Whisky : Longmorn 15 Year (2005), North Star Spirits

Country/Region : Scotland/Speyside

ABV : 63.1%

Cask : Oloroso Butt

Age : 15 Years (Distilled Mar. 2005, Bottled June 2020)

Nose :  Rich sherried notes of dried dates, figs, toasted nuts, and brown sugar.  Dense and intense with leather shoes, olive tapenade, sea salt dark chocolate, and fresh espresso.

Palate : Heavy and dry with loads of sherried fruit, nuts, and spice.  Dried dates and figs in a sugary treacle syrup drowned the profile in sweet dense sugary fruits.  Nutty and meaty notes of leathery Jamon Iberico, old wooden countertops, leather chairs, and almond skins poked above the syrupy flood.  Dryness built over time with notes of Turkish delight, brown sugar, sesame-honey pastries.  Water brought out more fruit and spice while pushing some of the nutty-wood notes to the background.

Finish :  Lingering dried fruits and Turkish delight with a tannic astringency.

Score : 5

Mental Image : Parched at Happy Hour

Notes :  I found this to be a bit disappointing.  None of the Longmorn spirit poked through on this, this was a heavily sherried malt— nay, a bomb.  This reminded me strongly of a 13 Year old Longmorn SMWS did last year entitled “A syrupy sweet tale of romance.”

If you wanted a sherry bomb and did not want the spirit to stand in the way of the Oloroso Hammer, then by all means this would appeal to you.  This was too closed off and hot for me.  Though a few drops of water improved things and opened it up, it was not to my taste and still felt too one dimensional.  The sherry cask absolutely obliterated the Longmorn spirit which was too delicate to really contrast with or stand up against the heavy cask influence.  The sherry bombs I have enjoyed have typically presented more balance between robust malty flavors and the rich cask flavors, the Longmorn was perhaps too delicate.

Overall, this was just not to my taste, but I do not typically gravitate toward heavily sherried bottles anyway.  I love Longmorn and I really wish more of its tropical fruit and pastry qualities poked through.

Image Credit : The Whisky Exchange