jonwilkinson7309
Longrow Red 11 Year Fresh Port Casks
Single Malt — Campbeltown, Scotland
Reviewed
November 8, 2019 (edited December 5, 2019)
Another night in NYC, another whiskey bar. This time, The Whiskey Ward, on the lower east side. The Whiskey Ward is a casual place with a neighborhood bar vibe, albeit one with 400+ whiskeys.
It was a quiet Sunday night, and the wife and I took seats at the bar. The whiskeys are listed on chalkboards suspended from the ceiling, as well as in a three ring binder at the bar. The bottles are lined up on asymetrical shelves behind the bar in a highly random fashion. Chatting with the bartender, I learned that the owner frequently buys new whiskeys, adds more shelving as needed, and fills the shelves in no particular order. The disorder is apparently compounded by bottles being returned to different locations after each pour.
I found some charm in the chaos, and since it was a quiet night, the bartender took her time hunting for my selections. In several cases she determined that the bottle must have been finished, although it's entirely possible that it was there but neither one of us was seeing it.
After a couple of misses, I selected the Longrow Red 11 Cabernet Sauvignon Finish. The bartender gave me a pour and left the bottle. While I was giving it a few minutes to sit, I noticed that it wasn't actually the Red 11 Cab Finish, but the Red 11 Port Finish. At that point, the Port seemed just fine.
The nose and palate did not surprise - there's dark berries, peat smoke, and a little bit of char. It has what I think of as the Campbeltown density, and an oily and rich texture. Overall, very nice.
The one surprise was a bit more of a mellow, rounded off profile than I expected. The answer, as I now see from the prior reviews, may be in the age of the bottle. This was apparently a 2015 or 2016 release, so it has possibly been sitting open on the shelf for several years. As best I can tell, a few years and some air has not been unkind. While I'd still like to try the cab finish, I have no regrets trying the port instead.
The Whiskey Ward
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@Soba45 @jonwilkinson7309 I do the same thing every Thanksgiving ( for our NZ friend soba, it’s a US holiday centered around family and food). I give several bottles to a homeless shelter along with a few turkeys
@jonwilkinson7309 There is always the homeless and down and out. :-) I was inspired by @PBMichiganWolverine when sitting at the bus stop with a bunch of bottles heading to a whiskey tasting I got chatting to a great guy who was hard up. I thought that I didn't need that many bottles so he ended up with a paid bus fare and a bottle of Glenfiddich which he was stoked with. I'm going to start doing it more often :-)
@jonwilkinson7309 - Great review! Sounds like another cool (if a bit disorganized) spot. Your review prompted me to count up how many open bottles I have right now. A few weeks ago I told myself I wasn’t allowed to open anything else until I finished some. Needless to say, I haven’t stuck to my new rule very strictly. I think I have 25 open bottles of whisk(e)y alone. #fail
@Soba45 I'm a failing minimalist, but getting somewhat better. Unfortunately, despite the fact that my state has the highest per capita alcohol consumption in the US, I know very few whisky drinkers, and none that have tastes compatible with mine. So I can't donate. But I've started to play John Glaser with the bottles I'm done with. So far, about 80% of my blends get dumped down the drain, but the remainder are keepers. As much as I don't like to hoard, I also don't like to waste, and experimenting with blends works in both respects.
@jonwilkinson7309 Nice review! My mum was a hoarder so I'm a minimalist from hell. I'm very ruthless with the bottles I buy and most get given away pretty quick unless they are excellent and I never get bored of them which is about only 10% of them!
@PBMichiganWolverine. My objective, probably delusional, is to maintain my collection at no more than 150 so that everything can stay on my shelves. But I'm less than 10 bottles from the limit, so the moment of truth is near.
That owner sounds a lot like me...unorganized , whiskeys in no certain order. I have 600+ in crates; looking for any one particular one is a Herculean effort