Part three of the Springtime run of Springbank reviews. Is an independent bottling of a single malt whisky from a distillery's sister company still an independent bottling? Frankly, when it's this delicious, I couldn't care less!
This Cadenhead's bottling of Longrow single malt could have easily become a single cask official bottling, dressed in fancier clothes and destined for some lucky (meaning, definitely not Australia) retail market. Or it could have easily become part of a larger vatting in the distillery's core range, or part of the "living cask" single malt bottlings which were exclusive to the Cadenhead's flagship store in Campbeltown, but have since shifted over to the distillery shop at Springbank. But it didn't. For some reason, this Longrow ended up as a Cadenhead's bottling instead. It's not such a strange scenario these days where a reasonably large independent bottler owns, buys or even builds a distillery of their own. Gordon & MacPhail purchased and largely rebuilt Benromach in Speyside in 1993 and have a second Speyside distillery in the planning stage, Signatory Vintage purchased Edradour Distillery in 2002, Wemyss built Kingsbarns in Fife a few years ago now (which has just landed in Australia), and Elixir Distillers (Port Askaig, Elements of Islay etc.) have plans to build their own distillery on Islay. In the case of Springbank and Cadenhead's both companies come under the privately owned umbrella of J&A Mitchell, as does nearby Glengyle Distillery (producing Kilkerran single malt). Cadenhead's was purchased by J&A Mitchell in the early 1970s and subsequently relocated to Campbeltown, but the company was originally founded in 1842 which makes them Scotland's oldest independent bottler. Cadenhead's bottle both grain & malt whisky sourced from all over Scotland and internationally (Tasmania and India, for example), and also produce their own blended whiskies, as well as dabbling in other spirits such as gin, rum and cognac on a regular basis.
Most independent bottlers do not bottle their own distillery's whisky under their independent bottling label/s. There have not been any Gordon & MacPhail bottlings of Benromach since their purchase and re-opening of the distillery, although Signatory Vintage do regularly produce a bottling of Edradour as part of their "Un-Chill Filtered Collection" that is really more of a core range distillery bottling with different packaging. On the other hand Cadenhead's frequently bottle both Springbank Distillery and Glengyle Distillery whiskies as single malts, including the Hazelburn, Longrow, Springbank and Kilkerran labels/brands, mostly as cask strength single cask single malts under the 'Authentic Collection' label that is exclusive to their own stores. They also occasionally include those spirits in some of their "Cadenhead Creations" blends, or as their Cadenhead's Warehouse Tasting bottlings which mainly feature other distilleries from other regions. They're not often found as part of the company's main 'Small Batch' collection, which could be a good thing since those were once bottled at cask strength but have now been reduced to 46% ABV across the board. Anything Campbeltown has exploded in popularity and demand over the last couple of years, and all of the Cadenhead's bottlings from Springbank or Glengyle disappear as soon as they're released - or even before they're released in most cases. Naturally many of those then re-appear on whisky auction websites in short order, although that does seem to happen less often than it does with the Springbank official bottlings. In this case I shouldn't complain about the situation too much, since while not exactly a cheap proposition, if this particular bottle hadn't been resold on an auction website I would never have been able to buy it on this side of the planet! Quality does seem to be very high with these bottlings, as it is with most Springbanks and Kilkerrans of course, and this Longrow is no exception. Age statement, non-chill filtered, natural colour, and basic, minimalist packaging - that's all Cadenhead's standard MO.
Longrow is the double-distilled, heavily peated spirit produced at Springbank Distillery that makes up only 10% of their already-tiny annual production that doesn't come close to meeting demand. That double-distillation means that Longrow spirit comes from only the first and second pot stills, the former being direct-fired and the latter being equipped with a worm tub condenser, and different (later) cut points are used in the Longrow spirit runs compared to the cuts for Springbank or Hazelburn spirits. That results in a delicious rich, oily, dirty, funky spirit with loads of character. Despite being heavily peated, up to around 60 ppm in fact, in reality Longrow is not particularly peaty compared to the famous names made across the sea on nearby Islay. That's partly due to the fermentation and distillation regime used at Springbank, but also due to the fact that while the barley is floor malted on-site at the distillery the peat itself (used in Kilkerran, Springbank and Longrow production) is sourced from the northern mainland of Scotland rather than locally. There are conflicting sources here, but that's apparently because the local Machrihanish peat bog is too sandy and also too difficult to harvest in the small quantities required. The long-dead Victorian-era Campbeltown distilleries would all have used local peat though, and Springbank certainly would have in the past, although there are also rumours that they've sourced Islay peat at times. Perhaps that was used in Springbank production (which is only lightly peated) so it flew under the radar, or perhaps it was used in earlier Longrow production that began in the early 1970s, but I'm yet to find any overt Islay-style peatiness in a contemporary Longrow, and neither do the reviews that I've read from other sources. Regardless, Longrow is still a peaty whisky, albeit in an earthy, dirty way as you'd expect from peat sourced from the mainland, but it's also still a very coastal whisky as you'd expect from Springbank and from Campbeltown.
The majority of attainable (so not the 21-year old!) contemporary Longrow releases tend to be quite cask-forward, whether they've been fully matured or finished, often in sherry or wine casks as is the case with the 'Red' wine cask series. That can often resulting in a level of (intentional) sulphur that many drinkers find challenging - the 14-year old Sherry Cask Matured from 2018 for example, which I and many others loved, but some hated. The spirit does stand up to cask influence very well and seems to work with any cask type, but if you do come across an ex-bourbon cask or a refill cask example, grab it with both hands! Speaking of which, let's get into this review. This Cadenhead's bottling is an 11-year old single cask, distilled in 2007 and bottled in 2019 and fully matured in a refill port pipe (550-600-litre cask) with a yield of 708 bottles at a cask strength of 57.8%. Being a product of J&A Mitchell, Springbank and Cadenhead's it is of course non-chill filtered and naturally coloured. Tasting time!
Heavily peated & double-distilled from Springbank Distillery. Distilled 2007, fully matured in a single refill port pipe, bottled 2019. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 708 bottles.
Colour: Amber.
Nose: Smoky, oily and citrusy. Touch of smoky oily peanut butter, cold fatty bacon, tart blueberry and buttered burnt toast. Blow-torched orange rind and thick dirty smoke. Dried raspberry, builder's putty (e.g. gap filler) and muddy, earthy peat. Lemon zest around the edges too.
Texture: Heavy weight. Big & oily, dirty & loaded with character. Very slight touch of heat and it works.
Taste: Flavour explosion! Big oily, dirty smoke, more smoky peanut butter and tart dried berries. Blow-torched orange rind again, more dirty smoke but it's quite ashy now and there's a touch of dried smoked red chilli flakes (chipotle). Beautiful sharp & bitter salted lemon, old greasy machinery, dank & damp dunnage (earthen) floors. Something medicinal in there too, like dusty old compressed tablets (pills) - disprin maybe (dissolvable asprin).
Finish: Medium-long length. Sea salt, ashy dirty smoke carries through, touch of oily fish. Dried citrus peels (bitter rather than sweet) and more earthy, muddy peat. Touch of old industrial oils, greasy putty and damp dunnage (earthen) floors. Lovely sharp salted lemon again.
Score: 4.5 out of 5.
Notes: Delicious. A great example of a refill cask adding just the right amount of influence while also allowing the reductive part of the maturation to fully do it's thing. No semblance of the wood itself either - a big cask would help with that of course, and they don't get much bigger than a port pipe, but being a refill cask has definitely helped there. This is a big, dirty, rich whisky that is loaded with character - and what more could you ask for! This Cadenhead's bottling could well be my favourite Longrow to date, and it's one of the best examples I've had that shows off the muddy, earthy, dirty peat and the dirty "old school" or even industrial character that Longrow is renowned for - and loved for. In this case those nutty, tart dried berry and sharp citrus notes are just delicious, and I'd assume that the refill port pipe was responsible for the former while the spirit brings that bitter & burnt citrus and of course that thick oily smoke. This is certainly no shy or delicate whisky, it's big & brash, and beautiful!
I do wish we saw more higher-strength refill cask Longrows where the distillery character and spirit character can really shine, since in my experience most of the Red series tends to be quite wine-forward and/or cask heavy, and they're the only higher ABV Longrows that we see in Australia. Actually having said that, I just wish we saw more Longrow in general! There's only so much of it to go around, and despite this 'brand' still flying under the radar of many whisky enthusiasts, that amount just is not enough - but this Cadenhead's bottle is a great example of just how great it can be!
Cheers!
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