Whisky: Longmorn 15 Year

Country/Region: Scotland/Speyside

ABV: 45%

Age: 15 Years

Nose: Honey, sesame, buttery pastries, malty sugars, ripe tropical fruits, vanilla, cream, a kiss of salt.

Palate: Medium-bodied, tropical fruit, herbal tea, hints of tobacco, pastries, honey and ginger at the end.

Finish: Medium-length with honey, tropical fruit, hints of shortbread cookie.

Score: 6-7

Mental Image: Beach Shack Cookie Shop

Narrative & Notes: A tin of shortbread cookies came to mind as the aroma presented buttery pastries, honey, refined sugar, a kiss of salt, and sesame. Fruits arrived to compliment the malty sugars with melon, lilikoi, and dried mango. Vanilla cream and icing sugar developed with more time. On the palate were notes of tropical fruit, tea, and pastries. Not quite soursop or mango, but definitely tropical, the vibes leaned toward hibiscus and passionfruit tea with a subtle herbal undercurrent of tobacco. Honey lingered on the back palate with sweet ginger and guava candies. The finish was medium-length with honey, tropical fruit, and subtle shortbread cookies.

The world needs more Longmorn. Despite being one of the larger Scottish distilleries— 4.5 million liters in theoretical capacity— Longmorn is rarely sold as a single malt. The 2022 Malt Yearbook noted that only 22,000 official distillery-released bottles of Longmorn were sold worldwide in 2019. The vast majority of the malt produced at Longmorn goes to Chivas Regal 18 (no wonder it is so good) and other premium Chivas products.

Overall, delicious, though no longer available. The Longmorn 16 Year replaced the 15 in 2007. I thought the 16 Year was equally as delicious; unfortunately, it tends to be on the more expensive end for official bottlings.