I always like picking up special bottlings when I can. Often times they have interesting stories and quite unique flavours. Springbank is a distillery that I enjoy in all of its forms (un-peated Hazelburn, lightly peated Springbank, and heavily peated Longrow) and I was excited to see when they put out this special Longrow.
Longrow Rundlets and Kilderkins is aged for 11 years in small casks referred to as rundlets and kilderkins. These are small (I believe) 60 and 80 litre casks. Typical casks would be in the range of 250 litres but could be much larger. The theory with the small casks is that putting whisky in smaller casks means more of the whisky is contact with wood therefore increasing the interaction between the spirit and the wood. Technically, this should mean that this 11 year old should taste as matured as a whisky done for much longer in traditional casks. I didn't bother to get the exact dimensions of the barrels to calculate the theoretical equivalent age of this 11 year old Longrow - disappointing, I know!
Interesting fact, though, is that aging in typical casks means losing approximately 0.7% alcohol and 0.8% water every year. According to the very funny Randal Watson from Springbank, these rundlets and kilderkins were losing between 7% and 8% total volume compared to the typical 1.5%! This was a labour of love of whisky rather than a money maker for sure! Oh, by the way, this is a limited run of 9,000 bottles.
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| click photo to enlarge - note, the photo was taken on a nice fall day and not on the -25 degree day the note was written on! |
Colour: rich copper (colour is natural, by the way).
Nose: I think I get something like strawberries and orange marmalade. There is also a nice dose of smoke in there too. I am thinking the coopers made these small casks from oloroso sherry casks. There is a bit of a nutty aroma in there too which find typical of wine-cask aged peated malts. I get some dark, sticky dried dates in there too.
Palate: This has a thick mouthfeel that I find typical of Longrow products and is very pleasing. Sweet and smokey. Yum! Rich, dark orange marmalade, smoke and salt wave around in there.
I feel like I should add a touch of water to open this up a bit… the water opens it up into more fruit and smoke for sure. The mouthfeel stays which is great of this non-chillfiltered whisky. This really has those rich oloroso sherry-aged notes of orange and dried fruits and a nice layer of spices in there. A little chocolate is in there too.
FInish: The finish lasts a long time on this and goes right down to the belly. Great for this cold day outside!
Comments: Some might ask "does this taste older than 11 years?" Honestly, its hard to say, but my opinion is 'yes." I Think the colour would suggest a lot of interaction with the casks at least. The alcohol is 51.7% and it is quite easy-drinking neat and it has the thick texture. The development of the flavour profile suggests a lot of concentration has gone on too.
Whatever the equivalent age, this is a really tasty peated dram with nice, rich flavours.
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