Whisky : Longmorn 16 Year

Country/Region : Scotland/Speyside

ABV : 48%

Cask : Ex-Bourbon

Nose :  Sweet vanilla cream, tropical fruits and a bit of pastry.  Dried coconut, oranges, tangerines, mango, green apple, and macarons.

Palate : Delightful concentrated fruits— either jam or juice.  Shortbread cookies, soft serve yogurt, and bright tropical citrus fruits give this dram a lovely creamy edge.  Candied apples, a hint of salt, and a bit of dry almond give depth to the sweet palate.

Finish : Medium length sweet fruits and slightly dry almond pastry.

Score : 6

Mental Image : Tropical Fruit Yogurt Cup

Something Similar : Craigellachie 13Y (similar fruit/malt, more pastries, less creamy)

Something Similar : Bushmills 15Y SMWS 51.10 (similar citrus and yogurt, more tart, less sweet)

Something Similar : Arran 14Y (similar fruit & pastry, more tropical/mineral/earth)

Notes :  A lovely entry level dram, this is an ideal summer time sipper.  It was not overly complex, but the palate featured a lovely array of fruit and pastry notes.  It would have been nice if it had a longer finish, but overall it was a quality bottle.  Independently bottled Longmorns have not failed me and I was impressed with this as an official bottling.  It seems a shame that this is pretty much as far as it goes for official bottlings— so much of the production is geared toward the Chivas blends, that aside from occasional IBs, not much is bottled as single malt.  

This particular expression does a lot of the same things as the Arran 14 in terms of tropical fruits and pastries.  Though the Arran has a bit of earth and mineral, this leans far heavier into citrus notes.  Overall an excellent and friendly fruity dram, perfect for the person who wants a lovely fruity profile but does not really want sherry.