Longmorn 25yo 1985 2006 Signatory for LMdW cask 11545 52.6%
For a distillery that’s a lynchpin of the industry there’s not really a lot of information on Longmorn, we know it was popular with blenders from the day its whisky was sold, and from early on was ensconced as a star in Chivas’ stable. And so it naturally passed to Pernod when Seagrams was acquired, where it remains a workhorse today. But what of its distillation regime, what changed in 1974 when its 4 stills doubled to eight? Did the cut points change or was distillation shortened when the stills went from coal fired to steam heated in 1994?
Photo credit – whisky.com
Incidentally the stills at Yoichi are copies of Longmorn’s, because Masataka Taketsuru trained here before returning to Japan to found the modern whisky industry there.
Nose: Very natural and bold spirit. Just powerful at 52.6%. Big acidic tinned pineapples and lemon and chlorophyll. But far from just estery aromatics, this nose is really thick sweet and lush, and carries the impression of a swirling oily weight. Clean malt, subtle white heat from the spices, then scented candles at the very rear. An example of a lower abv cask strength whisky that needs water – water makes it easier but changes nothing.
Palate: Yes, sweet thick and really quite powerful at only 52.6%, this one has some backbone. More bitter herbaceous-ness, more ‘tinny’ and still hugely acidic and sharp, also develops into something like bittergourd blended with camphor. Very very interesting (good).
Finish: Long, malty, and hot white sugar, herbaceous again.
If not already apparent, this is powerful stuff. I took the bottle down to 600ml air/100ml whisky before it started to really open up? What is this distilled from? Kryptonite?
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whiskyrific 
Haha! Amused and intrigued both.