Group review | 46% ABV

Opportunity knocks.

Longrow 18 – a name that has been whispered around whisky campfires, in awe and respect.

Almost as if we were back in the days of the Wild West with a posse on the hunt; brave men gathered by marshals, might speak of the legendary gunslingers and outlaws they were pursuing and chasing.

Few, it seems, actually encountered them. And those who did would remember it forever, so it was said. Luckily and unlike the western cliché of outlaws being chased in that somewhat cringy Wild West metaphor, very few have given their lives when staring Longrow 18 in the, uhm, label. Personally, I never owned a bottle, but good fortune did have us cross paths on a few occasions – a kindly gifted sample here, an opportunity at a festival there… and always the encounter lived up to the expectations.

I’ve explained - probably ad nauseam by now – how I don’t tend to ‘chase’ whisky, but rather let whisky ‘happen to me’. There’s so much stuff about – far more than anyone could ever hope to accumulate nor consume in a healthy, responsible way. I’ve long given up trying to actively scan, target and lock in on certain bottlings or expressions. Rather I keep an active eye out, browsing websites from trusted and appreciated stores around me on a regular basis to see if anything of interest pops up. Which it tends to do (the ‘something of interest’ bit). Always, actually.

Based on variables like affordability and available storage space mixed in with a fair bit of can I get away with it without getting ‘the look’ from Mrs. Argyle, who has long since given up of trying to make sense of this hobby but lovingly (and annoyingly) insists on providing me with reality checks re: my whisky ‘collection’.

And I swear, honestly, that this rather extensive take on numerous batches of Longrow’s 18 year old wasn’t actually meant to have happened in the first place. For the simple reason I shouldn’t have bought one. And therefore couldn’t - and shouldn’t - have been able to claim ‘bragging rights’ when boasting my latest addition to my fellow Dramfacers. Who in turn wouldn’t all have chimed in, offering to collaborate and throw in their own two cents on their own bottles. Yet here we are.

Strap in, dear reader, for the Longrow Locomotive is about to depart…

Review 1/5 - Earie (2024 Release)

Longrow 18yo, 2024 release, bottled 18.10.2024 - bottle code 24/219, 90% sherry casks, 10% port casks, 46% ABV
€153 paid (£133) generally sparse availability

One of the retailers I occasionally visit is a wine and delicatessen store first and foremost, with a limited selection of whiskies and other spirits. Usually their spirits are a tad pricey, but for some reason everything from J&A Mitchell - the company that owns Springbank and Glengyle/Kilkerran - tends to be offered at MSRP. Which in its own right justifies me popping in every few months to pick up something like Kilkerran 12 or 8 or a Springbank 10.

Now, until recently their website merely displayed an overview of the products they offer. No ‘webshop’, let alone a detailed catalogue of bottles, let alone prices attached to said bottles. When a few weeks ago I checked their website for opening hours – I was actually looking to pick up a bottle for a friend - suddenly I noticed they did now offer an online detailed catalogue/webshop.

To my even greater surprise I noticed the catalogue mentioned Longrow 18 year old – a bottle I hadn’t seen ‘in the wild’ for at least 4 or 5 years and when I did see it, you could bet on it being sold at a premium of at least €200/£180/$250. But lo and behold: the price mentioned was the actual MSRP (or at least something very close to it) of €153 (app. £133). Decisions were made there and then: funds made clear, shell space taken care of and off I went to secure myself my first ever bottle of Longrow 18 year old.

I didn’t really care which batch or which casks were involved in the maturation process of this one. When opportunity knocks, you don’t ask questions. It was only after securing the bottles (which they actually had to go and look for ‘in the back’ as it wasn’t put on display in the store), that I saw it was the 2024 release. Which, according to whiskybase, is also the most recent release… 90% sherry casks, 10% port casks apparently. We also hear that, due to a lack of stocks at Springbank, it’ll be a little while before another 18 year old is released.

I got the bottle on a Tuesday and it took a fair bit of self discipline to put the bottle in the cabinet until the start of the weekend, but other than that, little time was wasted to tear the seal and pop the cork.

Score: 8/10

**Something special.**
***TL;DR***
*Decadence in a glass*

Nose

Rich, dense, oily/viscous, with soft, warming peat notes intertwined into it all. Plums and jammy red fruit notes, (tropical) wood, sandal wood, leather and sweet (pipe) tobacco. Lush and seductive.

Palate

Warming, woody waxy and oily - making for a dense and viscous mouthfeel. Dark treacle, dried fruits and mid palate an intense, mouth-coating woody element joins in, adding a gentle bitter note. Deep, dark leather notes with again a very gentle peatiness which is like a foundation on which everything else builds. We need to focus on the finish as well as that’s an experience in its own right! Long, very long even (we’re talking minutes here!) with warming spices and an increasingly intense woody echo.

The Dregs

This is decadence in a glass! It brings exactly what you would hope from a whisky with this reputation. £130 is a lot of money to spend on a bottle of booze, but simply putting this down as ‘a bottle of booze’ isn’t doing this justice at all. That’s more in line with how you could describe something like Smirnoff. And if Smirnoff is like a cheap postcard, this right here is the frigging Mona Lisa.

Score: 8/10 EA

Review 2/5 - Drummond (2022 Release)

Longrow 18yo, 2022 release, bottled 7.7.2022 - bottle code 22/141, 100% sherry casks, 46% ABV
£95 paid, secondary only availability

When Earie excitedly shared in our wonderfully bonkers Dramface Writers’ WhatsApp chat that he’d captured a Longrow 18 out in the wild, I congratulated him on his good luck.

I also mentioned that it was one of my favourite drams ever, and that I hoped he enjoyed it. Other fellow Dramfacers warmly chimed in sharing similar sentiments, and it was quickly suggested that perhaps a Longrow 18 collaborative review might be fun.

It turns out that several of us have a bottle on hand, and it also turns out that we seem to each have different years’ expressions. So, here we are.

My particular bottle is dated 07.07.2022, with a bottle code of 22/141. Whiskybase suggests this one is 100% Sherry cask matured.

Score: 8/10

**Something special.**
***TL;DR***
*A rich, savoury, sophisticated treat*

Nose

Earthy chocolate leather. Wet autumn leaves matted on an oak barrel. Muted sherry spices. Old sherry blended with engine oil . . . maybe diesel . . . with a coastal quality layered with some light vegetal peat. Mineralic sherry leather. Workshop perfume; eau de atelier.

Palate

Lovely Springbank funk right off the bat, married with sherry richness: engine oil on a wooden bench on my Grandpa’s workshop when I was 14. Engine oil-drizzled plums with a few raisins, ever so slightly salty, and a hint of ash. Drying. Lovely mouthfeel: oily and dense for 46%. I can feel it sticking to my teeth and gums. Depths of flavours layered on top of each other but also married together such that the layers dissipate and re-form as you swirl it around on your palate.

The sherry maturation here is stunning. I am hard pressed to think of another achievement on par with this expression that so deftly balances the power of sherry casks with the power of peated distillate. Yet rather than two bruising flavour hooks giving you the one-two, this is instead – with its 18 years of slumber – an array of complexity, layers, and depths. While the nose might lean a bit heavier into the cask (and this is where I could see others feeling that this might be slightly over-cooked cask-wise, even while I’m relishing it), the palate is a deft balance of drying, lightly ashy, autumn cinders and sweet, warm spices with some boozy engine oil dark fruits.

The Dregs

Every time I’ve treated myself to a dram from this bottle over the last few years, it’s been an absolute treat. Like many of you – judging by our Dramface Top 40 Distilleries – Springbank is also one of my distillery loves that I’ve followed pretty much since I fell into the whisky rabbit hole back during the original Covid-19 lockdown era. While not everything the distillery produces is a homerun, I’ve very much enjoyed the vast majority of bottles and drams I’ve had from the J.A. Mitchell’s crew.

This Longrow 18 stands near my personal pinnacle both from the distillery and in my collection. It’s a rich, savoury, sophisticated treat all around, and a pure pleasure to spend some time with.

Score: 8/10 DD

Review 3/5 - Nick (2021 Release)

Longrow 18yo, 2021 release, bottled 16.9.2021, 60% sherry casks, 30% bourbon casks, 10% chardonnay casks, 46% ABV
£120 paid, secondary only availability

I bought this bottle at the Cadenheads store in London when I was in town for The Whisky Show in 2021. At that point, I’d only had the core range NAS release but was fully aware of the reputation of the brand. So when I saw one lone bottle of the 18 year old, it was beyond my ability (or my will) to resist.

This release was 60% matured in sherry casks, 30% bourbon and a final 10% comes from chardonnay casks. And I think that last 10% is actually coming through.

Score: 8/10

**Something special.**
***TL;DR***
*Quietly voluptuous*

Nose

Honey and treacle or molasses, richly glazed ham with all the sticky bits. There’s a bit of fresh cut grass and the smoke is very light and well-integrated. Dark fruits lightly stewed with rich brown sugar – muscovado maybe. There’s also an earthiness to this and I find myself reminded of time spent rummaging around in my Dad’s carpenters workshop. Cut wood, wood stain and polish, toolboxes, putty and paint.

And somebody struck a match a few minutes ago.

When I first opened this bottle I spent over forty five minutes just nosing it. It’s luscious and full-bodied on the nose. Positively mesmerizing.

Palate

This is beautifully integrated – harmonious even. The peat is very subtle at first, taking a back seat to the sherry notes and an array of fruits. And it’s an interesting mix of fruits with both dark - plums, blackberries and raisins - and lighter fruits like pear, apple and coconut.

There is a nuttiness that comes through and a definite oakiness that’s complemented by a textural quality that falls somewhere between creamy and oily. A slight salinity comes into play and the workshop notes from the nose are present and get a visual of old, worn leather.

The slightly sulphurous note of the struck match is there and it plays into a kind of ashy quality to the peat. In the mid palate and the finish, the peat is more noticeable. It's distinct and very present but at the same time it never eclipses the other notes. It plays well with the others – probably as a result of mellowing over 18 years in the barrel. Sweet meets smoke in perfect balance.

Some of the creamy and fruity notes I’ve experienced with champagne or even sauternes cask finishes are softly present here. Just gently nuzzling up against the palate, almost not really wanting to be noticed (like a cat who knows it’s not really meant to be on the sofa beside you, but if it's extra cute and loving maybe it will get away with it).

The Dregs

This is a quietly voluptuous whisky. Lots going on and plenty to get to grips with – but perfectly balanced and it’s not trying too hard.

As befits its age, there’s nothing strident about this whisky and though by the time you’ve got through your first dram, it’s become distinctly peaty, there’s none of the youthful aggression that we typically find in the NAS Islay offerings. And while that youthfulness delivers some spectacular scotches, this whisky shows what time in the cask can do to reveal a completely different and altogether softer peat-laden character.

Friends often ask me why my whisky obsession is solely tethered to Scotch. This Longrow 18 provides a more eloquent answer than I ever could.

Score: 8/10 NF

Review 4/5 - Murdo (2022 Release)

Longrow 18yo, 2022 release, bottled 7.7.2022 - bottle code 22/141, 100% sherry casks, 46% ABV
£135 paid, secondary only availability

Score: 8/10

**Something special.**
***TL;DR***
*Rich, complex & oily*

Nose

One long sniff and I’m already rewarded with something that starts off as a sugar frosting, morphing into a blackcurrant jam, finally settling as a rich Ribena; upon further interrogation, starfruits, grapefruits, cherries, charred wood and candle wax also present.

Palate

Right, peat. I didn’t get any of that on the nose, or maybe it manifested as the charred wood, but first thing on the palate I’m reminded that Longrow is supposed to be heavily peated. I’ve never really found Longrow that peaty, and after 18 years in a cask, that peat smoke has been dialled down, but it’s certainly still there, along with a good hit of salty meatiness. The sherry richness is not lost on me, a very complex combination of salted caramel, dark coffee, dark chocolate, leather arm chair, as well as a lot of spices like cinnamon and cardamom; the mouthfeel is very oily, with a very long finish that’s dense and warming.

The Dregs

When this “vertical” Longrow 18 was suggested, I immediately put my hand up in the writers’ group chat to say that I have the 2023 bottle; only upon inspection did I find that what I actually have is the 2022 bottle, which meant my bottle overlapped with Drummond’s, and has also been reviewed by Tyree almost three years ago.

What can I do to make up for the team? I decided to crack an extra one open, so… here’s my review for the 2017 version of the Longrow 18yo.

Score: 8/10 MMc

Review 5/5 - Murdo (2017 Release)

Longrow 18yo, 2017 release, bottled 4.4.2017 - bottle code 17/150, 60% sherry casks, 40% bourbon casks, 46% ABV
£150 paid, secondary only availability

Score: 8/10

**Something special.**
***TL;DR***
*A barbecue by the sea, and a petrol station*

Nose

The peat smoke is much more noticeable on this one. Barbecued meat, sea breeze, lime, rock pools; compared to the 2023 bottle, this is way lighter and brighter. The refill sherry casks plus bourbon casks give the spirit a lot more room to shine through,

Palate

Bright salinity, very refreshing arrival, its oiliness immediately apparent, along with its very light touch of smoke; on the development there’s a very pleasantly mouth watering citrus, jumping between lime and orange, maybe a bit more lime, the sandpit texture is coming along nicely, the oiliness is turned into petroleum kind of oil, thick and dirty; the finish is all about the petrol. I’ve swallowed a petrol station, and it has a lingering, super-long finish.

The Dregs

I’m always a bit surprised at how much I enjoy Longrow; the NAS is a permashelf here, and I’m lucky enough to have a few more expressions, even though the age statements are usually in the sub-teen range. Longrow whisky has always been very characterful, but after maturing for 18 years in oak, the character has grown into something less punchy, more elegant, richer and more complex.

The 2017 and 2022 versions are completely different: the former is brighter, more spirit forward, a more direct extension of the NAS, whereas the latter is darker, richer, very indulgent, but both are equally complex, equally outstanding. For two supposedly heavily peated whiskies, the peat really takes a back seat, more so even compared to other 18 year old heavily peated whiskies.

If I remember correctly, Longrow 18yo has been officially paused as a core range bottle, with the 2024 being the last one for now, so if you see the levels on my bottles and think that I’m being too precious with them, I’ll be very honest, I am being very precious with them. Deep down I have an inkling that the team at Springbank will bring back the Longrow 18 in the future, but who knows when that will be, so for the time being, I’m going to be precious with what I’ve got in my stash.

Score: 8/10 MMc

The Final Dregs (EA)

And so, another Dramface pile-on complete. The team was very much in unison, scoring each of the versions we tried highly with 8/10. This is indeed ‘something special’ and as Murdo pointed out, currently paused as a ‘core range’ (albeit of course also very limited) expression.

This is not cheap whisky, but as we all know: cheap isn’t what we’re after. We want good quality, at a fair price. There can be zero doubt about the former. This is absolutely marvellous whisky, in any shape or form it’s presented to us.

All four of us were lucky enough to find our bottles at MSRP, and of course that’s where things can get tricky. And that’s in no way Springbank’s fault as mostly it’s flippers and, unfortunately, sometimes distributors and retailers as well who are to blame for the frankly insane prices these expressions can sometimes go for.

But, if you can find something like this at a fair price and if your funds allow it, rest assured, it’s worth every penny. Something special indeed.

Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. EA

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