Longrow Red Cabernet Franc 11yo

The Maker

Longrow is a brand rather than a distillery. One of the three brands housed at the much coveted Springbank distillery in Campbeltown. The internet is full of reviews and articles praising Springbank so there’s no need for me to write another one. Instead it suffices to say that the family run business is easily one of the most desired scotches there is, and that they have earnt this reputation through the production of some very good whisky!

Yet Longrow was once a distillery in its own right. It was located next door to Springbank and closed its doors for the last time in 1896. In the years since Springbank has expanded. In so doing it has taken over several of the old Longrow buildings to the point where the original Longrow warehouse is used as Springbank’s bottling hall (although this has just been superseded by a larger newbuild).

That expansion and sense of history led Springbank to resurrect the brand in 1973. But rather than just use the name, they wanted to utilise it for the production of a different style of whisky to what they already produced. So rather than the lightly peated, 2.5 times distilled profile of Springbank, Longrow are always heavily peated and distilled only twice. This is a much more traditional style of Scotch and more typical of the Campbeltown region as whole. For many years Longrow releases were special editions only, but in the 1990s it became a core distillery release and has continued to be popular even since.

I would go so far as to say that Longrow has become a lot of people's favourite of the three Springbank distillery offerings (with a special mention to Kilkerran, also produced by Springbank at its sister Glengyle distillery) given that heavily peated character which places it halfway between a traditional Islay malt and the rich oily refinement so common to Campbeltown itself.

As with all things Campbeltown a lot of the range is often hard to get hold of, but that seems to be improving by the year. It begins with the previously reviewed Peated release - a no age statement at 46% - and has been joined in the past year by the 100% Proof edition, which is said to have replaced the Red (see below) due to declining stocks. These are joined by 18 and 21 age statements that are released annually and have a different cask make up each time. A few years back I reviewed the 2020 edition of the 18yo which was fantastic.

The Expression

This bottle is from the now defunct Red series (the last release was in 2025). The series consisted of a single annual red wine matured or finished release. These were much desired by whisky fans but were sometimes criticised for being of variable quality. As these are Longrow, that variation was often between outstanding and decent, rather than any of them being objectively bad. I suspect that it was their rarity, and resultant high secondary market prices, which drove some of the criticism from people who perhaps paid a little more than they were worth and therefore had unrealistic expectations.

This 2018 release was aged 11 years. The first nine of which were in ex-bourbon casks before spending the remaining two years in Cabernet Franc barriques sourced from the De Toren Private Cellars in South Africa. The outrun was 9000 bottles (so not that small), at a cask strength of 55.9%. As you would expect it is neither artificially coloured, nor chill-filtered.

A few of these are still available online at silly prices (for example I can see one on sale in the UK now for £400 ($544UDS)), but I picked this one up at auction in 2024 for £130 ($177USD). It is not clear what the original retail price was, but given the time I would suggest it was closer to £60-80 pre-covid.

The Neck Pour

Lots of sweet peat on the nose that's driven by redcurrants couched in a traditional oily Campbeltown funk. This is followed by a hint of nutty burnt butter.

Considering the strength of the nose this is currently rather light on the palate. The tannins you would expect from a red wine finish are there, but they are not especially long. Maybe those two years was not enough to show through at this stage? Instead there is more of a richer caramel element which quickly morphs into peat smoke and the fatty oiliness of tinned fish.

All very subtle compared to many red wine maturations I have had over the years, but I have heard it said that 'wine need time', so if you are going to do it, it needs to be full maturation. As a result, it is so far a whisky that I respect more than love. But I also suspect that this needs to open up a bit.

The Body

Over time that oily sweet peat has sustained itself, but has been joined by some citrus notes alongside herbs and that burnt butter. The vanilla char has also built at the further cost of the red wine.

Yet the palate is now very different to the nose. It begins with a soft peat, then the wine element, having left the nose, is now much more present and makes up the main component of the taste. This is supported by simpler, ex-bourbon flavours before the peat comes back on the finish.

This all comes together to create a very satisfying and and refined dram. If anything the level of refinement makes the whisky come across as far older than its eleven years of age. It might not be up there with the 18yo Longrow, but I would suggest that it drinks more like a 15yo than an 11yo.

Final Thoughts

As I come to the end of this bottle the profile on the nose and palate have remained consistent. As a result I have found myself very much enjoying the refined complexity of what has become a very well balanced dram.

Looking at online reviews it seems that this version of the Red is considered as middle of the road compared to some of the others. While I lack the experience of those others, when compared to other whiskies as a whole I would rate this as among the best, and worth the additional secondary market premium I paid. While I have managed to pick up a bottle of the new Longrow 100% Proof in the meantime, I suspect I will soon find myself tempted by older Red releases at auction in the near future if the price is right.