whiskyfabric

 

One of the things that many people I know who write about, are interested in or work within the whisky industry say about this world is that there is, most definitely, a “community” surrounding it. Whether that’s over social media through Twitter or Facebook, in person at events or at the distilleries themselves, the feeling that people care and are happy to have a chat and connect is well-known.

 
This has always impressed me after being in the – slightly more competitive and, partially, cut-throat – world of journalism. Don’t get me wrong: I still love many aspects of journalism too otherwise I wouldn’t have done it on a regular basis 10 years and moved into freelance afterwards. But the whisky community is more chilled out, I always think.
 

My fellow blogging colleague – the wonderful Johanne McInnis, or Whisky Lassie, as she is known – coined the phrase ‘Whisky fabric‘ on other whisky writer Rob Gard’s site to portray how the industry is. And I think she had it spot on.

 
Anyway, long story short, it was through the ‘Whisky fabric’ that I managed to gain a sample of the whisky in this review. The lovely Steve Prentice of Somerset Whisky Blog, who I’ve only met in person a few times but who I’ve spoken with at length (or as much as one can do) over Twitter, had noted me chatting away on the social media site about the Longmorn 16 I bought myself for my birthday present. The next day, he dropped me an email to see if I would be up for swapping some of my 16yo for a wee dram of his 1973 Gordon & McPhail Longmorn, an offer I couldn’t refuse!
 

He sent it to me back in August just before I was about to depart for a three week trip back to Canada, and it sat on my shelf upon my return, waiting quietly to be tasted, as many whiskies do.

 

I’ve finally had a chance to sample it and so – with thanks to Steve – here are my thoughts on it:

 

Longmorn '731973 Longmorn: G&M Bottling: 43%:

 
(c): Golden toffee

(n): Very thick – sticky almost. Quite biting without water, with lots of sharp citrus, fleshy orange notes. With a few drops of water, it opens out to reveal notes of orange blossom, cream and tobacco.

(p): After the sharp nose, it was more delicate on the palate than I anticipated. After a couple of sips, however, it feels quite dry and “dark” – by which I mean it has lots of dark liquorice, dark treacle, burnt caramel and leather. With water, the palate lightens and becomes a lot rounder as some of that dryness disperses. Oranges really come through for me on this one.

(f): Fairly tannic without water. Steeped orange tea with water.