Longrow

Campbeltown whisky has a habit of feeling slightly old-fashioned in the best possible way. Salty air, oily spirit, historic warehouses and an ongoing sense the entire town is stubbornly refusing to disappear quietly. Longrow captures that atmosphere perfectly.

Produced by Springbank Distillery, Longrow is the heavily peated side of the operation, originally created in the 1970s when peated whisky styles were far less fashionable than they are now. Unlike many smoky whiskies, Longrow still feels deeply tied to traditional production methods. Floor maltings, direct hands-on distillation and remarkably little automation by modern standards.

The peat style itself is distinct from Islay. Less medicinal iodine, more earthy smoke, maritime saltiness and oily texture. There’s usually citrus, soot, coastal brine and a faintly mechanical note underneath it all that somehow works brilliantly. Longrow Red releases, finished in wine casks, have become especially sought-after because the dense fruit and smoke combination can get wonderfully strange.

What keeps Longrow interesting is that it never feels overly polished. These whiskies have edges to them. Occasionally slightly funky ones. Springbank fans tend to adore that because the spirit still tastes made by humans rather than spreadsheets.

Campbeltown itself helps shape the identity too. Once the whisky capital of the world, now home to just a handful of distilleries hanging onto immense character and history. Longrow feels very much part of that survival story. Slightly rugged, deeply individual and increasingly hard to stop talking about once you’ve got into it.