Longmorn

Longmorn distillery stands five miles south of Elgin in the Speyside region of Scotland. Longmorn is rarely bottled as a single malt. Instead, it produces whisky for use in several blended Scotch brands.

Longmorn produces a sweet, fruity spirit with good body. Its weight makes it ideal for long maturation in ex-sherry casks.

Single malt bottlings are rich and sherried with notes of ginger and cinnamon. It regularly displays a malty character, carried through from the grain itself.

Longmorn is capable of producing around 4,500,000 litres of spirit per annum. It is produced using unpeated malted barley.

Fermentation for 50 hours, coupled with distillation in thick-necked pot stills helps to produce an oily, weighty spirit.

Spirit matures in a combination of refill American oak hogsheads, ex-bourbon barrels and European oak sherry butts.

Longmorn has produced whisky for blends like Vat69, Dewar’s and Chivas Regal. Though single malt bottlings are rare, they have a cult following, particularly in Japan.  

Longmorn distillery was founded by John Duff. As an accomplished distiller, Duff was the manager at Glendronach distillery before leaving in 1876 to start his own business at Glenlossie. In 1888, he sold his shares and moved to South Africa, where he hoped to kick-start a distilling revolution.

Duff failed to muster much support so he made for the USA, hoping to turn his hand to whiskey. There, too, his plans never got off the ground and soon he was back home on Speyside. Partnering with local investors, he established Longmorn, just south of Elgin, in 1894.

Once again, however, Duff’s plans fell flat. He tried to expand by building another distillery next to Longmorn but Benriach lasted just two years before closing. The effects of the Pattison Crash left many in the industry out of pocket and Duff was declared bankrupt in 1899. Longmorn was taken over by James Grant.

In the 1920s, Longmorn played host to a young man named Masataka Taketsuru. After studying at Glasgow University, Taketsuru gained work experience in several of Scotland’s distilleries. He later returned home to Japan where he would develop the country’s own whisky industry, almost single-handedly. The stills at Nikka’s two distilleries are loosely based on those at Longmorn.

In 1970, Longmorn merged with Glenlivet and Glen Grant. In 1978, Canadian spirits giant Seagram’s took over, bringing the distillery under Chivas Bros for the first time.

Under Seagram’s, Longmorn was released as a 15-year old single malt. When the owning company was taken over by Pernod Ricard, this was replaced by a 16-year-old. Single cask versions have also appeared as part of Chivas Brothers' Cask Strength series. 

Pernod Ricard owns the most Scotch whisky distilleries, after Diageo. They also own hugely successful brands like Absolut Vodka, Beefeater gin, Jacob's Creek wine and Havana Club rum.

Longmorn was renovated and expanded in 1972. The pot stills increased from four to six before an additional pair was added in 1974.

Pernod Ricard announced further refurbishment in 2012 that included upgrades to the mash tun and washbacks.

While official bottlings are rare, Longmorn is occasionally released by independent bottlers like Gordon & Macphail and Cadenhead’s. The quality of such bottlings has earned favourable reviews and the distillery has developed something of a cult following.