Blackadder Longmorn Distillery 13 Year Old Scotch – Review

Blackadder Longmorn Distillery 13 Year Old Single Speyside Malt Whisky

90 Proof

Price Point: Unknown for 750 ML

Distiller: Longmorn Distillery

Background

I was recently fortunate enough to receive eight bottles of Blackadder whiskies to review (see picture of the line-up here).  These whiskies range from a 13 Year Old Speyside (this review) to a 35 Year Old Highland.  They’re all a little different and all very much unlike what I usually review.  I picked the Longmorn 13 Year Old as my first review as it is one of the youngest; not that age statements run parallel with quality.

A bit of distillery history from the Longmorn website:

Built on the site of an old chapel, the Longmorn distillery was founded by John Duff and two associates, Charles Shirres and George Thomson in 1894, together with its neighbour Benriach.  Despite his good position within the whisky world in those days, John Duff was crippled by debts because of the great recession in the whisky industry at the end of the 19th century.  He was forced to sell everything to pay his creditors.  In the early 1970’s, Longmorn merged with the distillery “The Glenlivet” to create “The Glenlivet Distillers Ltd”.  The distillery doubled its production capacity in 1972 and again in 1974.  The number of stills went from 4 to 8.  Seagram purchased the distillery in 1977.  Longmorn is one of the few distilleries who never stopped production.  The distilleries belonging to “The Chivas and Glenlivet Group”, part of Seagram were bought by the French group Pernod-Ricard on December 19, 2001.

Review

The nose is a bit peculiar.  It starts out with the high notes of an Irish whiskey, with alcohol-heavy intensity.  Blackadder Longmorn transitions to a floral nose, with pears and a touch of malt.  I’ve certainly experienced better noses on a whisky.

This whisky starts out malty with a hint of leather and peat.  This is full-bodied and mature; very pleasant with an oily mouthfeel.  Blackadder Longmorn tastes like a classic Speyside with a touch of the Glenlivet trademark pineapple.  Something still seems a bit off, though – perhaps a bit too much of a bite for a bit too low of a proof?

Blackadder Longmorn has a very similar finish to Glenrothes, although it lasts a lot longer.  This is where fruit makes its most abundant appearance, for a long-lasting finish.

Rating & Recommendations

Blackadder Longmorn is an okay Scotch, earning a rating of 83 out of 100.

This is a nice whisky from the Blackadder collection, but I have certainly had better.  More of these reviews to follow…

-Ryan