Glenmorangie 18 Year

Glenmorangie was founded in 1843 after William Matheson purchased the Morangie farm at the site, which had been brewing beer and spirits there for over a century, according to legend. Boasting the tallest stills in Scotland, it is often named one of the best selling whiskies in Scotland. While the distillery produced whiskies for use in blends, they ceased in 2009 to focus on single malts. Their offerings feature an array of age and no-age statements, often finished in a variety of ex-wine casks. The distillery and its current Director of Distilling, Dr Bill Lumsden, have helped pioneer cask finishing in the modern era. The Glenmorangie 18 is aged for 15 years and then 30% of the cut is finished in Spanish Oloroso sherry casks for three years before being blended back in.

Distillery: Glenmorangie
Region: Highland
Age: 18 years
Strength: 43%
Price: $119.99
Maturation: ex-bourbon and ex-Oloroso sherry casks
Location: Tain
Nose: Floral, orange 
Palate: Apple, pear, green pepper, heather
Finish: Plum

Comments: No water needed.

Adam – Welcome to Scotland, says the Glenmorangie 18. A tangy bouquet of summer flowers, fruit blossoms really, accompany some citrus. The nose does not show a great number of layers but is not unpleasant for what it shows. It’s gentle, though not muted. It’s not too quiet and doesn’t need to be loud. The palate, on the other hand, is another matter. The florals are replaced by a mixed bag of tree fruit, apples and pears. For having the age statement that it does, I’m surprised by how vibrant this scotch is, as it has the zip of a younger dram. It’s not the raw edge of a too-young whisky yet still can’t be said to have elegant smoothness either. I keep wanting to say there’s an element of spice there but there’s not. Probably something to do with where the pH level sits or something. The vibrancy is only on that initial palate hit, though, for the finish slides immediately into gentle fruit with a little bit of those florals from the nose returning. It feels very minimal and exists mostly as a slight savoriness under the tongue while at the same time feeling dry like a white wine. How peculiar, perhaps because I want it to be something it’s not. This is a dignified, intentional scotch showcasing the core elements of the distillery at a higher age statement, with no decoration or pretention to cloud the appreciation. Enjoy it for it is, not what it isn’t.

Henry – Floral and fruity nose, with a light palate with hints of green pepper among the heather. Finish is smooth and light, with some staying power. A subtle, reserved, and dignified dram. This is just going right for that point where it’s right in the middle of the whole thing. It’s not too much of any one thing. It’s like the perfect blended whisky, in a single malt. Compare this to Glenlivet 18, Macallen 18, Deerstalker 18, any of those of those big Highland or Speyside distilleries. So, we’re getting less of the of the various things you can do to a tangerine, dried tangerine, juiced tangerine, candy tangerine peel, and we’re getting a little bit more of that floral. And we’re getting a little bit more of that generic juicy fruit.

Ben – Strangely unrewarding on the palate. There’s a happy place in drinking this drink. I mean, the Glenmorangie 18 is not interesting enough to make us say the most clever things about it, but it may be just the thing for to drink when gathering with friends, so you’ll be able to say clever things to each other about your lives instead of about your whisky. And that’s not a bad thing for a whisky. That’s what this is meant to do, to bring people together and share moments. This is fine. There’s absolutely nothing wrong here. There’s nothing bad.

Bill – There’s that orange and citrus that’s common in Glenmorangie. It’s there. I was going to say this smells exactly like the 10 year that’s been let go a little bit longer. Instead of Kool-Aid, I’m going to go with fun dip or pixie sticks. Citric acid and fructose. I will say this in in favor of this. It’s subtle. It’s extremely subtle. It kind of warms. You have to warm to this one. This is almost like you want three fingers in a glass just because you almost need that big a dram for the subtlety to actually be able to work on you. It’s so subtle that you almost need a shit ton more of it so that you can appreciate the subtlety.

Mike – It’s not dry, per se, but it’s got that fake candied Kool-Aid smell you get when it’s aerosolized in powder form. It’s not boring to me. I’ve gotten flavors of apple and pear at the beginning and then it ended with plum. This is something I could have a nice dram of. Just talk about whatever and not really, you know, be witty about the whiskey. It’s a nice pour. I don’t hate it, without a doubt.