Review #61&62: Longrow 9 Sauternes and Longrow 11 Port

Coming from the wine field into Scotch, I am very excited by this SbS. Sauternes is arguably the best maturing wine in the world so I very curious to see how it holds up as a barrel. Port is probably the best aging fortified wine, so once again, I am excited for the results.

Longrow 9 Sauternes

Campbeltown - 9 Years - NCF - NCA- $120 - 58%

Color - Auburn

Nose - Fruit and peat are at the front, pear, grapefruit, orange zest, honey, and stinky cheese, a hint of fabric softener

Taste - Banana, orange, a bit of funk, not plastic but close and a bit of must. Big mouthfeel.

Finish - Medium Long - Candied orange, leather , licorice - a bit hot but forgivable at 58%

Overall - 8 - This was a fun one, fruity, funky and hard to pin down. As a Sauternes fan it was not as sauterney as I would expect. I did get more a white Bordeaux Sauv/Semill blend out of it.

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Longrow Red 11 Port

Campbeltown- 11 - NCF - NCA - Sample ($120 at the local) - 51.8%

Color - Auburn, slightly darker

Nose - Grapefruit, pears, tobacco, and some sulphur I can't place, somewhere between rubber and smoke. A little flabby in the mouthfeel.

Taste - Stewed strawberry, mild oak tanninsand plasticy peat . Oh this is just lovely for a guy who came from wine.

Finish - Medium - Stewed fruit leather, tobacco, plastic and tangerine

Overall - 7.5 - I love both of these. The mouthfeel is a notch down in the port but has some great flavors on the palate. SbS, I don't think there is a winner here, there is a mood difference. If I had to pick one, I would go Sauternes for the big mouthfeel. Both do a perfect job of marrying wine and peat. I would recommend picking up both if you find them.

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Rating system is price influenced as it is based on my shopping decisions when buying a bottle.

10 Best in Show

9 Great Dram for Special Occasions

8 Worthy of consistent spot in my collection

7 Worth picking up a bottle if in the mood

6 I would buy a bottle if it went on sale

5 I would drink it happily if offered

4 I would drink it if offered on the rocks

3 Maybe some soda will make this potable

2 I'll Pass

1 Toilet cleaner

Inclusive Ratings

Overall 6.1

Standard Deviation 0.97

Skew 0.66

Kurtosis -0.6556419861

Cambeltown 6.6 (8)