The latest (in Australia) early-2022 release in the Longrow "Red" series of wine finished / matured heavily peated Springbank spirit, plus a bonus review of its close relative. The Longrow Open Day 2020 special release!
I have a complicated relationship with the Longrow 'Red' series of red wine cask bottlings. I'd almost go as far as calling them hit & miss, at least for my tastes. So far my picks of the series have been the 10-year old refill Malbec finish from late 2020 and the 11-year old refill Pinot Noir finish from early 2019, although I'm yet to try the 11-year old first-fill Port Cask matured from 2014 or the brand-new Tawny Port bottling that was recently released in Europe. As you can guess from those two winners, most of the first-fill wine cask finishes in the Longrow Red series have left me cold, ranging from decent, to good, but not great. So I'm clearly preferring the refill casks with less wine influence and more of the distillery character on display, and getting outside of the Red series, the 14-year old Sherry Cask (yes, that was all refill casks!) and this incredible refill port cask from Cadenhead's have definitely reinforced that preference. I'm still wishing they'd give us a cask strength ex-bourbon matured Longrow aged in the early teens, which as far as I'm aware doesn't exist outside of the Springbank Society releases or some market-exclusive single casks. Whether all refill or a mix of first-fill and refill casks, I suspect such a thing would be outstanding. But strangely ex-bourbon seems to be the least-common cask type for this heavily peated Campbeltowner, excluding the 46% ABV core range bottling anyway. Even a cask strength version of that "entry level" NAS Longrow would satisfy my curiosity, but I don't think it'll happen anytime soon since there isn't enough out there as it is. Springbank can't keep up with the demand for even their core range bottlings of their three brands, and it's important to remember that the heavily peated Longrow and unpeated Hazelburn brands each account for only 10% of the distillery's annual production.
I've said it before, but it bears repeating: Longrow might be heavily peated by Springbank standards, but this is not an Islay whisky. If you were to only look at everyone's favourite phenolic figures, at 55-60 ppm Longrow does sit comfortably on the higher end of the scale. But if you go in expecting something as smoky and/or peaty as a Laphroaig or an Ardbeg, there's a good chance you're going to be disappointed. This is a heavy, sulphurous, funky spirit by design, being double distilled through Springbank's direct-fired wash still and then the worm tub condenser-equipped first spirit still. The spirit cut points for Longrow are also quite wide and quite late (69-58% for us geeks), giving it a divisive profile. And the peat itself is sourced from the Scottish mainland, generally from the east coast. The same mainland peat is used for the Springbank malt and also the majority of the malt used at sister distillery Glengyle (producing Kilkerran whisky). Speaking of which, the same peated caveats apply to Kilkerran's Heavily Peated range, which also uses mainland peat - don't expect an Islay experience there either! Despite the numbers Longrow's peat character is more of a dirty, earthy, softly smoky style, closer to an Ardmore than an Ardbeg, but in a heavier, dirtier style that is really quite unique.
Getting back to the task at hand, this Longrow Red 15-year old is the early-2022 release, the latest to make it to Australia. An 11-year old Tawny Port bottling has since been released in Europe, bottled in late 2022, which I assume (no guarantee) will make it to Australia later this year. This early-2022 release was matured for 11-years in ex-bourbon barrels before being finished for 4-years in fresh (Springbank-ese for first fill) pinot noir casks sourced from Valli Vineyards in central Otago, New Zealand, which is roughly in the centre of the South Island's lower half - not far from Cardrona, as it happens. This is the third Longrow Red to date that has been finished in pinot noir casks; the first was a 12-year old released in 2015 which had a one year finish in first-fill NZ pinot noir casks, and the second was the aforementioned 2019 11-year old which had a 3-year finish in refill NZ pinot noir casks - sourced from the same vineyard as this 15-year old 2022 release, in fact. As usual this Longrow Red was bottled at cask strength, 51.4% ABV, without chill filtration or added colouring, with 9,400 bottles released. Retail pricing here in Australia was $270-300, and inevitably many will have been flipped for profit (by both retailers and retail customers) in short order. Let's see how it goes!
Longrow Red 15-Year Old Pinot Noir Cask, early 2022, 51.4%. Campbeltown, Scotland.
Matured for 11-years in ex-bourbon, finished for 4-years in first-fill ex-NZ pinot noir red wine casks. 9,400 bottles released Feb 2022. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.
Colour: Bronze.
Nose: Fruity, earthy, rich & sweet. Buttery toasted oak, stewed plums & black cherries, dried apricot. Brown sugar butter caramel, and wine tannins (red grape skins and cold black tea). Old leather, and gravy powder. Touches of spearmint & white pepper around the edges.
Texture: Medium weight. Oily, buttery, fruity. No heat.
Taste: More buttery toasted oak, leather, grape skins & cold black tea (tannins). Touches of white pepper & gravy powder. Stewed stone fruit & dried apricot again but some berries here too, blackberry & blueberry jam. Touch of dark chocolate too, but the wine is doing the heavy lifting here.
Finish: Short-medium length. More cold black tea, buttery caramelised oak, leather & stewed berries & cherries. Earthy peat & dirty smoke coming through towards the end.
Score: 3.5 out of 5.
Notes: An enjoyable Longrow Red, sweeter & fresher than I generally find these releases. Too winey for my tastes though, and the funk is very restrained - barely there at all, in fact, and the trademark earthy peat & dirty smoke don't show up until very late in the third act. So red wine lovers will probably enjoy this one if they aren't fans of Longrow's dirty, sulphury side. But anyone can make a red wine-forward whisky, while only one distillery can make Longrow. Quite a bit of fresh oak influence in this 15-year old too, which seems to push the sweetness up. Like many of these Longrow Red bottlings, I think there's too much wine and too much cask, and not enough distillery character. We need more refill casks in this series please Springbank! How about some ex-bourbon cask Longrow releases too, while you're at it? Lose the "Red" part of the equation and give us the ex-bourbon maturation without the wine finishes. To quote the disco era; "we want the funk". To paraphrase another; "won't you take us to funky town?".
And now, the bonus round!
The Open Day 2020 Longrow bottling is a vatting of two first-fill Pinot Noir casks and two refill Malbec casks, all fully matured and aged for 10-years. Springbank's Open Day bottlings are released for the annual Campbeltown Festival, so they're the equivalent of a Feis Ile bottling. There's usually a Springbank, a Longrow and a Hazelburn, plus a Kilkerran from sister distillery Glengyle, and they're generally a small batch of 3-6 casks sold only from the distillery shop. Thanks to the pandemic though the 2020 Campbeltown Festival had to turn virtual, and it didn't take place at all in 2021, while things have since returned to physical normality in '22. That virtual festival in 2020 meant that the Open Day bottlings were more widely available than usual, and could be purchased directly from the distillery's website for shipping within Europe. I was able to get a bottle on the secondary market which wasn't cheap, but it was more reasonable than some of the more "sexy" bottlings from the same distillery that are still attracting ludicrous pricing on the same websites. Longrow Open Day 2020 was fully matured in 2 x first-fill Pinot Noir red wine casks and 2 x refill Malbec red wine casks, all at least ten years old, with the four casks yielding 1,284 bottles at a cask strength of 53.7% ABV. Malbec is the heavier of these two wine varieties with more tannins, with pinot noir being on the lighter side in comparison. So I'm already thankful that those Malbec casks were refill. Tasting time!
Vatting of 2 x first-fill pinot noir wine casks and 2 x refill malbec wine casks, bottled for Springbank 'Virtual Open Day' 2020. 1,284 bottles. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.
Colour: Bronze.
Nose: Rich, thick & meaty. Loads of dark chocolate & dried raspberry. Blueberry & sour black cherry. Touch of spearmint around the edges, a little powdered ginger there too. Boysenberry ripple ice cream, but light on the vanilla. Earthy peat, roast meat drippings (pork?) & gravy powder, soft wine tannins. Rich toffee fudge & black pepper.
Texture: Medium-heavy weight. Rich, earthy, meaty & fatty. No heat at all.
Taste: Lightly smoky, earthy & meaty. More dark chocolate, rich toffee fudge, sour black cherry, and dried raspberry. Powdered ginger & spearmint around the edges again, plus a pinch of black pepper. Creamy boysenberry ripple ice cream again. Touch of coffee grounds in the background.
Finish: Long length. More meaty roast meat drippings & gravy powder, and earthy, dirty peat. Slight touch of dried orange. Rich chocolate, turning creamy & lactic. Soft grape tannins again, and more blueberry. Creamy chocolate to finish.
Score: 4 out of 5.
Notes: A deliciously earthy, meaty, Longrow that sits almost entirely on the savoury spectrum - more of these please! The wine influence is still obvious of course, but it's less dominant / overbearing than it is in some / most of the regular "Red" bottlings, including the one above. The trademark Longrow earthy peat & dirty smoke signature is very much in the background, or rather it's very well integrated, and the dirty Campbeltown "funk" diesel notes that we all love are still quite soft in this one. But it's no less delicious as a result. I'd rank it slightly above my favourite of the Longrow Red bottlings to date, the 11-year old refill Pinot Noir finish from 2019. It's not really a direct comparison though because this Open Day bottling isn't part of the Red series. Those releases tend to be finished in one particular type of wine cask, while this Open Day bottling was fully matured in two different types of wine cask, and crucially they were a mix of both first-fill and refill. Which has certainly helped retain the distillery character without going over the top with the wine influence. Good stuff!
Cheers!
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