Longmorn
Founded In 1893 by John Duff, Charles Shirres and George Thompson the distillery began producing spirit in December of 1894..
John Duff buys out the partners in 1897 before building a sister distillery next door ( BenRiach) but soon after faces bankruptcy due to the Pattisons crash.. James R Grant takes control.
1970 the Longmorn distillery joins with the Glenlivet and Glen Grant distilleries and Hill Thomson and Co Ltd..
Today the distillery is owned by Chivas Brothers ( Pernod Ricard) and has the capacity to produce 4.5 million litres of alcohol from the 8 stills, 10 stainless steel washbacks, a 8.5 ton Briggs full Lauter mash tun..
Claxton’s
The Independently run family business is located in the small picturesque town of Ripon near York, with the head offices located at the local racecourse the company is dedicated to releasing single casks of whisky in the most natural state..
All the releases so far have been at natural cask strength, without any added colouring and of course NCF..
The belief within the company is to only bottle the whisky when the influence between the liquid and the cask is at its optimum and therefore giving the customer the ultimate experience..
With the first releases coming from Claxton’s in 2015 the company is now releasing single casks regularly and has seen the business grow to one that is extremely popular in the mainstream European markets as well as entering other major countries around the world..
Longmorn 2008, 10 year old
Distillery.. Longmorn
Region.. Speyside..
Age.. 10 years
Distilled.. August 2008
Abv.. 52.8%
Cask.. Bourbon Barrel
Outturn.. 275 bottles
Nose.. Baked apple pie with vanilla custard, lemon tart, hints of honey with a gentle spiciness rising..
Palate.. Prickly with a citrus bitterness at first before a gentle sweetness starts to take over.. Pepper, ginger, cinnamon and lemon peels give the prickle and bitterness with that honey, vanilla and a hint of pineapple giving the sweetness..
Finish.. Lingering spices..
Thoughts.. It’s refreshing but also feels a little thin at times.. The nose is inviting and gives you nice subtle indicators as to what might follow, the palate tries to deliver but just lacks a little something which makes me wonder if maybe a little longer in the cask this would have given that fuller body feel, that being said it is still enjoyable..
I actually added a little water to this one just to see ( gasps at the thought) and it did calm it down a little and allowed the sweetness a little more of a chance dominate but I’m not sure I’d say it improved, I’d say it probably became a little more acceptable to those who don’t like the spicy side of whisky..
A very interesting example of what Longmorn has to offer and one I would be happy to sit down with again one day..
With thanks to Claxton’s for this official sample..
ocdwhisky.com 