This Longmorn 1965 was bottled in 1977 by Berry Bros. & Rudd, at a time when the distillery had merged with The Glenlivet, right before being acquired by Seagram. This is just 11-12 years old and heavily sherried.
This particular bottle was bought by Ardbeg collector Geert Bero in the legendary Mara cellars. He opened it right away but was largely unimpressed. I tapped a sample many years later and waited some more before actually trying it. Sometimes airing is a must with old bottles.
Longmorn 1965 (70 proof, Berry Bros & Rudd 1977, 26 2/3 fl.oz.)
Longmorn 1965 (70 proof, Berry Bros & Rudd 1977, 26 2/3 fl.oz.)Nose: powerful sherry, all on dark roast coffee beans and cocoa powder. Walnuts and freshly treated leather. Prunes. Some polished woods, moving towards metallic notes and Mediterranean herbs. Some brighter hints of orange peel and honey, but overall rather dark, making it less expressive than older Longmorns from the late 1960s.
Mouth: I can see why they were disappointed. It’s a little flat, with a kind of vague syrupy note and plenty of herbs, liquorice and camphor. Tobacco. Walnut liqueur. Misses the sparkle and the persistence of the best examples. Let’s not be too pessimistic though, it’s a nice old style but our expectations were very high.
Finish: not too long, on sweet raisins, dark chocolate and some dusty herbal notes.
Praised by Serge Valentin (and others), but this particular bottle doesn’t confirm that feeling entirely. Always nice to get this old-style profile, but it’s slightly heavyweight and flat at the same time.
Score: 90/100