Country: Scotland – Campbeltown
Distillery: Springbank
Type:  Single Malt
Age: 11
Cask: Ex-Bourbon (7 yr) - Cabernet Sauvignon (4 yr)
ABV: 52.1%
Proof: 104.2
Price: $275

Nose: Peat, iodine, sea salt, Prosciutto, red spice, tangy grapefruit and a wind of strawberry jam after aired.
Palate: Definitely a wild one. Peat, dried plum, palinka liquor, leather, salt and tobacco notes are found. Then Cabernet Sauvignon cask takes the scene with black currant, cinnamon and black berry traces. A chewable, crazy whisky.
Finish: Long and under peat influence. You can feel the Ardbeg finish shortly and then saltness dominates.

Springbank Distillery has always produced single malts that made me curious, Longrow Red 11 which was extra matured for 4 years in Cabernet Sauvignon casks was not an exception.

I was very curious about this whisky from the first moment I heard the line-up for this month's İstanbul Whisky Friends tasting.

After a maturation period of 7 years in refill bourbon cask, the spirit was awoken and transported into Cabernet Sauvignon casks of Australia's Angove Long Row wine. This whisky was also the first expression of Longrow Red series.

Moreover, 48 hours of malt drying process using peat adds another brick on my curiosity wall which already was at a high altitude with the cask combination.

This Longrow expression met my expectations just at the nosing. Peat is very strong with red fruit aromas that arise after aeration. Palate is under the domination of spices and tangy fruits where leather and earthy aromas are also existent. Plum distillate marks can be noticed after a while. A chewy palate and hard to get used to at first.

52.1% abv makes it hard for the palate. This dram should be tasted by adding drops of water. After dilution, fruity character gets stronger.

If you are not used to erratic whiskies, this one may be strange at first. Every new glass makes it more and more pleasant. Great for cold winter days though, pretty hard to find.