Glenmorangie 10 Year Old Sixteen Men Of Tain 1980’s Bottling

The Glenmorangie distillery in the Northern Highlands of Scotland can be credited with the popularisation of ‘finished malt whisky’ – although I’m not sure if they were also the first to apply the technique of double maturation in another cask. Around 1995 Glenmorangie released three different ‘ wood finishes’ – a Port Finish, a Madeira Finish and a Sherry Finish. Later on some more finished ‘limited releases’ were bottled.

Glenmorangie 10 yo (40%, 1980’s)

Colour: straw. Nose: fresh and unexpectedly smoky and kind of mineral, very flinty. Gets then a little grassier and waxier with also notes of fresh fruits such as gooseberries and butter pears. Grilled beef, bacon… And just a faint soapiness in the background together with something slightly metallic. Rather complex.

Mouth: sweet, thick, creamy and malty, with a few salty touches. Rather bold in fact, much more powerful than expected. Goes on with toasted bread, coffee, crème brulée… And then overripe apples, hints of redcurrants… Gets also maltier and maltier. It’s big whisky, a true Highlander no doubt.

Finish: the saltiness grew even bigger at this stage, and so did the maltiness. Again, big whisky, even if it’s not as complex on the palate as on the nose.