Glenmorangie releases experimental Moscatel cask whisky
Moët Hennessy-owned Glenmorangie has created a 13-year-old whisky aged in Moscatel casks, available exclusively through The Whisky Club in Australia and New Zealand.
In creating the whisky, Glenmorangie’s master distiller Dr Bill Lumsden selected a previously secret parcel of casks. The batch included the first-ever filled dessert wine Moscatel casks at the Scottish distillery.
Distilled in 2009, the small batch of dessert Moscatel casks was a one-time offering in a pilot programme aimed at evolving and deepening the Nectar d’Or recipe, now known as the 16-year-old The Nectar.
After a seven-year secondary maturation in Moscatel casks, Lumsden has delivered a whisky where the majority of the expression is nearly 16 years old, despite the label stating 13.
Bottled at 48.2% ABV, the whisky presents notes of strawberry creams, chocolate orange, vanilla custard, baked apples, dark spice, and light floral aromatics on the palate.
Lumsden commented: “What you have here is the original prototype and the original experiment. Instantly, there’s a lot of fruit in there, there’s the syrupy sweetness, but there’s also a little bit of structure there from the French oak that these barrels are made out of.
“I’m not doing anything like this again because obviously we’re giving this to you with this guarantee of exclusivity.”
The expression is available exclusively to The Whisky Club members in Australia and New Zealand from 9 January, priced at AU$150 (US$101), with no global release planned.
Seamus Carroll, general manager of The Whisky Club, said: “It’s an absolute honour to work with Dr Bill and the Glenmorangie team for this release. A Whisky Club release gives the world’s best whiskymakers the chance to create something unprecedented. It’s these hidden parcels of casks, personal projects or superlative barrel selections that become club releases.
“This is a whisky that will remind long-time whisky drinkers why they fell in love with Glenmorangie and deliver newcomers a truly unrepeatable single malt.”
Last year, Glenmorangie re-released its Lasanta single malt whisky as a 15-year-old expression and introduced the sixth edition of its A Tale Of series, inspired by spice markets.
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