Origin: Speyside (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 47.5%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex-Bourbon barrel 1st fill
Chillfiltered: No
Added colouring: No
Owner: Morrison Distillers
Average price: € 70.00
Official website: www.carnmorwhisky.co.uk
Vote: 89/100
There are distilleries whose owners don’t seem particularly interested in enhancing the qualities of their whisky, and that is indeed a pity, whatever the reasons. Longmorn is one of them. Fortunately, there are independent bottlers….
The writer remembers with pleasure at least the 15yo, fresh and captivating, branded Morisco Spirits, tasted last year at the Florentine Whisky Week.
At the recent Whisky Week in Veneto, on the other hand, we tasted, at the suggestion of the importer Fabio Ermoli, a Longmorn 8yo, from a first-fill ex-bourbon cask, distilled in 2013 and bottled in 2022 by Càrn Mòr, alias Morrison Distillers. We drink it again today, remembering that the strength is the usual 47.5%ABV of the Strictly Limited series and that the outturn is 1260 bottles, still available around shops.
Tasting Notes
The colour is warm gold.
On the nose, the entrance is on the tip of pastry, with a robust dose of vanilla, a light spiciness attributable to white pepper, a sprinkling of ginger and a lively scent of cyclamen. After a few minutes, preceded by an impression of polished light wood, comes a respectable fruit compartment with lemon, yellow apple, apricot and peach. As the olfactory analysis proceeds, a hint of freshly baked stuffed brioche emerges, mouth-watering.
On the palate, the pastry is even richer, with shortcrust pastry, vanilla, icing sugar and jelly. Apricot and peach, also in syrup, and yellow apple, remind us that fruit, as our mothers used to say, is good for you (especially in whisky, we point out), while lemon adds a touch of freshness that sounds perfect in the overall profile. The cream croissant and zabaglione take us (happily) back to the pastry shop. The body of the whisky is deliciously smooth, bordering on sexy, and the alcohol simply does not exist.
The finish is long and rich, with ginger, custard, orange cream, apricot, peach and stuffed brioche. Ready for another dram?
That you don’t need H-bomb gradations and Methuselah-like ageing to have a good whisky is a well-known fact worth reiterating. What hits the mark here is above all an elegance and an overall pleasantness that is truly out of the ordinary. And an ease of drinking that seriously risks soon emptying the bottle.