Longrow Red 13 Year Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon
My week of Campbeltown reviews ends with a detour away from Glen Scotia. Longrow is the peatiest of spirit lines produced at the renowned Springbank Distillery, and the bottle below is part of the "Red" line of releases. This line typically features wine finishes or maturations, often pairing the peaty spirit with fruity wine to create exciting effects. Longrow is not immune to the hype machine surrounding the Springbank distillery, as any search for prices on this 2020 release will reveal.
Whisky: Longrow Red 13 Year Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon
Country/Region: Scotland/Campbeltown
ABV: 51.6%
Cask: Bourbon, Sherry, Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon
Age: 13 Years
Nose: Malty, meaty, and sweet with subtle smoke, funnel cakes and fried confections, mild barbecue and diesel generators, metallic hints, sweet marinated smoked meat, jammy fruits, faintly tropical with water.
Palate: Medium-bodied, slightly oily, earthy with a mild industrial-metallic quality, dirty grill, stone fruit cobbler, dark chocolate, a kiss of salt and mineral oil at the end.
Finish: Medium-length and slightly drying with earth, subtle chocolate, and fruit.
Score: 6-
Mental Image: Day Late to the Fun Fair
Narrative & Notes: The aroma was a fairground melange of sweet fried, salt grilled, and slight acrid notes from the midway. Fried dough, donuts and funnel cakes, topped with powdered sugar, passionfruit curd, and cassis jam caught my attention. The subtle smoke of a barbecue grill promised something meatier with sweet marinated smoked pork between hot metal, rust, and the acrid notion of a diesel generator powering the fun. A few drops of water brought some faintly tropical vibes to the fore. Medium-bodied, the mouthfeel was slightly oily and a touch more viscous with water. Earthy and industrial with parched soil, dried grass, rust, mineral oil, and slightly acrid charcoal ash. The impression of a dirty grill gradually faded so that buttery stone fruit cobbler and dark chocolate emerged. A kiss of salt appeared at the end with more mineral oil. The finish was medium-length and slightly drying with earth, subtle chocolate, and fruit.
I thought this had a lovely restrained sweetness and intriguing balance between industrial-metallic and fruit notes. The aroma was far more complex than the palate, and the flavor profile never came together; the notes felt awkward and less integrated than I wanted. The aroma's intriguing fried foods and meats seemed lost behind the more industrial and earthy vibes on the palate. A few drops of water elevated some latent tropical qualities and improved the mouthfeel but never brought the palate entirely in line— there was an almost sulfur note which seemed to rise up out of the earth and chocolate with too much water.
Overall, I have heard enough Longrow fans rave about this bottle that I know it appeals to the faithful (do not even look at the ridiculous secondary market prices people ask for this). I was not really taken with this malt, but I would not turn them down if someone offered me a dram.
Image Credit: The Whisky Exchange
