Day one of the competition and I was sure I was going to embarrass myself by making foolish guesses, but as it happens, I was not THAT off the mark. It was clear this dram was sherried (colour and nose), but what distillery? Initially I thought it might be a Aberlour (big sherry and all) or GlenDronach (some single cask). the ABV was very high, so i figured it should be an Indie, but which? I would have never guessed Longmorn, not that I have any reason, it just was not on my radar. Finally I decided to go with a 56% ABV, GlenDronach, 20 yo cask, not that far away as it seems, and that got me 45 points! (midrange score, not bad).
Longmorn 17 yo , 1996 [Van Wees], 57.5% abv, sold out
Nose: we’re in big sherry land here. Colour reveals it but the nose is screaming : first fill. Sherry. Getting sulphur too, spice and a certain caramel feeling old school caramel candy.
Palate: boom! That’s some huge sherry here. abv. 55% and up if I’m not mistaken. Lots of sugar , rum soaked cherries , sultanas. Again sulphur and big XMAS cake feeling. Pepper and clove. Love that.
Finish: Dried fruit with bitter notes of espresso and wood. Cherries. And cigar leaves.
A lovely dram indeed, Loved this one. A good start… Now what about day #2? I’m clueless.
Score: 88/100
Tasting day #2 dram later…