Whisky : Longmorn 25 Year SMWS 7.219 “Everlasting tropical love sauce”

Country/Region : Scotland/Speyside

ABV : 50.6%

Cask : Refill Hogshead/Ex-Bourbon

Age : 25 Years (Distilled 4 May 1993)

Nose : Fruity and herbal, the nose on this was bursting with lilikoi, li hing mui covered pineapple, and sweet char sui marinade.  Dried plums and passion fruit gave way to floral clovers, potpourri, licorice, and beeswax.  The nose was delightfully rich and complex.

Palate : Thick oily tropical love sauce coated the palate.  Creamy cherimoya and soursop hung behind a bowl of shave ice covered in syrupy passionfruit and blue vanilla.  Candied mango and floral vanilla bean round out a perfectly balanced body.

Finish :  Long lingering sweet peppercorn spice and tropical hibiscus flowers.

Score : 9

Mental Image : Digging into a bowl of shave ice covered in blue vanilla and tropical fruit syrups— trying to get down to the sweet scoop of vanilla bean ice cream in the center.

Something Similar : Glen Scotia 10Y SMWS 93.98 (similar tropical fruit on the nose, more medicinal)

Something Similar : Springbank 19 Year Sherry (similar li hing and fruit, less sweet, more spice)

Something Worse : Arran 14 Year (similar tropical fruit/floral profile, less complex, less finish)

Notes : Absolutely excellent.  The palate may not have had as much complexity as the nose, but the body was viscous and palate coating which led to a finish that went on and one.  I love a dram that just coats the inside of your mouth with a weighty feeling as it floods across the palate. 

A profile dominated by sugary, syrupy fruits is not typically something I am excited to drink— but I have a soft spot for tropical fruit-dominated profiles, and this Longmorn delivered that in spades.  Unlike previous SMWS bottles where I quibbled about how much ‘Aloha’ was in the bottle, this one has plenty of ‘tropical love sauce.’  It firmly inhabited the tropical Chinatown vibe— walking through stalls of fresh fruits, vegetables, pastries, and marinating meats— finally stopping for a shave ice to cool off in the shade.

The bottle was impressive, it highlighted all the virtues of a long time resting in an ex-bourbon hogshead.  I have not had any other Longmorns to compare this with, if there are others like this, I will definitely be revisiting the distillery.