The sixth and final bottling of Michiel Wigman’s ‘They Inspired’ series is a 15 year old Longmorn. Initially this reminded me and some others of the black coloured Longmorn North Start Spirits bottled a while ago and that scared some people. I’ve not tasted that, so no apprehension from me. However, most of those people quickly realized that Michiel would never bottle something that tastes like you’re eating scraps from a wood chipper.

So, a 15 year old Longmorn, from a sherry cask. 238 Bottles came out of the cask and with them being released to the general public last Saturday, there’s still 20 left according to the website. I think Michiel posted on Facebook that there were only three, but that might be a different stash. With a 15 year old whisky clocking in at € 219 (hefty, but that’s what Longmorn costs, nowadays), selling this many, this quickly is quite a feat.

Tasting notes then!

Sniff:
Bold sherry, but gentle. Funky with hints of young Gouda cheese. Slightly yeasty, sherry like spices. Chestnuts, coldbrew coffee, dates. It gets more fruity after a while, with prunes, figs. Quite weighty and rich.

Sip:
The palate is a little sharper than I expected, fruity and with quite some peppery heat. White pepper, and some chili. The fruit is a bit lighter than on the nose, and there are some wood spices to be detected too.

Swallow:
The finish starts on the dried fruit. Peaches, apricots, prunes, dates. Old wood but also some vanilla, cinnamon, pastry.

As expected, this is a cracking whisky. It offers a lot of depth and different flavors to be discovered. I wrote the notes about two weeks ago (still with that cold) but I could still get quite some notes, and that’s something.

I love that it’s not a rather classical Longmorn and offers a bit more depth, and different flavors than just tropical fruit, which is what I associate Longmorn with, generally. A great pick from Michiel, and it makes me look forward to what he’ll be coming out with in 2021!

90/100

Longmorn 15, 03/2005-09/2020, Butt 18074, 50.9%, Michiel Wigman, They Inspired 1. Available at Dutch Whisky Connection for € 219

Thanks to Michiel for sending the sample!