Whisky : Longrow Red 13 Year Malbec

Country/Region : Scotland/Campbeltown

ABV : 51.3%

Cask : Ex-Bourbon, S. American Malbec

Tasting : Neat in a Glencairn @ Home

Nose : Bright red right apples and cherry cola, the nose opens fruity and sweet.  Mineral and metallic notes of zinc and copper come through with smoldering coal.  Grape skins and musk provide a tannic dry quality in the background.

Palate : Tart cranberry or raspberry coolie to open along with elements of dried citrus rinds.  The tart fruit is complimented by the faint smoke of burning incense and toasted herbs.  A bitter phenolic bite rounds out the otherwise harmonious blend of light smoke and concentrated fruit.

Finish : Long and lingering burning orange peel and cinnamon spice.

Score : 7

Mental Image : Dessert at a too hip for its own good restaurant; smears of fruit coolie, caramelized citrus rind, and bitter burnt herbs decorate a place which you are told is a deconstructed classic dessert but looks more like a child playing with paint.

Something Better : Ardbeg Uigeadail (Similar peaty bite, less smoke, less rich wine influence)

Something Similar : Laphroaig Cairdeas 2018 (similar jam and toast, more florals, less herbs)

Something Worse : Longrow Peated (similar dry peat, opens up well with water or time)

Notes : During a reddit round of “tell me what you like and I’ll recommend something,” I mentioned that my wife was a huge Ardbeg Uigeadail fan and a response suggested she might enjoy Longrow Red for its the peat and red wine cask influence.   That was the humble beginning for my quest to actually get a Longrow Red so we could try it and see just how it compared to my wife’s beloved Uigeadail.

The Longrow Red is an annual limited edition release from Springbank Distillery for their heavily peated ‘Longrow’ line.  The heavily peated spirit rests in ex-bourbon casks for a decade or so before transfer to various types of red wine casks.  The market I live in is small, in the middle of an ocean, and really at the butt end of the US alcohol and spirits distribution network.  Limited edition bottles do not reliably make the journey out here and I have never seen a Longrow Red in the wild.  

Getting a bottle was only possible thanks to a loving wife who did not mind a detour to pick up scotch while on a work trip.  Thankfully one of the larger spirits purveyors where she travelled had their inventory online, so I was able to cobble together a wish list of bottles for her to pick from.  

This bottle was quite hot when we first opened it up, but a few drops of water and some patience allowed the whisky to open up nicely.  A few months oxidizing in the bottle and no water is necessary to get down into the tart fruits and faint smoke.  It is an fine bottle and with any luck I will have a chance to try some of the other Longrow Red wine finishes.