Jose-Massu-Espinel
Longrow Peated
Single Malt — Campbeltown, Scotland
Reviewed
August 29, 2020 (edited August 9, 2021)
Every single time i see a horrible looking bottle, i buy it. It is because i truly believe in the "Laphroaig Effect", a term invented by me, which is used to describe a great whisky in a horrible bottle; my analysis on that particular issue is that the whisky must be incredibly good so the distillery doesn't need to spend on marketing.
And Longrow Peated is one of those examples. A whisky from a Campbeltwon distillery, one of the few, Longrow is known for having the peatiest profile of all of Springbank's whiskies.
Bottled at 46%abv, pale straw color.
On the nose is very good and it is not the best part of this whisky. Heathery peat, very perfumed. Floral, moss. It has this humid storage facility aroma, like and old library. Lemon, green apples. Soy Sauce, new leather and the aroma of a new car. After first sip, dulce de leche, gunpowder and ginger appeared. Salty, reminds me of the beach.
Palate is extraordinary. Starts with the most fancy Vanilla flavor ever, then a pepper bomb explodes, with salt and chilli. Very, very, very salty.
Aftertaste is amazing as well. Very Mineral, tastes like licking a boulder. Peaty; chilli, ashes. Great stuff.
Overall this is a fantastic whisky, and i recommend you to try it. My score for it is 92 over 100. Sláinte!
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Great review, and I agree - a great whisky. @ContemplativeFox, I agree that the middling ratings are puzzling, and I hate to admit it, but I those ratings prevented me from buying a bottle until it hit the clearance shelf at our state liquor store. @Soba45, I like the "thinking dram" designation. I find that to be true of Campletown generally. I used to refer to Springbook bottles as "advanced whiskies", but I think it will be "thinking drams" henceforth!
@Soba45 Man, don't tell me that :( I tried the Longrow 18 and was really disappointed, but also relieved that I didn't have to buy a bottle. Knowing that there's so much variation now...
@Jose-Massu-Espinel I had the CS edition. Very, very nice.. would have loved a bottle
@Soba45 i totally agree with you. have you ever tasted Bowmore Devil's Cask iii? that is one of those
@ContemplativeFox @cascode Yeah i quite liked this one. 3.75 - Above average I gave it. I cracked open a bottle of the 2018 18 yr Longrow last week. I'd kept a dozen bottles back from my sell off and that was one. Scotchharding and GP raved about it. SH said it was in his top two ever with the Balblair 1983 i think. I'd had the 18 before and thought meh but what i didn't realise is how variable each age stmt back is year to year. The 2018 is very special.I drank upon just opening and thought wow this is just going to evolve into an excellent dram. There are drams which I call 'thinking drams'. Doesn't matter how busy your mind is the dram forces you to pause, dissect and and really think what this dram is all about and why instinctively you know its very special but you know it's going to take you a while to unpack over many many sessions. Instant buy if you see it.
@cascode I completely agree, both on bottle shape and on quality. It just goes to show how exceptional Springbank is.
@ContemplativeFox I can’t think of another Scottish distillery that has such an uncompromisingly amateurish label design as Springbank. However, much as I don’t like their labels or packaging (apart from the bottle shape itself) I really, really like what their design ethos represents. Quality sells itself – no marketing is needed - and nothing exemplifies that better than Springbank.
@cascode I'm actually with you on the label and style as well for this one. IMO regular Springbank and Corsair labels are the ugliest ducklings.
@ContemplativeFox Same here, I guess it suffers from the NAS-hatred syndrome. I think I'm also in the minority in actively liking both the bottle style and the label on this expression.
You might just have a point about ugly-duckling bottles.
Loved this when I tried it at a bar and looking forward to one day opening the bottle on my shelf! I'm surprised by the middling community and Distiller reviews.