Whisky Review: Longrow Red 12 Year Pinot Noir Cask Finish

Continuing the Longrow Red series, this was released in 2015 and returned to the red wine finishes after the atypical port cask release of 2014.

This whisky was aged in bourbon barrels for 11 years then finished in fresh Pinot Noir casks for an additional year, then bottled at 52.9% without coloring or chill filtration in an outturn of 9000 bottles.

Longrow Red 12 Year Pinot Noir Cask Finish

Nose: balanced savory peat smoke and wine, floral, bubblegum, vanilla, banana? After adding a few drops of water it becomes more savory with a hint of cured meat, the peat and wine are softer and more integrated, and the malt is creamier.

Taste: wine and malt sweetness up front, gentle oak and off-dry wine in the middle, a little heat and a bump of dry malt with background peat smoke before the finish, plus more wine at the back. After dilution it becomes softer and sweeter up front, the wine is more integrated, and the peat folds into the stronger oak at the back with creamy malt undertones.

Finish: wine residue, light oak, and a touch of peat smoke

The wine in this release reads more like a fortified wine than a red wine. While some of it may be because the bottle has been open for quite a while, it comes off as simpler and far softer than the Cabernet Sauvignon with some compensation in stronger and more savory peat at full strength. Overall I liked this, especially as I think I would have gone through the bottle more easily than the Cab. With that said I don't think I'd be willing to pay the $110+ that the remaining bottles in the States appear to be going for.

Whisky Review: Longrow Red 11 Year Cabernet Sauvignon Cask

Longrow Red is a series of heavily peated, full strength, wine cask finished whiskies that has been coming out since 2012. While most have been red wines, there have been exceptions such as a port cask finish. Importantly, unlike many finished whiskies, these are closer to double maturations in that the finishing periods range from 1-5 years.

This whisky was aged in refill ex-bourbon hogsheads for 7 years, transferred to fresh Cabernet Sauvignon hogsheads for 4 years, then blended to give an outturn of 9000 bottles at 52.1% ABV without coloring or chill filtration.

Longrow Red 11 Year Cabernet Sauvignon Cask

Nose: gobs of fresh malt, slightly sour wine, dry peat smoke, fresh vegetation, dried lavender, cinnamon bark, mild oak, savory/yeast undertones. After adding a few drops of water it becomes softer with more savory malt, the wine fades significantly behind dry oak and peat, and the lavender remains a solid thread behind everything.

Taste: fairly hot up front with sour & sour wine on top, creamy malt underneath, fade out through oak/wine tannins and dry peat, gently floral at the back. After dilution the heat fades significantly, but the structure remains overall the same except for a bump of extra sourness at the back.

Finish: oak tannins, red wine, a thread of peat smoke and dried lavender

While a little on the hot side, this is a very solid whisky. I wish the wine influence was more integrated, but the finishing period seems to have been long enough to keep it from feeling like something slapped on top of the spirit. The nose is by far the best part, with a good balance between intensity and complexity, especially after it's had some time to breathe in the glass. In contrast the flavors are a little less exciting, without any particular complexity.

Diluted to 50%

Nose: light dry peat with a sour edge like hard apple cider, lots of berries, red wine, oak with a little wood smoke

Taste: sweet malt and red wine up front, a citric tang right behind transitioning into moderate oak tannins, vanilla, and hard apple cider in the middle, with a bump of peat near the back

Finish: peat, oak tannins, red wine residue, berries

While there's nothing wrong with this strength, it's a sort of unsatisfying middle. It doesn't have the intensity of full strength, but also doesn't have the extra peat that emerges with even more dilution. Additionally, the sourness in the aromas somehow seems even more assertive than at full strength, which makes it less pleasant than it would otherwise be. With that said, the hard apple cider character that emerged after the whisky had been in the glass for a while was really interesting.

Diluted to 45%

Nose: lots of classic Longrow peat, woodsy/pine, rather dry - more savory than sweet, red wine underneath with some ripe tomato notes, clean malt and oak in the background, a little bit of vanilla

Taste: balanced malt and red wine sweetness up front, becomes more savory with tomato notes in the middle, peat and syrupy oak at the back, and vanilla and berries on top throughout

Finish: dry peat, mild oak, a little red wine residue

While dilution takes away most of the heat, it doesn't diminish the intensity of this whisky. It was a pleasant surprise to find out how much stronger the peat is at this strength, even if it loses a little bit of complexity. I think I prefer it at full strength, but it would be quite welcome at 46% when I'm looking for something more easy-going.

New Tiki Cocktails: the Mai Tai Vallet

While the Mai Tai has always been one of the classic tiki drinks for highlighting what rum can do, more recent years have seen the development of cocktails that take its basic mold and twist it in a bitter direction. Most well-known include the Campari-based Bitter Mai Tai and the Angostura bitters-based Stormy Mai Tai.

I based this on the structure of the Bitter Mai Tai and was inspired by the Angostura bitters of the Stormy Mai Tai to remake it with Amargo Vallet, a Mexican bitter liqueur that, unlike Angostura bitters, actually includes angostura bark in its ingredients. It has a very strong and somewhat peculiar flavor that is unlike any other amaro I've tried before, so I wasn't sure how well it would play with the more tropical flavors of the Mai Tai, but I'm pleased with how this turned out.

The Mai Tai Vallet
1.25 oz Amargo Vallet
0.75 oz Jamaican rum
0.75 oz lime juice
0.5 oz orange liqueur
0.5 oz orgeat

Combine all ingredients, shake with ice, then pour unstrained into a chilled rocks glass. Garnish with a sprig of mint.

The nose is dominated by the rum's esters, with the amaro peeking around the edges. The sip begins with sweet rum esters, turns bittersweet with a balance between the rum, orange liqueur, and orgeat, there's a bump of cherry cough syrup in the middle, with the more bitter/herbal notes of the Amargo building towards the back, and a cola/orange note going into the long, bittersweet finish. All through the lime keeps it from getting too sweet and adds a little extra bitterness from the oils in the peel.

Despite the strong old time-y cough syrup vibe, this actually works. While less approachable than the Bitter or Stormy Mai Tais, Amargo Vallet isn't totally out of place amidst the tropical ingredients. The critical part is that the segues happen in an appropriate sequence, shifting the balance of the cocktail from front to back in a relatively smooth fashion as opposed to the jarring transitions that happen when ingredients don't mesh with each other. Speaking of ingredients, Denizen 8 was a good pick here because it gives a solid layer of ester funk without overwhelming the flavors like Smith & Cross would.

While I can't see this ever catching on, it is something that I would happily make again.

Whisky Review: Glenmorangie 15 Year

If you asked whisky drinkers what their primary association is with Glenmorangie these days, my guess is that they would say 'cask finishes'. They have become far more prolific in recent years, but Bill Lumsden has been churning them out for decades now.

This whisky used to be a part of the distiller's core lineup in the early-2000s, but was later replaced with the 18 Year. It's made from ex-bourbon cask whisky that was finished in new oak for an indeterminate amount of time, then bottled at 43% with chill filtration and possibly coloring.

Thanks to Michael Kravitz for splitting this bottle with me.

Glenmorangie 15 Year

Nose: mostly oak - but not too sharp, gentle floral malt, caramel, honey, lots of vanilla, a little chipotle pepper, cacao, fresh vegetation in the background. After adding a few drops of water more caramel comes out but it is flatter overall.

Taste: rather sweet, balanced malt/oak, caramel, not very tannic, vaguely fruity throughout. After dilution it is similar but flatter.

Finish: sweet, oak, malt, grapefruit

I'll admit to being a bit disappointed by this whisky. I was hoping for something like the Original, but with more refinement and complexity from the extra age. While I wouldn't say that the virgin oak finish ruined the whisky, it did overwrite a lot of the more subtle character that I like in a Glenmorangie. So all in all, I can't say that I'm sad to see the end of this (small) bottle.

Check out Michael's review from the same bottle for a slightly more positive take.

Irish Whiskey Review: Redbreast 12 Year

While Ireland produces single malts and blends much like Scotland, its unique whiskey is pure pot still. It is made from a mixture of malted and unmalted barley that, as the name suggests, is distilled in a pot still, usually three times like most Irish whiskeys. With one exception, all of these are currently being produced by the Middleton distillery in Cork. It is claimed that the unmalted barley gives the final product a spicier and more full-bodied character, but I never found out until I decided to take the plunge right before the price of this whiskey went up locally.

This whiskey was aged in a mix of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, then bottled at 40%, with coloring and chill filtration.

Redbreast 12 Year

Nose: toasted grain, caramel, muddled fruit/sherry overtones, vanilla, light oak, a touch of something floral. After adding a few drops of water a lot of the complexity disappears, replaced by smooth grain with a savory edge.

Taste: grain and oak sweetness up front, light tannins with vague fruit/sherry/orange peel in the background come in around the middle, with a slight bump of oak, creamy vanilla malt, and baking spices near the back. After dilution it becomes a bit softer and the fruit is largely pushed towards the back.

Finish: caramel, light oak tannins, sherry residue, creamy malt

This is... fine. The grainier notes from the unmalted barley in the mix take a little while to get used to, but after that it's just OK. I kept waiting for some epiphany, since so many people, including many with palates that I know and respect, rave about this whiskey. But it never clicked with me. There are any number of scotch blends that would be as good or better for far less money, so I can't imagine this finding space in my liquor cabinet again.

Whisky Review: Bowmore Small Batch

Bowmore is one of the distilleries that has, for quite a bit longer than many other distilleries, had an NAS release holding down the bottom end of their core lineup. Before this was filled by Legend, but five or six years ago this was reformulated with the trendier Small Batch label. The new version was put together entirely from bourbon casks, without any sherry to temper the spirit.

This whisky is bottled at 40% with coloring and chill filtration.

Bowmore Small Batch

Nose: light but balanced - malt, herbal, smoke, dry Bowmore peat, berries, apple, floral vanilla. After adding a few drops of water the peat becomes drier and is joined by dusty oak, the sweetness mostly retreats except for a bit of vanilla, and the fruit/floral notes mostly disappear.

Taste: thin throughout - light malt sweetness, mint, vanilla, and vague smoke, oak in the background until the finish, with a little bit of plastic at the end. After dilution the sweetness is amplified up front, but the peat becomes stronger and dries out the finish.

Finish: vegetal peat, clean malt, light oak, background plastic

I will give Bowmore this - they've managed to make a completely inoffensive peated single malt. Unless you are opposed to peat in general, there is little to be bothered by here. Also, for an NAS malt, there are almost no rough edges. It can't hold a candle to their age dated single malts, let alone a bruiser like Tempest, but that's not its goal.

Where it really shines is in cocktails. I first had this drink at Dutch Kills in NYC and it's been one of my favorite Negroni variations ever since.

Smoked Negroni
1.25 oz Bowmore single malt
1 oz Campari
1 oz sweet vermouth
1 dash chocolate bitters

Combine all ingredients, stir with ice for fifteen seconds, then strain into a chilled coupe and garnish with an orange twist.

The nose dominated by the malt and peat of the whisky, with bitter notes from the Campari and vermouth in the background. The sip begins with moderate sweetness with hints of peat in the background, spice notes from the Campari and vermouth dominate the middle, with a fade out through oak and stronger peat, with grape from the vermouth in the background throughout. The finish is balanced between bitterness and peat, with the chocolate bitters finally showing up giving it a lingering burnt chocolate/coffee flavor.

Classic Cocktails: the Tuxedo

This is one of those drinks that has a number of competing recipes that all get the same name, though the general structure stays the same. The big split is between the versions that use dry sherry and those that use dry vermouth. Either way, they tend to be refined and elegant like their namesake.

The Tuxedo

2 oz Plymouth gin
1.5 oz dry vermouth
0.25 oz maraschino liqueur
2 dashes orange bitters

Combine all ingredients, stir with ice for fifteen seconds, then strain into a chilled, absinthe-rinsed cocktail glass and garnish with a twist of lemon.

The aromas are balanced between the gin, lemon, and maraschino, with the last just pushing above the others. The sip begins with a moderate amount of sweetness, which turns into a sort of thickness around the middle as the gin and vermouth dry out the flavors, with a gently bitter finish dominated by the vermouth with anise in the background.

This is the first Martini variation that has really clicked for me. Admittedly, it's extremely wet by modern standards even before the addition of the maraschino liqueur, but it's still nicely palate-cleansing in the finish. I do wonder if the balance is a bit different than it's supposed to be since I used Plymouth navy strength and scaled down the amount to account for the extra alcohol, but my guess is that it's pretty close. I can also imagine this being rather good with a more floral gin like Hendricks or you could push it in a more savory direction with something like Sounds Spirits Ebb+Flow. Whatever gin you pick, the results should be tasty.