a single malt could be excellent! Last wednesday I picked up a bottle of Glenmorangie 10 yo. Naturally, I immediately came down with a stomach virus and entertained the idea of death as an alternative for about three days (Jeez, I felt terrible!). Finally, this evening, I felt well enough to crack open the bottle and experience for myself...a brief glimpse of heaven! Wonderful!, Cest magnifique! YeeHaw! Bravo! Purty dang good!, as we say in South Mississippi, and I'll be adding this one to my permanent line-up for sure. I found it to be rich in flavor and mouth feel, but not resinous or, or.....whatever. I'm not an expert by any means. I'm new to the wonderful world of malt whiskeys, but I know what I like. The GlenMorangie 10 yo is some very good whiskey. At $30.00US, I consider it a bargain.
Yes, I'm new at this, so feel free to fill in the blank;
"If you think GlenMorangie 10yo is good, wait till you try _______________"
I like the Port finished 12 year old. And apparently I'm not alone, as I've just learned it's now selling nearly half the volume of the 10 year old.
Last night I attended a tasting led by Anthony Burnet, Regional Director, Americas, Glenmorangie plc. (as the advertisement listed). The whiskies were the 10yo, the 15yo, the 18yo, and the port, sherry, and madeira wood finishes, and the Ardbeg 10 as a finale. The only one I had never tasted was the 15yo, but it had been a long time since I had tasted most of the other Glen Mo's.
Mister Burnet was entertaining, and very informative. He seemed to have a grasp on a lot of small detail facts which he used to describe the whiskies, and to answer everyones' questions.
Here's a little of what I gleaned from the conversation:
He expressed the opinion that Glenmorangie peaks at about
10 to 12 years; only exceptional casks continue to improve for much longer than that. (Which he said was also true for most scotch whiskies.) Most all Glenmorangie is aged in ex-bourbon casks. Most bourbon casks at Glenmo. have a life of three fill cycles before they are exhausted, but only 1st and 2nd fill casks are bottled as single malts, the third fill casks are used in the Glenmo. blends. Bailie Nicol Jarvie is not imported into the U.S., but two other Glenmo. blends have some limited or regional distribution here: Muirheads and Martins (Spelling could be off - this was all from conversation). The single malt expression Cellar 13, available only in Duty Free shops, is entirely from 1st fill bourbon casks.
Most of Glenmo.'s bourbon casks come from Heaven Hill, but now some come from Jack Daniels and Woodford Reserve through Brown Forman.
Once a cask is laid down in the warehouse it is not ordinarily moved during maturation.
Glenmorangie is chillfiltered, and the whisky's temperature is dropped to about 5 degrees centigrade, not freezing. It's reduced to bottling strength with de-mineralized water. Although they can use spirit carmel to adjust the color they ordinarily don't.
Mister Burnet expressed the opinion that water is upsetting to sherried (and in the case of Glenmo. wood finished) whiskies, much more so than to whisky aged in ex-bourbon casks, and that ice is worse for the wine tinged whiskies than water; I take it he was untroubled by adding ice to whiskies entirely aged in bourbon wood.
The wine finished whiskies spend between 6 and 18 months (or was it 2 yrs?) in the finishing casks. Each cask is evaluated individually, and it varies from cask to cask.
The 15yo is aged for 15 years in bourbon wood, then finished for 6 months in new American oak, giving it a larger oak note and more vanillins.
The 18yo spends 16 years in ex-bourbon casks. Then 20% of the casks that will end up as the 18yo are finished in sherry casks for 2 years while the other 80% continue to age in bourbon casks. After which, the two batches, the
20% and the 80%, are married in vatting for about two weeks during which they recieve occassional aeration to encourage their "marriage".
Malt used in making Glenmorangie is peated to 1 to 2 parts per million, while mister Burnet gave the figure for Ardbeg as 55ppm.
And in one last bit of good news, he told us that Uigedail, the new expression from Ardbeg, with no age statement, containing some sherry aged Ardbeg, and at a much higher (essentially cask strength) ABV, will be imported into the U.S., probably begining in May - June of this year.
I was really struck by the 15yo. It does indeed have a flavor quite different from the 10 and 18. The fresh oak gives it some flavors that are reminiscent of a light bourbon, but without the heavy sweetness so many bourbons have, which I suppose derives from the corn (maize) in their mash bill.
And I just can't wait for Uigedail to appear here! Although past experience with other promised whiskies like the Laphroaig Cask Strength, the Jura Superstition, and the Lagavulin 12 year old reminds me that sometimes those promised arrival dates are optimistic. But it's on its way!
Bart
All of the above was told to us by Anthony Burnet, filtered through my fallible memory. I can't confirm any of it through any other source, but there it is - take it for what it's worth.
DrinksForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.