With a friend of mine being one of the Longmorn Brothers, it’s no surprise that I occasionally find a sample of the distillery’s whisky on my shelf. And for some reason, Longmorn generally comes from samples. I can’t remember if I ever had a bottle of my own.

Longmorn has always been rather popular with afficionados, which also made the independent bottlings rather expensive. And that’s where you have to go, since the official range from the distillery consists of the ‘Distiller’s Choice’ and the regular 16 year old. I don’t think I’ve had the first, and the latter isn’t too good. Not bad, but also not something to write home about.

So, this Adelphi one. The one people squint for, when reading the label, but that goes for every Adelphi single cask bottling. Not too many bottles came from this cask, just 112, which is rather low for a 17 year old bourbon cask. But in the end, I got to taste it, and that’s what matters to me.

Sniff:
Some fruits with a very heavy character. Baked tropical fruits, peach, date, almonds too. Quite rich, but still rather gentle.

Sip:
Summery with a lot of fruit, mostly. Some black pepper, but lots of peaches, dates, with almonds. Some dry oak, sweet pastry notes.

Swallow:
The finish is almost meaty with hints of barbecue pork, marinade, but also lots of fruit. Peaches, dates. Pastry, and some sweetness.

It’s almost Mortlach like with the meaty hints on the finish. What I also find surprising the amount of tropical fruits that I found in this one, while that normally is associated with sherry casks. Although, if I remember correctly (from reading about it) Longmorn new make is rather tropical.

Anyway, a pretty decent dram, but not something I’d shell out € 220 for, and that’s what it’s going for nowadays. I bet this was less expensive 10 years ago, but with Adelphi, you never know.

87/100