Pineapple, Mango, Smoke, Peat, Coal, Gas, Caramel, Dark Chocolate, Orange, Cherry, Apricot, Passion Fruit, Key Limes, Peaches, White Chocolate, Dates, Vanilla, Cotton Candy Palate: Vanilla, Caramel, Smoke, Peat, Banana, Pineapple, Papaya, Mango, Caol, Citrus, Passion Fruit, Apricot, Salt Finish: Mango, Pineapple, Coal, Oak, Salted Chocolate, Beef, Orange, Passion Fruit, Apricot

Nose - I get light grape, salt, vanilla, oak, and some kind of earthy putty. Taste - Sweet yet light, fruity but subtly so, salty and peated but refined and not austere but reserved. Even some lightly sour noted notes. This is complex, refined, and yet still bold enough to not shy away thanks to the 55% abv. The classic longrow profile is here, hearty dirty salty barely, but the 15 years has add a bit of refinement against a brand that mostly does 12 years or less (the 18 aside but remember that's 46%). The 9 year finishing in chardonnay casks adds an added final layer of not just complexity but truly refined notes. I'm not a big wine drinker and I frankly don't know anything about Chardonnay beyond I believe it is a white wine. It really is playing nicely with the longrow character and I think the 6 years in bourbon casks added a nice vanilla note here and that base is really what is letting the fruity nature of the chardonnay come through but perhaps keeping it from being overly sour or drying. I'm absolutely in search of future casks of any springbank product aged in white wine, I think it has been a huge success. I got this one in trade for a local barely 10 year but I've known a lot of people to get their hands on this one, with 330 bottles it's actually a huge single cask release from springbank. I feel crazy going here but I'm going 4 stars. I think this might be my favorite longrow. I'm not going to be held to that, nor do I require this to be my highest score for a longrow (I didn't check), but this I think edges out the rest for my top spot.