Longrow 18 is a delicate and floral confection

Longrow is Springbank's peated expression.  The 18 year old expression made a couple of appearances in the 90s and then disappeared, apparently gone for good.  John Hansell reported the fitful return of the 18 OB expression in 2008 which was received with fanfare.  Sadly I didn't get a chance to taste it.  The next release after 2008 was the 2011 release reviewed here.  The next one isn't until 2013 and regular releases will not begin until 2015.  Such is the difficulties in ramping up production runs of very old whiskies.

Longrow 18 is double distilled and peated to 50ppm like an Islay malt.  Campbelltown is a maritime location not too far from Islay and Longrow famously uses traditional malting, mashing, and distilling methods.  This could be very Islay-like indeed.  It is aged in refill sherry casks.  Based on these descriptive parameters I was expecting something in the vein of Lagavulin DE or maybe Bowmore Darkest.  That is not at all what showed up in the box of samples from http://whiskysamples.flyingcart.com/

Pale like pinot grigio

Longrow 18 46% OB 2011

Color: straw yellow - pale like white wine.  Pinot Grigio, maybe.  This is shocking color for a whisky from a sherry cask of this mature age.  Obviously they chose a set of well used multiply refilled casks - deliberately.

Nose: Very closed at first with indistinct sweet spirity aromas but with 10-15 minutes of air a flower garden blooms: dusky rose, lilies, honeysuckle, and white pear. Perfumer's notes of lanolin and faint ambergris, butter and salt (but a clean mineral salt - not ocean spray) follow and then a clear and pervasive backdrop of chalk mineral. With much extended time some sour wine aromas begin to show so 10-45 minutes is the sweet spot.  During this window the nose is absolutely glorious.  As close to perfume as any malt in my experience.  That the window closes and sourness intrudes makes this seem even more like a delicate hothouse flower that must be enjoyed while fresh.

Entry picks up the perfumed Highland/Spey fruit basket with a delicate off-dry entry that turns sweet with vividly floral honeysuckle flavors and green apple, and white pear fruits at midpalate. The sweetness doesn't seem like actual tongue hit of wood sugars - but more of an olfactory effect of the perfume floral sweetness interacting with more slight sweetness on the tongue.  The mouth feel is light as a feather, but not watery or thin. Gentle heat shows up at the turn to the finish - a slight peppery glow.  The finish is remarkably long for such a finely dressed slender pale white lady with honeyed grain mash and subtle furniture oak and gentle musk. There is very little tannin influence for a dram of this age. 

A few drops of water releases musky notes in the nose and puts a bit of citrus in with the pear aromas. On the tongue there's a bit more honey sweet and some malt and grain flavors and a bit more spicy heat but the focused floral quality has become less distinct. I'd skip the water on this one unless you have extra time for integration. (The focus returns over hours of marrying time). More than a few drops threatens to turn "delicate" into "thin and weak".

So where is all that peat?  50ppm is close to Port Charlotte range.  This could be a fire breather - but instead it's a great delicate lady in pearls and perfume in a magnificent white size 00 gown.  Where is the sherry?  Tasted blind I would guess this might be a great Speyside or Northern Highland malt.  This is a brilliant deceiver - a deft act of distillitory legerdemain.  As such I'm puzzled, mystified, and delighted.  It's certainly delicious, but risks being a bit too delicate for my tastes - particularly at this price.  Longrow 18 is a rarity that commands between $170-$200.  That being said I'm very glad I had the opportunity to taste it.

 ****

Two expressions of Springbank Cask Strength: One Coopered in Sherry, One in Bourbon Cask. Which is Better?

It's often an interesting topic when it comes to the distiller's decision to barrel age or finish a whisky in various flavored woods, or not.  A big topic in Scotch is aging in sherry casks.  There are many who love the hint of sherry flavor, or the big wallop of the sherry bomb.  Others, more purist, don't want their Scotch to faithfully taste of sherry and prefer more neutral wood aging, such as ex-bourbon American oak casks - famous for their large pore size and excellent flavor characteristics.  You come across aspects of this topic in many venues.  Last year I came across it in a review in Whisky Advocate magazine's Blog which profiled 4 interesting 14 year old sherry finished expressions of Springbank's excellent cask strength offering:

8/1/11 Post John Hansell:
"Here’s a round of single cask Springers matured completely (not finished) in various wine casks for the U.S. market. All four are solid efforts—it’s really a matter of personal preference. (Try to taste them before you buy.) A general comment: most of the single cask releases are matured in some sort of wine or rum cask. While this is nice, I would love to see several single cask, cask strength, and fully-matured ex-bourbon barrel bottlings offered for a change. — John Hansell"
http://www.whiskyadvocateblog.com/2011/08/01/review-four-springbank-single-casks-for-the-u-s-market/

(emphasis is my own)  The comments below carry this theme onward: 

two-bit cowboy says:

August 1, 2011 at 5:04 pm

“While this is nice, I would love to see several single cask, cask strength, and fully-matured ex-bourbon barrel bottlings offered for a change.” — John Hansell  I’m with you on that one!


I didn't think too much about it, but this year I came across a bourbon cask version of Springbank Cask Strength (this one aged 13 years) on http://whiskysamples.flyingcart.com/index.php?p=detail&pid=863&cat_id=
This got me to thinking: "I wonder if John Hansell and Two-Bit Cowboy are right?  Is a bourbon cask expression going to be better than a sherry cask version of essentially the same Springbank?" 
I looked around and, sure enough, Park Avenue Liquors still had one of the four sherry cask finished versions: the Manzanilla.  It looked dark and lush and despite the Blog post's seeming consensus that the paler bourbon aged example might be better I was pretty certain in my bones that the sherry finished one was going to be more succulent and lush.  It was a year older, right?  It was darker and prettier, right?

FYI-I'm not going to discuss the magnificent Springbank distillery in this review, or its storied Campbelltown location.  I have discussed these things elsewhere on this blog and others have done it much better - for example:
http://www.whiskyfun.com/Springbank.html
http://www.maltmadness.com/whisky/springbank.html


FYI - Here's what the Whisky Advocate blog had to say about this particular one of the four:

Springbank, 14 year old, Manzanilla Cask (#259), 54.8%, $100

"Complex citrus (orange, tangerine, lime, and a hint of lemon), honeyed malt kissed by maple syrup, caramelized pineapple, cinnamon, and a dusting of nutmeg. Nutty toffee on the finish."
Advanced Malt Advocate magazine rating: 86"
- John Hansell
http://www.whiskyadvocateblog.com/2011/08/01/review-four-springbank-single-casks-for-the-u-s-market/


Here are my tasting notes on this expression:

Color: rich coppery amber

Nose: rich nutty sherry with a slightly tangy acidic note, Like toffee hazelnut dessert wine lemon-lime with dusky oak perfume. Underneath is a faint salty maritime low-tide note which sits uneasily with the sherry sweet.

Entry is dry and elegantly lean. There's a big expansion of dry raisin, spicy heat and a juicy citrus sherry mid-palate bloom. Toffee and nutty brown-wine notes follow. At the turn to the finish is a sour note - lemon or a twist of lemon in balsamic. Maritime airs float around with salt and sea. The finish is medium-short with tannin bite but comparatively little oak flavor.

It's richly flavored, yet lean and elegant and distinctive but has some off notes in the nose and the finish. It's vinous in exactly the way Manzanilla would be - but the fit with the eclectic Springbank flavor profile is a bit strained.  The sea salt and sour finish clash a bit with the nutty vinous sweetness.  More time in the glass and more air make the entry honeyed and lush enough to help carry the finish.

****

Here are my tasting notes on the bourbon cask aged expression:

Springbank 13 year old Single Cask - Cask 189 - 186 bottles 56.9% - for the Belgian market 

from Belgium's WhiskySamples:

Color: Gold
Nose: bee's wax and honey. Salted porridge, butter, floral meadow, faint sherry. Further nosing baked sweets with red bean paste deep in behind the honey and sherry vine and salt. It's a rich and lovely nose - redolent of comfort foods and floral beauty.

Entry is honeyed and rich with beehive flavors of honey, bee's wax, and oatmeal. Midpalate bites with authority as you'd expect with a cask strength offering. There is august malt sugars and a faint hint of violets. There is also salt air and maritime influence. The turn to the finish brings out a slight dank bitterness like the after taste of drinking beer. The finish is long and lingering with a distinctive mix of honey mead, salty air, sour oak and the lingering flavors of sea air. How can the nose, entry and midpalate be so beautiful and the finish so, well, odd? More air helps allay the bitter sour notes. After half an hour or so of nursing I'm getting some lingering sweetness in the finish that help carry the day. The issue is the interplay of salty maritime influences with the lowland fruity honeyed flavors.

****

Conclusion:  Both are delicious in their own way - with lovely entries and mid-palates; both are flawed in similar ways: sour notes towards the finish.  While this similarity shows the clear kinship of the crafting of the new make, the striking differences in nose and flavor signature show the marked effects of barrel aging.  While both clearly have their charms, I ended up going with John and Two-Bit.  The bourbon aged example was sweeter, richer, more true to the Springbank flavor profile DNA and ultimately the more inviting dram in the end.  And bottom line on both: good but not among the really greats from this great distillery.

Springbank 12 - the complex oddball

The Kintyre peninsula a century ago was the biggest whiskey producing region in Scotland with over 30 distilleries. When Prohibition hit that all changed and now there are really only two: Glen Scotia and Springbank (although Springbank is starting up subsidiary brands at a good clip - up to four now: (the other three are Longrow, Hazelburn, and the just formed Kilkerran)). This story fascinated me when I first got into single malts and Springbank became a staple in my cabinet. The complex mix of sweet, spice, and maritime aspects seduced me. I found the 12 heavily overshadowed by the older expressions, however. Time to revisit this assessment.

Color - pale gold, almost straw.

Nose - raisins, dried figs, rancio (brandy rot), butter and a twist of citrus.

Elegant sweet entry with honey, fresh grapes, and honeysuckle flowers. Light heathery lacy mouth feel. Midpalate hits with white pepper, malt (like fresh powdered malt), some acid like white balsam and some sea brine and distant iodine. There are also citrus and conifer notes. The finish is moderately short with lingering flowers and vines but also a bit of cardboard and then a bitter sap note at the end.

It's very complex but lacks the depth and the richness of the black fruits that grace the older expressions. This is particularly noticeable in the short snap of the finish. The upside is the delightful floral nature of the opening.

I'm a bit conflicted. This is a light heathery floral dram with some Dalwhinny or Royal Lochnagar mountain meadows and flowers and also a hint of sea air and brine - as advertised. However this whiskey feels awfully young for a 12 year old. It seems Springbank benefits from more time in the wood. I recommend you save up for the 15 or the 18 unless you have an academic interest in how the younger expression enhances the floral opening.

3 and 3/4 stars ***+. I long to go 4 because of the honey floral glory of the opening. If you keep sipping pretty quickly you can keep that glory up most of a glass - but the parting view is less pretty. The 12 is like a maiden with a gloriously beautiful face and gleaming golden hair but an unattractive derrière. You have to think twice. (Lord, forgive me for that metaphor).

The ruined tot

The following is a cautionary tale about oxidation and open bottles.  I visit my father in law in England most every year.  He is a wonderful and very intimidating man - brilliant thinker, international chess master, competitive athlete, and a knowledgeable oenophile.  I'm not much for wine, but I always eagerly look through his wonderful cave.  (If I visit your house I'll be poking around your liquor cabinet too - just warning you.  That's how I roll).  One year I found this rare single cask bottle of Springbank 28 in the far way back.  It had been opened, but was over 3/4 full.  The date on the label said distilled April 3, 1965 and the bottling age "28 years" meant that it had been bottled in 1993.  The year at the time was 2008.  I expressed interest and my father in law generously said "take the whole bottle" - that he wasn't interested in it.  I couldn't believe my luck.  The first dram I had was utterly first rate.  Like my beloved Springbank 21 reviewed earlier this week it was redolent of black fruits, spicy wood, deep rich malt flavors and also a bit of the sea.  It was magic.  The fact that it was a specialty private bottling of an expression not normally sold only added to the enjoyment.  Over the next year or so it featured in a few extraordinary tasting sessions.  

As is characteristic for me, I couldn't bring myself to finish the bottle.  However I also neglected to decant the remaining dram into a small bottle to preserve it.  Now here it is a couple of years later and I'm blogging about whiskeys and I think "I should pull out that last dram of Springbank 28.  I bet that would make a great blog post".  Sadly, as you might anticipate the final tot - nicely distributed around the bottle's central punt - was a terrible disappointment.  The nose had gone flat - like flat cola mixed with a lot of bourbon.  There was still toffee and black raisin in the nose, but also a dead dusty flatness with that tired soda and an odd rubbery aroma like old rubber bands.  The taste was a devastating failure.  It was still strong alcohol - but all the magic was gone.  The flavors were dusty dead and flat.  I'm a little too upset right now to transcribe the exact tasting notes.   For academic purposes I'll update this post later...

----

Ok - it's later.  I just finished my Port Ellen post so I'm ready to face this music.

Color:  dark amber with lots of old gold orange.

Nose:  Faint bourbon, waxed old wooden table, flat cola and raisin.

Entry is sweet. Dusty cloying sweetness.  Midpalate broadens into wax and then sourness that combines with the sweetness to meld into a rancid note.  This is unpleasant.  Finish has a bit of vinyl - almost the "new car smell".  There are echoes of dates and wood in the finish that are a sinister reminder of what was lost.

I can't go on.  This is a disaster because this stuff used to be one of the finest scotches I had ever had the pleasure of drinking.  Not a drop should have been wasted.  Instead I wasted a solid 50ml tot.  I should have decanted into a miniature bottle or, better yet, I should have just drank it straight away.  Let this be a lesson to us all.  ---Leave no dram behind---

Springbank 21 - black raisin, fig, date, green apple, Fino, and woodspice. An elegant and polished monster.

Springbank is famously the principle surviving of two distilleries of the century-ago thriving region of Campbelltown in the Southwest. Springbank is famously independent, and also famously clings to old ways, such as malting their own barley and bottling their own whisky. They also produce Longrow. The Springbank flavor profile is, generally, sweet with raisins but also has some pepper and traces of maritime airs. No colorings are used and they tend to be rather light in color. Not this one.

The following bottle of Springbank 21 was purchased in the late 90s. This expression is no longer sold - a great loss to the world although, apparently the current 18 is excellent and in the same vein.

Color - rich golden yellow with amber tints

Nose - spicy sweet with white grape, sultanas, sherry, cognac rancio, pine sap, and demara sugars

Sweet and wine-like on entry - sautern without the syrup with a touch of tart acid like a chenin blanc or green apple. Black fruits: black raisin, fig and date notes dominate the transition to midpalate, which soon buzzes with wood spices, grapevine sap, sherry and oak. Finish is achingly long and sweet with vinous wood tannins, green apple tartness, and finally a sharp herbal bitter bite that has some pine and some angostura bitters quality. With extended air the fig and date sweetness waxes into a thicker mouthfeel and melts with the wood spice to form an austere and elegant form of grapey butterscotch and some lacy floral notes that whip me into flights of ecstasy.

It's an elegant, refined, and totally unique flavor profile that is clear kin to the Springbank 12 and 15 expressions - but amped up into something far more lush and filigreed. Wow. Sweet, tart, sour, and spicy all at the same time. What a monster.

*****