Right. The Wild West Whisky Fest. As far as I know this was a short lived whisky festival in Belgium, finding its roots in the VCWC (which is the bottler, sort of) meaning the Van Compernolle Whisky Club.
I believe the name of both the festival and the club is part of some inside joke which I read about years ago and haven’t heard of since. I don’t really care enough to start digging through the annals of the internet to find out either. Lazy me.
I got this sample a couple of months ago from club buddy BvdP when he came by to collect a sample of my SMWS Mortlach. Kind of him to do so, since he was buying the sample!
Anyway, old Longmorn. I’ve never spat in that and I’m not about to. Most of the times you get to try this it’s fairly awesome. Sometimes a bit woody but I can handle quite a bit of oak. Let’s see where this one goes.
Image from Whiskybase
Sniff:
It has quite some bite with lots of oak. Just on the verge of being too oaky, but not quite there. Light caramel and baked apple. Cinnamon, brioche buns and brazil nuts. It does get a bit drier after a little while with toasted oak. Some peach and apricot too.
Sip:
Again, that bite. For a 32 year old it’s pretty high on ABV, but in a good way. I get oak and spices. Marshmallow! Nuts and toasted oak, cinnamon, apple. Burned sugar and caramel, a slightly bitter note too. Honey and heather.
Swallow:
Here the more recognizable sweetness of well aged Longmorn is more clear. Brioche, honey. A bit of bitterness from the oak and a pith like flavor. Quite nice! Again, some peach, apricot, plum and that hint of baked apple is back too.
Well, damn. This is a really, really good dram. Not to say great! It ticks all the boxes old whisky needs without being overly ‘library like’. I enjoy that flavor of old books and leather as well, but it tends to overrule a lot of the depth in some drams and here it’s barely even present. So, a 32 year old that’s still feeling young. Like me last year.
As said, it’s a great whisky. I love the combination of wood spices, fruits and maltiness (the brioche buns). Even the strange and not-often-found marshmallow flavor is nice. All in all, a great pick from our southern neighbors!
Longmorn 1976, 32yo, 54.7%, cask 5895, VCWC for Wild West Whisky Fest. No clue to the current value.
