Review #58 - Longrow Peated
NAS Campbeltown Mini-Series: Part 2 of 3
The second NAS Campbeltown whisky we'll be reviewing in this series is Springbank's entry level heavily peated bottle, the Longrow Peated. There are no details on age or cask type, but coming from Springbank distillery, we can expect a quality presentation and some characterful spirit.
Longrow Peated
Scotland/Campbeltown - Single Malt
Price Paid: USD 80 (2022)
Current Locally Available Price: USD 88 (2023)
Age Statement: NAS
Strength: 46% ABV
Details: Not chill filtered, no color added
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 4 times over 10 months; bottles at 90%, 80%, 70% (blind tasting), and 60% (blind tasting) fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes
Nose: Smoky and peaty, like a green, earthy peat, with some wood smoke involved as well. The classic Springbank/Campbeltown funk is there: dank musty warehouse, damp hay, lightly meaty, like cured bacon, maybe some moss, with a touch of iodine. There's something slightly metallic as well, maybe coppery, as well as salt, cinnamon and vanilla, and a buttery roundness. Lower in the glass, we find some sharpness - it's a bit like a spirity ethanol note, which bridges into sharper lemon, some lime and orange citrus as well; lastly, a bit of sweeter prune.
Palate: Medium level of peat, and the mouthfeel is medium as well to go along with it. Not too harsh overall (despite a mild ashy smoke, or embers of a campfire), but really a nice mix of salt, oils, some sweet and some heat. The sweet comes in the form of lemon, rich apple, a bit of orange and lime; also butterscotch like Werther's Originals, and a red fruit later. On the other side, the heat or spice is from dry oak and jalapenos. To round it out, there is a nice meaty pork note, and it's earthy, yeasty, and has a baked bread note.
Finish: The finish is medium-long, with peat lingering for a while; it's really the most dominant note at this point, though it's far from overpowering. Still, we find several other things in the background: some oak that morphs into a mildly bitter tannin, mild apple and candied lemon, dry hay, and buttered toast. There's a nice roundness, with a touch of youthful vibrance juxtaposed with some refinement.
Final Note: Another good Campbeltown whisky, solid is most respects, but perhaps not standing out in any of them. There is that nice funk typical of the region, along with some earthy Highland peat, and some fruit lingering around; still, the youth in the bottle is hardly hidden, and while there is a decent complexity of flavors developed for what is likely a relatively young age, there isn't really anything that stands out and catches your attention. A solid overall malt, but given the choice (no guarantee these days with limited availability), we're taking Springbank 10 for about the same price.
Our Average Rating: 7.5 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 6.87
