Longrow 11 years Red Tawny Port Cask Matured

About the Longrow 11 years Red Tawny Port Cask Matured

Longrow 11 years Red Tawny Port Cask Matured is a heavily peated single malt from Campbeltown, Scotland. It carries the Longrow name, the smoky spirit made at Springbank on the west coast. This is the 2022 entry in the annual Red series. The whisky spent seven years in bourbon casks, then four more in fresh tawny port barrels. Bottling strength is 57.5%, straight from the cask. Springbank in Campbeltown makes the spirit, and the distillery bottles the whisky itself. That matters here, because the Red series comes straight from the source. Only 8,400 bottles were filled for the 2022 edition, released that November. Tawny port itself spends years in wood before it reaches a bottle. The port barrels here were fresh, never used for whisky before. Four years in that wood gave the spirit its red-tinged colour. Peat smoke leads on the nose, but it never buries the sweet side. Honey sits under that smoky top note, warm and unforced. The palate turns savoury, closer to roast meat than to orchard fruit. Malty cereal runs through the middle, then vanilla and caramel arrive. A nutty almond note carries the finish, with the peat still holding on. At 57.5% nothing here is shy. Longrow 11 years Red Tawny Port Cask Matured is a limited edition, not a permanent bottling. The 8,400 bottles were released in November 2022 and are long gone from shops. Cask strength is the other difference, since the whisky was not reduced before filling. It was bottled by the distillery in Campbeltown rather than by an outside merchant. For anyone who likes peat with a red wine edge, that combination is the draw.