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THE LASANTA

Glenmorangie Distillery is located in the Northern Highlands Scotch distillery section of Scotland, UK, 65 km north of Inverness, overlooking the lonesome waters of Dornoch Firth. It claims credit for the popularisation of the idea of 'finished malt whisky' - although it is not certain if they were also the first to apply the technique of double maturation in another cask. 

According to the Glenmorangie Company, the earliest record of the production of alcohol at Morangie Farm is dated 1703 by the Matheson family. In the 1730s a brewery was built on the site that shared the farm's water source, the Morangie Burn, with the village, once a Celtic burgh called Tain. In 1823, once distilling was legalised for a licence, the eldest son in the family, William, went to Inverness to learn about distillation, leaving his brother John behind to manage things, returning in 1842. By now, he had become brewery owner and manager. William Matheson acquired vacant farmland in 1843 and moved the Morangie brewery to the new location to convert it into a distillery, equipping it with two second hand short and squat stills. He named the new distillery Glenmorangie and commenced operations in 1849, but his whisky was a market failure. Pedigreed advisors told him that the necks of his stills were too short. He bought off two gin stills from a closed gin mill in the neighbouring village and imported the necks to add to his existing set up, creating very tall necks, later to be found as the tallest in Scotland.  

Production got off to a successful start, and the Glenmorangie Distillery Company Limited was registered as such in 1887. It took thirty years for his product to be recognised and reach the higher slots in popularity and in 1880, exportation commenced at the distillery, which went extremely successfully. They ran short of maltings and were lucky to find Glen Moray in Elgin in difficulty in 1898. The distillery was owned by the Muir family and that distillery stayed open only to provide maltings to Glenmorangie. They then asked for and assumed charge of sales at Glenmorangie.

Glen Moray was infused with fresh funding to become Macdonald and Muir and bought 40% of the Glenmorangie Distillery Company Limited. 60% was sold to Durham, a Whisky dealing company. Production continued successfully under its new ownership, with Macdonald eventually buying off Durham and taking complete control of the distillery in 1918. The Macdonald family would retain control of the company for almost 90 years, up to 2004. It also owned the Ardbeg distillery in Islay.

The number of stills was expanded from two to four in 1980. In 1990 the stills were expanded again to a total of eight. Those eight stills enable Glenmorangie to produce four million litres of pure alcohol each year, confirming them as a worldwide brand. In 2009, Glenmorangie distillery added two pairs of brand new stills to the eight already in use, increasing production capacity from 4,000,000 litres of alcohol per year to 6,000,000 litres of alcohol per year. Together with Bunnahabhain and Isle of Jura, Glenmorangie has the tallest pot stills in the industry at 26 ft 3 in (8.00 m) tall, with 16 feet 10.25 inches (5.1372 m) necks, which, as claimed by the company, produce an extremely light taste. The distillation process was for decades undertaken by a staff of 16, known as The Sixteen Men of Tain, who worked the year round, with the exceptions of Christmas and periods of maintenance. Expansion of production since 2008 has led to a larger staff of 24, who are now referred to on bottles and in promotional leaflets just as The Men of Tain.

The Tall Copper Stills at Glenmorangie

Around 1995 Glenmorangie released four different 'wood finishes' - a Port Finish, a Madeira Finish, a Sherry Finish and a Sauternes (Burgundy) wine finish. Later on some more finished 'limited releases' were bottled. The bottles actually hold single-malt Scotch, but the Glenmorangie in each has been "finished" for two years in barrels that once held wine, after aging 10 years in the traditional secondhand Bourbon barrels.

The result is called wood-finished whisky, because it picks up distinctive flavors from the barrel wood. Wood-finishing has been the hottest trend in Scotch for the last few years. Often the results are sweeter and fruitier than traditional Scotch and more appealing to people who are new to its craggy style, but connoisseurs also are attracted by wood finishes because they can show a surprising new side to a well-known brand. Glenmorangie has been the best selling single malt in Scotland almost continuously since 1983, and produces around 10 million bottles per annum, of which 6 to 6.5 million are sold in the UK.

Some of the most knowledgeable in wood finishing are distilleries such as Edradour, the smallest distillery in Scotland, and Isle of Arran. A lot of big names are doing wood finishes as well, including Glenfarclas, Bowmore, Macallan and Springbank. Springbank's 11 year “Madeira Wood”, for example, was matured entirely in ex-Madeira casks.So far, at least 33 of the 95-odd active malt distilleries in Scotland have issued one or more wood-finished whiskies.

In the 1970s, Scotch distillers concluded that finishing in sherry barrels overpowered some of the natural flavours of Scotch, so they switched almost entirely to American Bourbon barrels. That said, some distillers still felt that some desirable flavours could be had from used ex-wine seasoned wood, so a series of experiments were tried at a low scale over five years, studying the effects of different woods. Eventually, they decided that full maturation in ex-Bourbons barrels, followed by finishing the maturation in other wood for shorter periods gave the best results. The first release was a 12-year-old Glenmorangie finished in Port barrels, the Quinta Ruban.

THE QUINTA RUBAN

It was undeniably tasty, but Scotch lovers cherish tradition, so there was a fierce controversy. Well known spirits writers first decried and denigrated wine-finished Scotch as either a way of covering up flaws in whisky or a cheap gimmick aimed at unsophisticated people who like sweet, fruity drinks. But in the 2004 edition of his book, spirits writer Michael Jackson acknowledged that wood finishes had become an established part of the single-malt market. Soon thereafter, the company was sold to the French drinks company Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton for around £300 million. The prices of the Ardbeg and Glenmorangie range of Whiskies saw an immediate rise of $10.00 per bottle, followed by periodic hikes. A $49.95 Nectar d'Or now sells at $77.00 in most liquor stores.

Glenmorangie uses a number of different cask types, with all products being matured in white oak casks manufactured from trees growing in Glenmorangie's own forest in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri, USA. These new casks are left to air for two years before being leased to distillers Jack Daniel's and Heaven Hill for them to mature bourbon in for four years. Glenmorangie then uses the barrels to mature their spirit. The Original range will mature entirely in ex-bourbon casks, while the Extra Matured range of bottlings are transferred into casks that were previously used to mature other products such as wine, port or sherry for finishing. Rum casks are also used in finishing. These form part of the regular range of products Glenmorangie makes. Glenmorangie also obtains small batches of other casks for finishing and release limited edition bottlings from these. Following acquisition by LVMH, Glenmorangie produced a rare limited edition aged in casks previously used to mature Château Margaux; these bottlings are now (2011) extremely hard to find and are priced accordingly.

The warehouses in which the casks are stored are also believed to affect the taste of the whisky. Glenmorangie have released a special edition bottling titled Cellar 13, which is from the warehouse closest to the sea, as the whisky is believed to have a distinctive flavour.

Glenmorangie's Tall Stills: Another View

Glenmorangie also obtains small batches of other casks for finishing and release limited edition bottlings from these. Following acquisition by LVMH, Glenmorangie produced a rare limited edition aged in casks previously used to mature Château Margaux, the Glenmorangie 18yo 'Extremely Rare' (43%, OB, Bottled +/- 2010). These bottlings are now extremely hard to find and are priced accordingly.

Approximately 70 percent of the whisky that is distilled at Glenmorangie is sold as a single malt. The rest is used in blends like Highland Queen, excellent value for money.

Port Finish: Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban

Sherry Finish: Glenmorangie NAS 'Lasanta'

Madeira Finish: Glenmorangie Madeira Wood Finish, a fruity, creamy whisky with a slight orange hue.

Sauternes (Burgundy) Wine Finish: Glenmorangie Nectar d'Or

To an American, this is a little disorienting. The Scots have always credited their noble spirit to peat smoke, sea air, water filtered through granite and heather and the like; in brief, to environmental factors that a French winemaker would consider terroir. Americans have been the ones to dwell on the flavour whisky picks up from the barrel.

American law spells out exactly what kind of barrel you have to use if you want to call your whiskey Bourbon. It has to be made of American white oak, charred on the inside, and brand-new. Once you've aged any whiskey in it, it can never again be used for Bourbon.

As a result, there are always a lot of used Bourbon barrels lying around. Scotch distilleries have long bought them up for aging their whisky explaining that the Bourbon has helpfully extracted all the barrel flavours that would obscure the subtleties of Scotch.

How things have changed. These days many Scottish distillers are exploring the effects of used wine barrels, which add unfamiliar fruity notes. Some are even experimenting with new Bourbon-type barrels, which contribute the familiar vanilla and caramel flavors of Bourbon.

Wood finishes are also spreading from single malts to blended Scotches such as Grant's and the Famous Grouse. (The Grant's aged in ale barrels has a very attractive roundness and fullness -- too bad we can't yet get it in this country.) 

About half the distilleries making wood finishes are in the area east of Inverness known as Speyside. Since Speyside is close to wood-finish pioneer Glenmorangie and known for the delicacy of its whiskies (compared with the smoky island malts), this area is an ideal place to explore the world of wood. The Speyside most familiar to Americans is the Glenlivet, the top-selling single malt in the United States. Glenlivet is aboard for the idea of adding nuances from barrels, but strikes a classical tone, dubious about all these wine flavours.

Note: Grant's (9YO) and Famous Grouse wood finishes are now available in India.