Whisky: Longmorn 29 Year (1990), Single Malts of Scotland

Country/Region: Scotland/Speyside

ABV: 49.1%

Cask: Hogshead

Age: 29 Years (Distilled 24 Sept. 1990, Bottled 19 Dec. 2019)

Nose: Mellow tropical florals and fruits with a subtle earthiness. A tropical garden stroll through earthy floral notes of hibiscus, plumeria, and teak with a picnic of buttery pastries. Almond croissants, bacon epi bread, and passionfruit sticky buns arrived with tropical fruit sugars, hints of citrus, and glossy magazine spreads. The underlying earthiness hinted at potting soil and garden detritus.

Palate: Light-bodied with a restrained profile of tropical fruits, earth, and honey. Inside the tropical conservatory's greenhouse was a melange of orchids and poinsettias that arrived with a mellow oiliness. Hints of basalt and limestone paved pathways came into focus as mineral notes appeared interspersed with green tropical fruits—mangos and apple bananas. Hints of guava pastries with a mild buttery quality appeared at the end with peppercorn and a bitter herbal note.

Finish:  Lingering notes of clay and green fruit.

Score: 5

Mental Image: Botanical Garden Picnic

Notes: Aromatic yet quiet, I poured a bit of this dram, left, and when I returned, its sweet tropical aroma had filled the room. The nose was beautiful— rich and fragrant with an earthiness underlying sweet tropical fruits, pastries, and florals. The wife and I took our wedding photos in a tropical botanical garden, and I felt like I was right back there, wondering the pebble pathways and peaking in the orchid and corpse plant conservatories.

The palate left me in shambles and not in a good way.  An oddly sour-herbal-floral quality kept poking in between notes of unripened tropical fruits and honey.  The body was very much on the light side and the flavors faded far too fast, they seemed to zip on by so that I was left with just a bit of tingling heat and spice.  The finish was generally short, though some of the honeyed notes lingered longer.  It has been a long while since I have been so in love with the nose on a dram, but been absolutely unimpressed with the palate.  I was a bit surprised, the wife liked it more than I did and declared it an ideal whisky sorbet— a refreshing palate cleanser.  Not quite what I want out of a 29 year Longmorn.

Overall, the score is a bit of an amalgam as I would have scored the aroma an 8 and the palate a 3. As a whole, the experience came out around average; I would happily accept a dram, but I would not go out of my way for it. I love Longmorn, so maybe my standards (or expectations) are too high, but this fell a bit short.

Image Credit: The Whisky Exchange