Longmorn 1975/2015 (46.7%, Malts of Scotland, Warehouse Diamond, bourbon hogshead, cask #MoS 15065, 196 bottles)
Another one that we had kept for harsher times, no need to tell you that there’s certain hope here… Colour: gold. Nose: I cannot not think of an old high-class wine from Jurançon, such as and early vintage of Dagueneau’s Jardins de Babylone. Deeply sorry if that doesn’t ring any bell but in fact, it is the same idea as that petit manseng grape that we had found in the Perfect Dram. So, apricots and peaches, touch of muscat, hint of roses, drop of litchi juice, mountain honey, sultanas, beeswax… It is rather extraordinary, would you mind calling the Anti-Maltoporn Brigade before it’s too late? With water: chalk! Mouth (neat): brilliant and cakier, more on butterscotch and roasted raisins than the PD. Tokaji Eszencia. With water (not that water’s needed): fresher fruits, peaches, bananas, whatnot. Absolutely perfect. I was about to forget to mention quinces. Finish: long and amazingly fresh, complex, fruity and honeyed. Touches of resins and balms in the aftertaste – after all this one is 40. And perhaps even some ‘botrytis’. Comments: holy featherless crow! These malts are often split into periods, like say at Bowmore, or Laphroaig, or yeah, Picasso. 1965-1975 would be the rose period at Longmorn, one of the most prestigious, while earlier, 1950-early 1960 vintages were rather ‘blue’. Yeah I agree, not all analogies work.
SGP:651 - 92 points.
