Longrow 18 is the most mature standard expression of Springbank's heavily peated spirit — eighteen years in sherry casks, bottled at 46%, and released annually in limited quantities. If the NAS Longrow Peated shows the raw power of Campbeltown peat, the 18 demonstrates what that peat becomes with nearly two decades of patience.
The fully sherried maturation is the distinguishing feature. Eighteen years in quality sherry wood has softened Longrow's sooty, ashy peat into something altogether more sophisticated — the smoke is still present, still assertive, but it has acquired a richness and depth that only long contact with European oak can deliver.
The nose is complex and dark: smoked plum, tar, leather, Christmas pudding, iodine, and a rich sherried sweetness. The palate is full-bodied and layered — peat smoke, dried fruit, dark chocolate, espresso, clove, tobacco, and a savoury meatiness that is quintessentially Longrow. The mouthfeel is thick, oily, and demanding.
The finish is very long, with smoke, sherry, and maritime salt persisting. It is a whisky that stands alongside the finest age-stated Islay expressions — perhaps surpassing them, given the Campbeltown character that time has not erased but enriched. The Longrow 18 is Springbank's greatest gift to peat lovers, and it deserves to be recognised as one of Scotland's finest whiskies.
