Next up in my restarted “Open Them and Drink Them” campaign is a Longrow released before I’d started this blog. This is an 11 yo distilled in November 2001 and released in January 2013. It was part of Springbank’s Rundlets & Kilderkins line that saw releases from all three of their single malt variants: Springbank, Hazelburn and Longrow. I reviewed the Springbank Rundlets & Kilderkins very early in the blog’s life. As I already made a hilarious joke in that review about the name “Rundlets & Kilderkins”, I’ll spare you this time and inform you—in case you don’t know—that rundlets and kilderkins were two type of old-timey small casks. Where a sherry butt approaches 500 liters in volume and a bourbon hogshead contains 250 liters (200 in a bourbon barrel), a kilderkin holds 80 liters and a rundlet only 60. This means far greater oak contact over the course of the spirit’s stay in the cask. And I believe the Longrow Rundlets & Kilderkins matured entirely in the small casks, just as the Springbank version had. Well, the Springbank Rundlets & Kilderkins was not overwhelmed by the oak contact and I am happy to tell you that the same is true of this whisky. I opened my bottle a few days ago and have been quite enjoying it. Here now are my notes.

Longrow 11, 2001, Rundlets & Kilderkins (51.7%; from my own bottle)

Nose: Peppery peat, yes, but also a lot of salt along with lemon and cracked coriander seed. Also a slightly plasticky note (it works somehow). After a little bit that plastic note turns into new leather and the salt expands dramatically. With more time the mineral sweetness from the finish and palate shows up here as well. A few drops of water push the sweetness back, amp up the salt and bring out some barnyard notes (hay).

Palate: A sweeter arrival but otherwise pretty much as predicted by the nose. A good drinking strength with rich texture. Saltier here too with time and also earthier (and it’s damp earth). The smoke, by the way, is not phenolic but charred—both woody and meaty (pork). Here, water pushes the salt back and emphasizes the lemon and the more savoury notes.

Finish: Long. The peat comes out in front here; mineral sweetness at the end (wet stones) along with a hint of vanilla. As on the palate with water at first and then spicier (coriander seed, pepper).

Comments: Very nice young whisky—and I like it better with water—but I have to say I would struggle to say it was markedly different in character from Longrows and peatier Springbanks of similar ages matured in conventional casks. I look forward to seeing if that opinion changes over the course of the bottle’s life. I’ll report back if it does. And I guess I should check and see if I have a bottle or sample of the Hazelburn Rundlets & Kilderkins hiding somewhere on my shelves—I don’t have a memory of having tried that one. I have a vague memory of people saying back in the day that it might have been the best of the three.

Rating: 89 points