GLENMORANGIE ADDS MALAGA 12 YO TO CORE EXPRESSIONS

 GLENMORANGIE IN THE EXPANSION MODE

Image Source: Glenmorangie

Glenmorangie is a distillery in Tain, Ross-shire, Scotland, that produces highly rated single malt Scotch whisky and is the leading single malt brand in Scotland. The distillery is owned by The Glenmorangie Company Ltd (a subsidiary of Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy), whose main product is its wide range of Glenmorangie single malt whisky. A Highland distillery, it boasts the tallest stills in Scotland, 5.14 metres (16'10"). It is available in Original, 18-, and 25-year-old bottlings, special cask bottlings, cask finishes, extra matured bottlings, and a range of special edition bottlings. Its core range is shown in the picture infra. Left to right, these are the Original 10 YO, Quinta Ruban 12 YO, Nectar d'Or 12 YO, Lasanta 12 YO, Quinta Ruban 14 YO and the Malaga 12 YO. 

Early Days: According to the Glenmorangie Company, the earliest record of the production of alcohol at Morangie Farm is dated 1703. In the 1730s a brewery was built on the site that shared the farm's water source, the Tarlogie Spring. A former distillery manager, William Matheson, acquired the farm in 1843 and converted the Morangie brewery to a distillery, equipped with two second hand gin stills. He later renamed the distillery Glenmorangie.

In 1843, William founded the Glenmorangie Distillery in the Scottish Highlands. Inspired by the Distillery’s peaceful surroundings on the banks of the Dornoch Firth, Matheson brought forth a pioneering blended malt whisky wonderfully complex and exceptionally smooth. Their single malt was to follow some years later. At the end of the 19th century Glenmorangie was being sold at top-end London hotels, as well as being exported.

After WWI, the business was sold to a partnership between two blending and broking firms, Macdonald & Muir and Durham & Co, soon passing entirely to the former, which used the whisky for blends such as Highland Queen. Although it was bottled in small quantities from the 1920s, a change of strategy in 1959 saw Glenmorangie revived as a single malt that soon became Scotland’s biggest seller.

Early success in the infant single malt category resulted in two more stills being added to the original pair in 1976, a number which was doubled again in 1990. 2004 saw ownership go to French luxury goods firm Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH). In 2009, four more stills were added, along with a larger mash tun and extra washbacks. More recently, extra warehousing has been built, the result of a decision to mature and vat all the production on-site.

In January 2018, a new stillhouse was built, housing two more of Glenmorangie’s distinctive stills, plus a new mash tun and washbacks. The new facility enabled more experimental runs, with innovations such as the use of stainless steel condensers.

Prestige expressions: Through the years, Glenmorangie whisky creators have dedicated themselves to their craft, in pursuit of perfection. These peerless whiskies are the culmination of their art and effort and include the Signet, 18-25 YOs, Grand Vintage malts and Pride, among others.   

The Process: The process starts with mashing unpeated barley with water from the distillery’s Tarlogie Springs – making this one of a small number of hard water sites in Scotland. Although there is no smoke, once a year some chocolate malt is added to the mash for use in the firm’s Signet brand – another of the distillery’s many innovations.

Fermentation is long, while distillation takes place in the tallest stills in Scotland, all of which retain the same long-necked design of the pair which were brought from John Taylor’s gin distillery in 1887. This extra height allows a long interaction to take place between alcohol vapour and copper and, while the new make is decidedly high-toned with high cut points.

The vast majority of Glenmorangie’s make is aged in ex-American oak casks, many of which have been made to the distillery’s exacting specifications: slow-growth American white oak from north-facing slopes in Missouri, which is then air-dried. The firm’s Astar bottling uses 100% of these ‘bespoke’ casks.

The casks are used only twice, with the second-fill casks all ageing in damp ‘dunnage’ warehouses to increase oxidative-driven flavours. Some of the mature spirit is then transferred to ex-fortified wine (Port, Sherry) and still wine (Sauternes, Burgundy, Super-Tuscan, etc) casks for a period of finishing. Glenmorangie was one of the pioneers of this technique.

Glenmorangie is a simple whisky to understand. All its casks meant for age-stated bottling and all new make is decanted into American oak casks and left there for 8 years. The new make is then shifted to the second-fill casks kept in damp ‘dunnage’ warehouses. Two years later, a designated portion is bottled as The Original. The remaining new make, 10 YO, is then transferred into its final casks, to emerge as 12 YO bottlings. One lot, those in specially selected ruby port pipes from the Quintas or wine estates of Portugal, is left to mature two years more and emerge as The Quinta Ruban 14 YO. 

Private Editions: Starting 2009, the distillery has produced a private expression every year, most of which do not carry age statements, but are not chill filtered and at 46% ABV or higher. These are:

Sonnalta PX (2009) - Finished in PX sherry casks, 1 Litre, 46%.

Finealta (2010) - Part matured in sherry casks, 70cl, 46%.

Artein (2012) - Finished in Super Tuscan wine casks, 15 Year Old, 70cl, 46%.

Ealanta (2013) - Distilled in 1993, matured in American Virgin Oak, 70cl, 46%.

Bacalta (2017) - Finished in Baked Malmsey Madeira Casks, 70cl, 46%.

Companta (2014) - Extra matured in Clos De Tart and Cotes du Rhone Casks, 70cl, 46%.

Tusail (2015) - Distilled from Maris Otter Barley, 70cl, 46%.

Milsean (2016) - Finished in Toasted Wine Casks, 70cl, 46%.

Bacalta (2017)- Finished in sun-baked Malmsey Madeira casks, 46%.

Spios (2018)- Matured fully in casks that previously held rye whiskey, 70cl, 46%.

Allta (2019)-Fermented with yeast from Glenmorangie’s own Cadboll barley, 70cl, 51.2%.

Legends: 4 brands are sold as legends, but only in the Travel Reserve Sector. Initially sold as 1L bottles at 43% ABV, they are now available as 70cl bottles at 43%. The Tarlogan, The Tayne, The Duthac and The Cadboll comprise this segment. The Cadboll is a 15 YO and is an annual product. It was, however, pulled out of the Travel Retail section after its debut. Its third edition was released recently this year.

Travel Retail: Three new brands have surfaced in the travel retail sector. These are The Accord, The Elementa and The Tribute. The Accord is a 12-year-old whisky matured in a combination of ex-Bourbon barrels and oloroso Sherry casks. The Elementa is a 14-year-old whisky matured in ex-Bourbon barrels and finished in new charred oak casks, whereas The Tribute is a 16-year-old whisky created to celebrate the distillery’s former use of peat to dry its barley.

To this day, Glenmorangie honours the Distillery’s provenance in their award-winning single malts. Its pure, smooth spirit is distilled in Scotland’s tallest stills, matured in the finest casks and perfected by The 16 Men of Tain, a reference to its early days where a crew of 16 men managed the entire process. And, in the hands of these select craftsmen, now in excess of 16, Glenmorangie looks forward to delight malt whisky lovers with consistent and delectable brands.

UPDATE

As of now, production of Malaga has ceased and it has been reverted to the Limited Edition category.