Longmorn 16 Year Old 1996 Duncan Taylor Octave

The smaller the cask, the more intense the interation between the wood and the spirit. Logical. Duncan Taylor put this to the test with the The Octave Cask series. After a regular maturating in butts, they recasked the whisky in octaves, casks that are only one eight of the size of the butts. Duncan Taylor claims the whisky get a greater deapth and smoothness and makes the final product more balanced. Let us give that a try with the 16 Year Old Longmorn at cask strength.

Ha, now that is Longmorn. A typical sweet fruitiness on the nose with a handful of nuts and loads of marzipan. Candied apricots and juicy red apples. Slowly but surely it becomes a bit dry, but never too much. Wonderful. Adding water brings out more of the wood, though.

Those almonds return forcefully on the palate. Very sweet, but becoming a bit dry, now. The fruit has to make place for the wood. Adding a spoonful of water makes it more soft and brings out the fruit again. So better with water (although this is not the case for the nose).

On the medium long finish, I get some woodsmoke.

A good Longmorn that can do with a bit of water (although the nose does not improve).

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