Longrow 18 Year

On the nose, white peppery, green apple, pear and a little un-ripe banana, with a charcoal grill the next yard over grilling 8 Hebrew Nationals. Pretty malty upfront on the taste; a little surprising from the nose. The pear and charcoal take center stage as it travels to the finish. This was a Christmas gift from my wife...took the bottle she gave me, back, and got this one - I know I'm a horrible person. This is very good bottle but not happy with the price and ABV. I'm glad I have it as a collector, but wouldn't stretch this far in my pocket if I wasn't a nerd. 5.0 - go out and buy all of the stock you can find. 4.0 - must buy at least one bottle before you die. 3.0 - solid, must try at a bar, or mooch from a friend. 2.0 - didn't like it, you may. 1.0 - you may have the palate of my dog, and he licks his own ass.

Sweet lemon candies, soot, charcoal, honey, malt and seashore great the nose. Palate is slightly viscous with more lemon candies, honey, malt, plus some caramel, red fruits, umami, sea salt, black pepper. Finish is longish and peppery. Thanks to @ctbeck11 for the sample. Distiller Review No. 607

Nose - oily peat, charred orange, lemon, sultana, green apple, funky herbal notes, vanilla cream, yeast, honey, overripe banana, chocolate, cinnamon, butterscotch, rich oak, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - oily peat, lemon zest, charred orange, dark chocolate, coffee, mint, ginger, white pepper, caramel, tar, vanilla, brine, cinnamon, nutmeg, honey, fig, moderate alcohol bite, finishing long with charred citrus, oily peat, honey, and dark chocolate flavors. The last of my Longrow reviews is this 18 Year bottled in 2015 and aged exclusively in sherry casks. The nose is fantastic. Rich, oily maltiness, honeyed fruits, charred orange and lemon, and even some rummy banana notes. The palate smacks you with more dirty peat, some deeply sour citrus, chocolate, and sherried fruit flavors. The mouthfeel is thick and the finish is deliciously long. This is outstanding whisky. The additional age really helps the classic Longrow aromas shine. There’s some sourness, but it’s deeper and less youthful than the others I reviewed. My biggest issue with the standard Peated and Red releases I tried was the brightness. I think the age is just right with this one. I’d love to try the 21 Year, but the price tag is holding me back. At $250 a bottle for the 18 Year these days, you’re not getting deal. But you are getting one hell of a whisky.

vanilla toffee peaty peach

vanilla toffee peaty peach

Rating: 21/23 I recall actually preferring the regular Longrow to this last time I tried them. I think my palate was off that day though because now I'm finding the regular Longrow to be too brash. Or maybe this is a different vintage; I'm not sure whether I also had the 2015 last time. N: Rich with bitter herbal and smoky scents that remind me a bit of asphalt on a hot day. Dry grass with some quite subdued malty sweetness. minerals leading into light vanilla. Distant roasted meat encroaches. A hint of tangerine mixed with apple. There's a mellow wood richness filling in the bottom of this too in way that ties it all together. Sweet bourbon scents of vanilla, caramel, and cinnamon. A hint of licorice. P: Oh, yeah; this is immediately better than the regular Longrow. There's so much complexity and balance here in comparison. There's a lot of interesting funkiness. Some of it is definitely challenging, but none of the flavors are inherently bad. Peat with a bit of tar, smoke, toasted grain, roasted meat, minerals, vanilla, light cinnamon, dried out wood, a touch of tangerine and waxiness, a little caramel, subdued malt, maybe occasional whiffs of dungeness crab. Some dry grass with a heathery character. Occasional hints of orange peel. It's hard to catch everything that is happening here because there's a lot. And it's delicious. The complexity is excellent here and the balance is great too. The maturity is very substantial, though I wouldn't be guessing this was in its late 20s or anything. F: Mellow peat with vanilla, toasty grain, a bit of mineral with light sea spray., a sprinkle of cinnamon. Smoke farts through for a long time. Very faint farmy earthiness and dry grass. A mellow barrel layer helps the finish to last a while. Occasional slightly notes of meat and iodine that make me think just a little of crab. - Conclusion - I'd take this over the Longrow 13 Cabernet Sauvignon. Both are great, but this really delivers on the core Longrow profile with more maturity, letting the character show through with minimal interference. I find this to be pretty competitive with Springbank 18 (2018) (22). The Springbank 18 might be just a bit more refined and balanced, but this is really close. The more assertive flavors do stand out more. Lismore 21 (19) is quite a fine dram. It strikes me as a bit more coherent than this, but also more sulphuric and muddled. I would say that this is the better of the two for sure, though the cap isn't so wide that I'm confident this is better than a 20. El Dorado 21 (21) is getting a comparison here because it's so complex. I find the complexity here to be superior, though the balance might be a little rougher. Considering that I thought Springbank 18 (2018) was on the borderline between a 22 and 23 and this is so close to it while also being competitive with El Dorado 21, a 21, I'm looking at a 21 to 22 for this. The nagging doubt I have in my mind is that the Lismore 21 was surprisngly close, so a 20 is still a possibility. It would be a high 20 though. Giving this a nice 45 minutes to breathe, it really comes together beautifully. I'm now thinking that it's closer to a 22. So I'll give it a solid 21. Really excellent. A big thank you to @ctbeck11 for the sample of this one! I'm thinking now that 18 years might be the magical age for Longrow like it is for Springbank. Well, there may be some older stuff that's better, but I won't find out because I don't have that kind of cash to burn.

Very smooth and perfectly peated