Longrow 20 Springbank Society Bottle & Longrow 15 Open Day 2022

Longrow 20 Springbank Society Bottle

Region: Campbeltown

ABV: 47.9%

Price: £200.00 

The latest society release is a 20yo vatting of six refill bourbon barrels distilled in October 2001 and bottled in August 2022. 1,488 bottles were released exclusively for members of the Springbank society.

Nose

The nose is Initially very tight, but we’re able to pick out some honey, light Campbeltown funk, and foam bananas. It’s followed by some burnt newspapers, and freshly charred oak. Air reveals vanilla icing, pears, charcoal, and saline solution. This one is surprisingly light on the peat. It also benefits from above average length of time in a glass to open up.

Palate

Initially we’re getting apricots, raisins, and white sugar cubes. There’s also a very slight coffee bitterness. Again, not overly peated on the palate and we’d describe what’s there as a burnt sourdough note. Going back after air reveals grilled melon, charcoal and Rowies. This has a decent length finish with a little sweetness, and raw ginger spice lingering along with a little smoke. One critique we do have is the mouthfeel is a touch thin.

Nose (with water)

Water brings more fruity notes out on the nose in the form of mango, and cranberries. The smoke has receded slightly, and as we leave it in the glass we notice more of the Campbeltown funk coming to the fore. There’s also a note that reminds us of a dusty wardrobe, and a little chocolate.

Palate (with water)

Similar to the nose water accentuates the sweetness. Beside that the other notes are mostly unchanged. We’re finding the mouthfeel is now too thin for us, and we’re also getting a little more salt and pepper on the finish.

Conclusion

There’s a complexity to this dram, and we feel if we kept revisiting this we’d have a little more to say every time. Even now we want to pour a dram and leave it for a few hours to see how it develops. Personally, we wouldn’t add water to this. Don’t get us wrong while it may benefit from just the right amount of dilution, we feel it be easy to ruin it.

Now for a score.. while it’s an interesting dram it’s also £200. Not cheap, but in this current climate of ever rising Springbank prices it’s also not terrible. We’re going with a 8/10.

Score: 8/10

Longrow 15 Open Day 2022

Region: Campbeltown

ABV: 56.2%

Price: £25.00 (for 200ml)

This release was produced for the 2022 Springbank Open Day and is a marriage of four fresh Oloroso sherry hogsheads, which were aged for 15 years. 2,399 bottles were released.

Nose

Initially we’re getting some vinegar, rancio wine, salt, a hint of ash, some wet cardboard, and oats. Giving it air reveals burnt toffee, a little cola, and fudge. This isn’t as smoky as we were expecting, and the Campbeltown funk is faint. Going back to it and we’re getting some bbq’d meats drizzled in honey.

Palate

Some dry salted peanuts, runny honey, and dark chocolate. These are followed by a little chill and smoke on a good length. We’re finding the smoke is more prominent on the palate than nose, and we’re getting some tar, and cigarette ash. It’s got a good mouthfeel. Going back to it after some time reveals treacle toffee tart, wet soil and pork.

Nose (with water)

More of the vinegar has been brought out by the water. Along with more earthiness. There’s also some burnt brown sugar, leather, caramelised almonds diesel oil and fresh roasted coffee. There’s not a great deal of change to the smokiness if this diluted.

Palate (with water)

Water brings out a damp earth note along with some cinnamon and nutmeg spice on a slightly shorter finish. We’re finding the mouthfeel has held up to the addition of water. There’s some also some mead, creme caramel, and ash. Personally, we feel this works with or without water.

Conclusion

We don’t dislike this, but it lacks the subtlety and complexity of some other Longrow releases like the 20yo. and while it’s not our favourite Longrow it’s still a tasty dram. If this was a normal 700ml bottle it be £87.50 which isn’t a bad price in today’s whisky market. Personally, we’d pay release price for this, but not go above.

Score: 8/10

• 10 - Perfection. A whisky that we’ll remember forever.
• 9 - Amazing. We’d pay through the nose for a bottle.
• 8 - Great. Pick this up at RRP.
• 7 - Good. Happy to have a dram or two but wouldn’t buy a bottle.
• 6 - Passable. Would accept a dram, but wouldn’t seek it out.
• 5 - Poor. Would drink if it was the only option.
• 4 - Bad. Maybe it can be saved by ginger beer?
• 3 - Awful. It can't be saved by ginger beer.
• 2 - Pour it out
• 1 - We’ve never tried a whisky rated this low and hopefully never will.

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