THE BACKBONE: GLENMORANGIE'S HISTORIC FOUR
GLENMORANGIE'S CADBOLL ESTATE BATCH IV & MORE
ABOUT CADBOLL ESTATE
Most Scotch whisky is made from specifically identified ingredients that, at first sight could well seem to be mass produced and brought into the distillery. Once inside the confines of the establishment, patiently waiting wizards wave their wands to conjure up magical potions the consumers are waiting for. There’s undeniable flair intertwined with innate artistry and craftsmanship developed over years of experience that goes into the process, converting those unprocessed ingredients into a liquid spirit that will in due course grace the shelf, whether in a commercial establishment or at home, as whisky. But that’s not all. What if the ingredients mentioned do not come from external sources, but are totally and absolutely from within the distillery and its own lands so that it might be claimed that the end result, the whisky, is 100% local? And that’s exactly what the Cadboll Estate is for Glenmorangie: a 100% locally-produced expression from their own facility.
Factually, Glenmorangie has a fascinating backstory, with ties to Celtic lore, ancient kingdoms, and local community. The Glenmorangie logo was inspired by the mysterious and ancient Cadboll Stone, Cadboll being an old word for "home of the wildcat", as these animals were once resident there. The swirls of the Glenmorangie logo are inspired by the intricate carvings of the Stone, in tribute to the Picts of circa 800 AD who first cultivated the golden barley fields that Glenmorangie harvests today from the diminished 80-acre Cadboll Estate to provide the maltings for two distinctive high-end single malt whiskies, The Cadboll Estate Series and the Signet, the rest being outsourced.
Glenmorangie’s whisky makers use endless imagination
and five key ingredients – wood, water, barley, yeast and time – to dream up
delicious single malt whiskies. They’ve been honing their craft for 165+ years. Glenmorangie
celebrates the joy of delicious single malt in every part of its universe, from
its boutique hotel Glenmorangie House to its colourful brand campaign with its
tagline “It’s Kind of Delicious and Wonderful”, Glenmorangie invites whisky
lovers old and new to see themselves in Glenmorangie’s world.
Like most distilleries in Great Britain, the
Glenmorangie distillery halted production between 1931 > 1936 and between
1941 > 1945, but was back to full capacity by 1948. Within just a couple of
years, the demand had dramatically increased and in 1977 the distillery doubled
its capacity from two stills to four and doubled again in 1990 to a total of
eight. In the 1980s, the distillery purchased 600 acres of land surrounding the
facility to preserve their water supply. The owners also acquired Glen Moray,
more as a maltings provider than as an own-brand producer.
Throughout all this history, from the pioneering Matheson family to the Macdonald and Muir families through other owners, the Macdonald and Muirs along with Durham & Co had bought in in 1918; ultimately, it was the Macdonalds who edged out the others and retained final ownership of the distillery. In 2004, the French spirits company
LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE purchased the distillery outright. Glen
Moray was sold off, and it went on to become a leading single malt whisky producer in its
own right. Until this point, the company had focussed on their flagship spirit,
but the new owners brought redesigned curved bottles and the desire to
experiment with different flavours and barrels for ageing their spirit.
Glenmorangie has been the bestselling single malt in
Scotland since 1983, and globally they hold 6% of the total single malt whisky
market.
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 BATCHES 1 > 4 |
Glenmorangie’s Cadboll Estate Scotch whisky is about as
local as you can get. The Estate is located just moments from the distillery on
the fertile Easter Ross Peninsula, between the Moray and Dornoch Firths. This secluded
area, with its expansive skies, endless barley fields, and beautiful beaches,
is sparsely populated and rarely visited. Inspired to share the essence of
Glenmorangie with fans worldwide, the whisky creators crafted a whisky from
field to glass, giving birth to the Cadboll Estate series. What makes it so
unique is that this expression uses only barley that is grown and harvested
from exclusively in eight fields on Glenmorangie’s own estate farms, which are
malted and cooked using water from the local Tarlogie spring that runs through
the nearby hills.
After fermentation, the wort and then the wash is
distilled in the tallest pot stills in Scotland. Standing at a towering 26 feet
high, there are two reasons why this is important: first, the height ensures
that only the lighter (and sweeter) compounds make it over the top and into the
collection barrels. Second, the added journey also exposes those vapours to the
copper in the still for a longer period of time which (through a chemical
reaction with the copper) strips out more of the offensive sulphur compounds. Three
separate expressions have been released from The Cadboll Estate.
GLENMORANGIE CADBOLL
ESTATE BATCH 4
Crafted from barley grown in just eight fields on their
own Estate located near the distillery, this grain-to-glass series bottles the
spirit and flavour of a Highland single malt Scotch whisky’s homeland for
whisky lovers everywhere. To celebrate the Cadboll harvest of 2007, their
whisky creators matured its precious spirit in their renowned designer casks.
Hand-hewn from select American white oaks, air-dried, and
seasoned with bourbon to their exacting specifications, these casks are
custom-made to bring Glenmorangie’s soft spirit to its best. Aged 15 years in
that wood, the fourth batch release of Glenmorangie The Cadboll Estate is
uniquely full and silky, enriched with notes of honeycomb, apricots, and pears,
which becomes pronounced and floral with the addition of a few drops of water, with
a creamy, complex palate and a spicy finish. The packaging of this edition also
stands out with its elegance, with details and decorations evoking the large
expanses of barley around the distillery and the preciousness of the casks
used.
Glenmorangie The Cadboll Estate 15 Year Old Batch 4 has
been bottled at 43% ABV and has a RRP of £76 and will be available from
specialist online whisky shops.
Producer’s Tasting Notes
COLOUR: Deep Gold
NOSE: Beautifully aromatic, honeyed and sweet, with
tastes of almond, marzipan, honeycomb, melon and pear. Vanilla crème anglaise
is present, along with a touch of mint. With a small splash of water, some
classic floral notes emerge, with jasmine, lavender and rose, along with a
fresh burst of mandarin orange and apricot.
PALATE: The texture is smooth and creamy, and is
immediately followed by an explosion of complex, colourful flavours: zesty
lemon and mandarin orange, menthol and eucalyptus, vanilla and honeycomb, ripe
pear and melon. Sweet spices tempered by butter candy.
FINISH: Full and rich, but gentle and soothing at the
same time, rounded off by a lingering mentholic note.
GLENMORANGIE THE ORIGINAL 12 YEARS OLD
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The malt whisky Glenmorangie produced and first released by the founders in 1847 was a trifle rough at an ABV of 63.5%, but three years of maturation saw the whisky of 175 years ago gain recognition for its mellow tones and delicacy of flavour. The single malt market opened up a mite in the early 1900s and as Irish whisky faded away, the value of prolonged maturation in proper oak casks was realised. Aged Blended Scotch was the rage, but they required good aged single malt whiskies to blend. Once the deleterious after-effects of the two great wars and the American Prohibition had died down by the 1950s, Glenmorangie, which was a malt whisky subscriber to famous blended whiskies, found that one specific single malt whisky they were producing and supplying was a champion in its own right. They then made the momentous decision of ageing this strain for ten years, a finessing of one of its original spirits. Thus was the Original 10-Year-Old born, the year 1959, to soon vie for the honour of the most popular single malt in Scotland.
All through the subsequent years, The Original remained at the heart of everything they did. To cement the made in giraffe-high stills The Original as a delicious, go-anywhere class expression, they aged it 10 years in bourbon casks to absorb a predicted manner of delectable flavours. When the single malt craze set in in the 1990s, this was the go-to single expression!
Time has tricks up its sleeve. The original Original 10YO (see Pic. above) metamorphosed into the bright new Original 10YO in 2022. When Glenmorangie’s tasting panel began experimenting with the latter Original, they discovered that this smooth single malt gains extra silkiness, sweetness, and complexity when aged for 12 years instead of 10. Thus, Glenmorangie decided to launch an older Original to bring more joy to whisky drinkers worldwide. Swirling with creamy vanilla and a rush of citrus, layered with honey and peach, the Original 12 Year Old single malt is said to take The Original 10 Year Old's kaleidoscope of flavours to new heights of deliciousness. Some critics have already responded with delight, awarding it a coveted gold medal at the prestigious World Whiskies Awards 2024. I can't quite agree with the prelude. Utter the word Glenmorangie and two institutions come to mind; LMVH and Dr. Bill Lumsden.
LMVH wanted the Original to be re-imagined and a decision was made to present it in true Glenmorangie style as a 12-Year-Old. The casks to be used were to be in specific Glenmorangie mould, grown in their own portion of the oak forest range in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri, United States. Glenmorangie uses a number of different cask types, with all products being matured in their own white oak casks. 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 using their own starting and finishing style. Glenmorangie then uses the barrels only twice to mature their spirit. The old Original range was matured entirely in ex-bourbon casks for 10 years, while the Extra Matured range of bottlings are transferred at the 10-year stage into casks that were previously used to mature other products such as wine, port or sherry in a process called finishing. This is Dr. Lumsden's forte.
That ten-year phase for the Original became twelve; In early July this year Glenmorangie announced that its flagship single malt whisky, the Glenmorangie Original 10 Year Old will henceforth be bottled as a 12 Year Old. Hence it is now matured for 12 years in a combination of first fill and refill American ex-bourbon oak casks.
Producer’s Tasting Notes
COLOUR: Bright Gold.
NOSE: A little fruity and floral, sweet creamy vanilla
interlaced with delicate sweet citrus notes of orange and some distant peach. A
little toffee, a hint of honey and some gentle bourbon oak lurk in the
background.
PALATE: Vanilla with a lovely gentle spiced edge leads
along with some lovely orange citrus, a little toasted oak and honey and a wee
touch of Demerara sugar sweetened coconut ice. A slight bit of a honeyed edge
and late touch of peach and almond.
FINISH: Deliciously long, mild barley sugar sweetness interlaced with gentle oak spice, creamy vanilla and orange citrus which all slowly fade out to leave some gentle, slightly drying, lingering honey and almond.
OVERALL: The extra 2 years maturation has given the whisky a slightly more bourbon like edge, a touch more oak and gentle spice, still full of Glenmorangie's signature orange citrus and vanilla, every bit as good as the 10-year-old it replaces. The ABV remains 40%. But it does nothing extra for me; not worth the hike in price by ~10€.
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GLENMORANGIE TRIPLE CASK RESERVE
Rich and subtly spiced, this Glenmorangie expression brings new dimensions to their wide range of single malt whiskies.
Rye whiskies are known for their spicy character –pepper and other baking spices, such as cinnamon or cloves, as well as fresh or herbal undertones which would carry over into whiskies aged in ex-rye barrels. By uniting these three different cask types in Glenmorangie Triple Cask Reserve, they have created a deeply harmonious whisky. Using their oak combination, they celebrate their whisky’s classic, fruity sweetness. Laced with the savoury notes and subtle spice of rye whisky casks, this whisky brings a new balance of flavours to their expanding core range. Bottled at 40% ABV, the NAS whisky is available in most markets at ~£30/ $US38.
Tasting Notes:
COLOUR: Brassy gold/ Paprika.
NOSE: Tropical, with a combination of pears, vanilla, candied orange peel, honeysuckle, grapefruit, golden syrup and coffee -flavoured boiled sweets. Some gentle spices are present, such as cinnamon, clove and nutmeg, followed by more sweetness. Woody and earthy aromas lurk in the background alongside a lingering note of cocoa.
PALATE: The mouthfeel is creamy and viscous, with a burst of creme brulée, cherry chocolate, fudge, tangy orange sherbet, clove, sweet chilli, and tropical fruits. Then comes the influence from the oak wood, with maple syrup, almond marzipan and subtle spices. Red apples and cherries. Dark caramel and aromatic wood. An almost refreshing note, something like peppermint. A distinctive influence from the ex-rye casks, perhaps? A generally deeper and richer flavour than the nose would suggest.
FINISH: Rich, sweet, spicy and almost chewy in nature. Lingers, but eventually gives way to an unexpected faintly drying sensation. The influence of the rye cask in particular, while not overwhelming, is definitely noticeable.
OVERALL: If you’re not a fan of rye whisky, then this one might not be to your taste. Otherwise, nothing special.
GLENMORANGIE CALVADOS CASK
FINISH
Glenmorangie is known for its experiments in cask finishing. Led by their Director of Whisky Creation, they craft their delicate, fruity spirit in stills as tall as a giraffe to allow more space for taste and aroma, then age it in some of the finest casks around, their very own which are forged in the USA and return to them after six years, when they will be used only twice.
Glenmorangie’s latest release from the Barrel Select Cask series reveals a uniquely fruity and floral whisky – their first ever finished in French Calvados casks. Presented in a resplendent golden hue, the Glenmorangie Calvados Cask Finish is bottled at 46% ABV, ensuring a perfect balance of strength and refinement.
The Glenmorangie Calvados Cask Finish is the fifth release in the series of small batch single malts, which explores the flavours that arise from different cask finishes. Entwining scents of jasmine with baked apples and pears, this rare 12-year-old bottling offers new mellow depths to Glenmorangie’s signature fruity tones.
In this experiment, their Director of Whisky Creation took a whisky which had spent more than 10 years ageing in American white oak bourbon casks, for Glenmorangie’s elegant style. He transferred that whisky into casks which, for 20 years, had held Calvados du Pays d’Auge, from Normandy, in France. Soft and delectably rich, Glenmorangie Calvados Cask Finish unites mellow fruits of baked apples and pears with subtle notes of jasmine, narcissus and vanilla.
Producer’s Tasting Notes
COLOUR: Bright Gold
NOSE: A most fragrant whisky at full strength, with notes of baked apples, pears, vanilla, almond and a slightly waxy note. The fruity and more apple-forward lunge— that’ll be the calvados cask influence—is more than the typical Glenmorangie. With water, some fragrant, floral notes emerge, like narcissus, jasmine and heather honey. Finally, the aroma of baking sweet pastries is found.
PALATE: The mouthfeel is oily and spicy at the same time, and leads into a burst of rich sweet flavours. Baked pears, toffee apple, almond marzipan, star anise and chocolate praline are found, along with some lemon balsam, eucalyptus and a touch of charcoal.
FINISH: Long, lingering and almost slightly cooling in nature.
OVERALL: This libation is a symphony of sensory delight, characterised by a vibrant bouquet of aromas and a palate of intriguing complexity, though steep at $100.
GLENMORANGIE A TALE OF ICE
CREAM
"With notes of peach melba, lemon sorbet, coconut flakes, and rich vanilla, sipping A Tale of Ice Cream is like sinking your spoon into a carousel of flavour. Glenmorangie invites whisky lovers old and new to indulge their sweet tooth and enjoy this ultimate treat!”
Sweet, indulgent and wondrously creamy, the north Highland distillery of Glenmorangie has launched the fifth bottling in its annual Tales series of single malts - the Glenmorangie A Tale of Ice Cream. Glenmorangie’s latest limited edition encapsulates the ice cream parlour’s delights. Their fifth release in the award-winning series showcases the relentless imagination of that distillery’s whisky creators.
Some time ago, a thought process began to imagine how to could capture the lavish flavours found in an ice cream parlour in a single malt, bringing out even more sweet and creamy vanilla-like flavours in Glenmorangie’s spirit. And after a host of experiments, the Blending team united single malt aged in bourbon casks with their first whisky finished in high-vanillin casks. High-vanillin casks are new oak casks toasted uniquely to increase the concentration of vanillin—an aromatic compound that imparts vanilla flavours to whisky. The result was more vanilla qualities; rippling with notes of ripe peaches, vanilla and coconut, A Tale of Ice Cream takes Glenmorangie’s sweet, fruity flavours to a decadent peak. This whisky’s pastel-toned presentation box evokes the mouth-watering hues, swirls of sauce, textures, and toppings found in the most luxurious ice cream parlours.
As the name might suggest, this is a sweet and palatable single malt that may well be perfect for a whisky beginner, a great but expensive way to start the tyro’s journey into Scotch whisky. It would be worthwhile noting that the whisky does not contain vanilla extract, which would disqualify this Scotch whisky.
Tasting Notes
COLOUR: Deep gold
NOSE: The nose is laced with expressive aromas. Vanilla pod and butterscotch rise first and are quickly joined by some woody spices - especially cinnamon and mace. Further aromas of caramelised peach drizzled in honey, marzipan and bitter orange oil also come through nice. Some white chocolate, vanilla custard and a hint of fresh coconut evolve with time.
PALATE: In the mouth, this whisky has a silky, creamy and luxurious feel. It grips the taste buds. Luscious notes of apricot patisserie, vanilla custard and butterscotch rise first, and are quickly joined by brioche bread, fresh honeycomb straight from the hive and some white chocolate. Hints of cocoa powder and creamed coconut sit in the background. While the palate is largely driven by sweeter characteristics to begin with, later savoury notes begin to develop. These add superb balance. Imagine a combination of toasted almond, cinnamon bark and bitter orange peel married with freshly sawn oak, gingerbread and a drop of clove oil. These savoury notes add depth and complexity, but do not take away from the lusciousness.
FINISH: The finish is of decent length. It is the savoury notes that linger but the sweeter elements take their time to dissipate from your taste buds. The patisserie notes fade first, then the fruit. This leaves the warming wood and baking spices to play on the tongue. This is a delicious experience. The fresh vanilla pod characteristic endures throughout however, and is joined right at the death by a hint of sweet orange fondant.
OVERALL: A Tale of Ice Cream feels like going 'back to basics'. The introduction of the high-vanillin virgin American oak casks has dialled the classic notes up a notch or two, and the result is delicious. A Tale of Ice Cream carries no age statement, but Glenmorangie’s base expression is at least a decade old. It is packaged at 46% ABV (92°) and is non-chill filtered and naturally coloured. Steep at $101.00.
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