I can see the love for the whole Red series with this one, but the red wine influence wasn't strong enough for me. Maybe an extra year of finishing would have helped?

Note by Serge Valentin from whiskyfun.com:

Longrow 12 yo 'Red' (52.9%, OB, Pinot Noir, 9000 bottles, 2015)  11 years in bourbon wood (aahhh), 1 year in Pinot Noir (heeey?) Seriously, I’m not a fan of red-wine-finished peaters, but while I almost hated the cab (WF 70), the shiraz (WF 79) and the Port (WF 78) have been a little more to my liking. I love pinot noir, but maybe not in my whisky, let’s see… Oh and it’s not even Burgundy or Alsace pinot noir, it’s a Kiwi. Colour: salmony/apricoty. Nose: wait, this seems to work, more or less. Sulphur, blackcurrant buds, floor cloth (typical pinot noir), ham, bananas, then cakes, strawberry jam… I don’t find this particularly unbalanced, mind you. With water: dust, old wine cellar, all things musty, old bookshop in a small northern village (wot?)… It’s not unpleasant, it’s just peculiar. The strawberries have vanished – all for the better. Mouth (neat): rather more difficult. Stems and leaves plus lime and Haribo’s strawberry gums, British strawberry-flavoured yoghurt, a feeling of cheapish champagne rosé, with a gingery fizziness… It’s a fine drink, just not very ‘whisky’ in my book. So far. With water: starts to pitch and toss, so to speak. Old leaves, salt, old brine, dust… Finish: long, smokier again, void of any fruitiness. Comments: oh, why not? But you know, grape and grain… (not talking about sherry, Madeira, and other such wines). SGP:465 - 78 points.

This is not unlike the 14yo (WID: 113732). However, he does everything a little less extreme. But that does not mean that it's a smooth malt. But on the contrary. The "sulfur notes" are also here, just not so pronounced. He retains this overall dark charisma, but is a bit more moderate. Put simply, this is a 14yo Light. What I do not like about the red is that the finish seems a little bit set up for me.