May 09
Longmorn 1976, The Perfect Dram
Posted on 9th May 2012 by Stuart
Longmorn distillery has a sustained and excellent reputation amongst blenders and whisky lovers alike. The rich, well flavoured make serves as a good top-dresser for blends and, happily for us, delivers some exceptional casks when the independent bottlers get involved. Sadly the distillery remains quite under-represented as a single malt in its official form, with its current owners (Chivas Brothers) restricting its range to a fairly underwhelming Longmorn 16 year old and Cask Strength 1997 Limited Edition. It would be a great pleasure to see this expanded as these few official releases often leave Longmorn overlooked and under appreciated by newcomers.
This 1976 bottling was released under The Whisky Agency’s frequently outstanding “Perfect Dram” label last year and, predictably, sold out almost instantly. Along with several other fairly new bottlers like Malts of Scotland, Thosop, Asta Morris, The Nectar/Daily Drams, The Whisky Man etc, The Whisky Agency has built a remarkable reputation due to the quality and consistency of its selections. While many of these bottlers have released high quality Longmorn’s from the 70’s, it is this bourbon cask from 76 and the incredible 1972 Perfect Dram/Three Rivers Tokyo Sherry Cask released in 2010, which seem to shine about the others.