06/02/2024 Longmorn

Longmorn 11yo 2008/2019 (57.9%, A.D.Rattray From the Cask hand bottled exclusively for A Whisky Lover, Bourbon Hogshead, C#800349): the mention on the label suggests the private cask of an anonymous enthusiast from the UK. Nose: a young one, with fruit eau-de-vie (plum, apple), and a certain stripping quality. It also has a spray of pinched orange peel, and a cloud of dust. In fact, it opens up and gives hardened plasticine and dried paint pots, dried nail-varnish brushes, and an old blush kit. Indeed, it turns all makeup-y, over the space of five minutes, and almost fruity from then onward, with dried peach skins. The second nose has the residue in an empty glass of pomelo tonic, which spells a hefty mix of sweetness, bitterness, and acidity. There is a faint woodiness too, rather indistinct, but likely ancient walnut shelves. Mouth: thin and punchy, it lacerates the tongue and rubs salt in the wounds. It is not merely a hyperbolic figure of speech: it is pretty salty, before suddenly turning mineral. We have granite chippings and cut limestone. After a couple of minutes' chewing, delicate milk chocolate emerges alongside a vegetal bitterness. The second sip is more generous and sweeter, thicker, even. I cannot remember coming across a dram that would change texture so much from one sip to the next. Now, we have orange juice, heavily sweetened. Given time, chocolate re-appears, as does an obvious bitter touch, half plant sap, half crushed Aspirin. Weird. The orange prevails. Just. Hot peach stones rock up last. Finish: a strange mix, here: a clear sweetness that is quite the departure from the palate, but then also a fierce bitterness that makes the whole difficult to enjoy. Imagine mentholated lozenges cut with crushed quinine tablets. The result is desiccating as a chunk of chalk doused in lime juice. Further sips add orange juice here too, and an interesting woody, chocolate-y lick. Cocoa beans, perhaps? It is quite anaesthetising too, clearly the numbing alcohol. This has redeeming qualities, but it is not something that I will seek out. 6/10 (Thanks for the sample, A.D. Rattray)