This is, as whisky fanatics tend to know, a Glenmorangie. With Glenmorangie being a bit more expensive as a brand, it seemed like a good call to pick up a bottle of this, sometime during the pandemic. Glenmorangie 18 is about the same price as this, and this being a single cask made it even more interesting.

Of course, it’s tea-spooned, although I think that’s only an official statement and nothing was really added. I have the strong feeling that that is often just said to make sure the label doesn’t say ‘single malt’ and therefore doesn’t have a distillery name.

Anyway, Glenmorangie from a bourbon cask. It doesn’t get more classical than that. I think it is true for most of us that this is one of the first single malt whiskies we ever tried, since the regular Glenmorangie 10 was so ubiquitous a decade or two ago. My expectations were that this is a bit less sweet and more complex, so let’s find out!

Sniff:
Dry on the nose with lots of woody spices, a bit of bitterness and some vanilla. Tree bark and milled barley. There’s a hint of sweet white wine, Muscat style. All of this is not unlike typical Glenmorangie.

Sip:
The palate is quite intense with lots of dry barley and white pepper. It’s a bit sweeter than the nose was, with more vanilla and white oak. Some green notes of tree bark and moss, as well as a hint of apples and minerals.

Swallow:
There’s a rather long finish with very similar notes to the palate. Quite some vanilla and pastry sweetness, but balanced out by more oaky notes and spices.

It does fulfil it’s premise with this being a bit less sweet, more wood forward and slightly more complex version of Glenmorangie. I think it could have done with a bit higher ABV, but it might be cask strength and that not being an option. All in all this is a rather tasty and (too) easy drinking dram, that went down quite well!

87/100