This 2022 edition of Longrow Red spent eleven years in two stages, seven in bourbon barrels and four in fresh tawny port casks, before bottling at cask strength of 57.5% ABV. It sets Springbank's heavily peated spirit against the nutty, red-fruit sweetness of aged port.
About This Whisky
The 2022 Red went through a long two-part maturation. Seven years in bourbon barrels built a clean, sweet base, then four years in fresh casks that had held tawny port added depth. Tawny port ages for years in wood before bottling, so its casks pass on dried fruit and nutty notes as well as colour. Around 8,400 bottles were released at 57.5% ABV. Like everything from Springbank, it is bottled without chill filtration or added colour.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Smoked cherries, raspberry jam and walnut, with sea air and warm oak behind.
- Palate: Big and oily, with peat smoke, dark berries, toffee and a savoury, cured-meat edge.
- Finish: Warming and persistent, with pepper, drying red fruit and embers.
Serving & Food
At 57.5% this one repays patience and water. Start with a small pour in a copita, add cool water a few drops at a time and watch the fruit come forward. Serve it alongside roast duck with cherry sauce, venison sausages, or fruit cake with a sharp cheese.
How to Enjoy
Longrow Red followers filling a gap in the series, and anyone curious how port wood and heavy peat get along.
Product Details
Brand: Longrow / Springbank
Series: Longrow Red
Age: 11 years old
Release year: 2022
Cask style: 7 years bourbon barrels and 4 years fresh tawny port barrels
Region: Campbeltown, Scotland
Volume: 700mL
ABV: 57.5%
Bottles: 8,400
About the Distillery
Longrow is the heavily peated malt made at Springbank in Campbeltown. Its oily, smoky weight is thought to echo the style the town's distilleries turned out in their Victorian heyday, before most of them closed. The Red series is where Springbank plays with wine wood. Each year brings a different red or fortified wine cask, and the whisky goes into the bottle at full strength rather than being cut to 46%. Pinot Noir wood has turned up in several editions, with Malbec and port in others.