Wow! we're one year old today!
On a friday last year, in a South London living room, Caskstrength was born- and like a new- make spirit, all zingy, fresh and fruity, we were determined to scribble down as many great whisky reviews as we possibly could. Including today's post, we've actually written about 90 posts, with info about well over 250 whiskies.
But that's not enough!! like the greedy devils we are, we want more.... and lots more!
So here's to the next 10 years and - hopefully by that time, we'll have matured into a rich and flavoursome beauty, with legs to die for... (sorry for the poor quality of our jokes, which seem to get as progressively worse as the days go by!)
To mark this grand occasion, we've drawn the lucky entry our Bowmore competition from the hat- and a bottle of Islay's finest will be winging it's way to the winner shortly. If it wasn't you, then sorry, but please keep checking the site- we'll be doing a fair few more competitions over the coming months and you might get lucky next time...
We've also done some notes of an absolute cracker - you know, the stuff that gives you that extra reason to wake up on your birthday morning and shout 'I LOVE WHISKY' to your shocked and surprised neighbours, as you pick up the milk from your doorstep.
Ladies and Gents- let us introduce you to....Mr Longmorn
Longmorn 20 years old- Distilled 9th December 1986-
Bottled 10th September 2007 - ABV 54.3% - 260 bottles
To be honest, Longmorn has been a fairly recent discovery for us, having only tasted a handful. So far they have all been excellent, from some really seriously old bottling's of 'younger' whiskies, to older whiskies bottled recently and newer, independent bottling's cropping up now and again. The following one seemed a perfect choice for review, as it sits somewhere in the middle.
Nose: An initial hit of very sweet cereal, quite similar to Weetabix then just pile upon pile of tropical fruit. You name it and it's probably here, banana, papaya, pineapple, passion fruit, it comes across as just oozing freshness from every pore. Also a nice lingering aroma of crispy toffee apple come thru after repeated nosing.
Palate: Just sooooo much fruit- it's like a small concentrated hit of your five-a-day, if you're from Jamaica, possibly via Speyside. Sensational stuff. With a little water, the palate gets past the fruit, you discover more cereal and gingery spiced notes with a hint of nutmeg or clove.
Finish: A great balance of drying oak with lingering stewed fruit compote and deft hints of that sweet cereal again. Wonderful.
Overall: Bottling's of this age, or similar are available every now from a few of the more well known indie retailers and this typifies the quality we've been lucky enough to consume. Maybe we just tried good ones?... but I doubt it very much. There is certainly a place for a Longmorn in everyone's cabinet.... maybe 2!!
Thanks to everyone who has supported the blog over the last year and here's to many more drams in the future. Now... who's buying the first round!!
Slainte....
Neil & Joel