Longrow 15 Year Chardonnay; Cadenhead’s Warehouse Tasting
Whisky : Longrow 15 Year Chardonnay; Cadenhead’s Warehouse Tasting
Country/Region : Scotland/Campbeltown
ABV : 56.2%
Cask : Ex-bourbon (7 years), Ex-Chardonnay Wine (9 years)
Age : 15 Years (Distilled Aug. 19, 2001, Bottled July 25, 2017)
Tasting : Neat in a Glencairn @ Home
Nose : Crispy french toast with whipped cream and smokey maple syrup; or is it a gooey chocolate rum cake? Malty sugars, old books, and something faintly chemical make for an intriguing and sweet nose. Burgers and pineapples on a gas grill give a clean, meaty, fruity smoke.
Palate : Bright and vibrant the first thing that leaps out is just how juicy this scotch is. It’s peaches, tangerines, blood oranges, and sweet red black cherries. It has a full juicy and slightly oily body that coats the tongue and drinks oh so smoothly. Grilled fruits give a hint of the peat and smoke that just lingers in the background, its faint savory notes emphasizing the fruit.
Finish : Long and sweet candied fruit with a hint of spice.
Score : 8
Mental Image : Grilling fruits in the summertime; caramelized sticky sweetness.
Something Similar : Kavalan Distillery Reserve Peaty Oak (more tropical, less body, similar juice)
Something Worse : Arran Amarone Cask Finish (moderate juice, more spice/vanilla, more astringent)
Notes : Holy cow, I want more of this.
Considering this came from a single cask bottled for Cadenhead’s warehouse tasting there are a surprising number of reviews for this exact Longrow as well as reviews for nearly identical bottles (only varying slightly on the bottling date and abv.) Safe to assume that this was originally part of the same lot of casks that has been bottled by the distillery at various times; as a 13 Year old for the Springbank Society in 2015, a 15 Year old for the US market in 2017, a 16 Year old single cask in 2018, a 17 year old in 2019. Each of these out-turns has had a similar provenance: each one I found was distilled on Aug. 19, 2001, transferred from an ex-bourbon cask to a Chardonnay wine cask in 2008, and from there spent varying amounts of time marrying with the sweet white wine in the cask.
So if I really want more— there are Cadenhead’s bottles on auctions, or official bottlings available through retailers in the US (though none by me). As I searched for information on the Longrow Chardonnay, I noticed a number of reviews called it a ‘polarizing’ scotch— something you love or you hate. It is definitely unusual. It is intensely fruity in a way that few other scotches are; it is not dried red fruits, or crisp apples, or tart citrus— flavors that I find tend to be more common. The Chardonnay wine casks really emphasize a juicy quality in a way that I did not expect— especially on a peaty Longrow.
I am not a fan of chardonnay, but I like how it complimented the Longrow spirit. It is sweet, but I did not find it sickly sweet. There is just enough savory peat hanging out to balance the influence of the wine cask.
