Glenmorangie A Tale of Cake

Review #063 Type: single malt scotch Proof: 46% Comments: NAS, matured in ex-bourbon, finished in tokaji dessert wine casks Tasted after: first up Appearance (no score): Tawny color. Swirling reveals a thin line sticking to the side of the glass, legs are slow to form. Nose: 16/20 Very light, sweet, and delicate. Port wine, vanilla, caramel, apricots, and a sweet pastry note that reminds me a little of a frosted fruit danish. Palate: 33/40 Nice almost creamy mouthfeel. Honey, green apples, yellow pears, orange peel, and bitter dark chocolate. Finish: 30/40 Medium finish. Honey, almonds, nutmeg, and candied oranges get it started, then chalk, black pepper, and bitter oak tannins on the backend. With Water: The Port wine I was smelling on the nose is gone, instead I’m now reminded of a Cabernet Sauvignon. Less sweet, with hints of cinnamon and baking spices that I don’t recall smelling earlier. The palate has some additional mineral and malty notes, and on the finish I get some creamy vanilla, which helps round out the oak bitterness. Total: 79/100 Final thoughts: This is an enjoyable easy sipper for sure but it’s not exactly very dynamic or inspiring. I think I really struggle with how bitter the finish is relative to the nose and palate, it doesn’t match up with the sweet profiles they convey. It’s very sweet and mellow, and I don’t regret buying it, but to be honest there’s other bottles I’ve found myself reaching for when I’m in the mood for something like this, such as Clynelish 14 (which is also a better value). Price: $99 Would recommend: no Would buy: no Scoring Legend: 96-100: The perfect dram, absolutely exceptional, nectar of the gods, I will savor this bottle and make it last, 5 stars. 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky, 4.75 stars. 85-89: Very good to amazing, almost the complete product, 4.5 stars. 80-84: Quite good, very enjoyable to drink, but doesn’t wow me, 4.25 stars. 75-79: Good, enjoyable but ultimately flawed, unlikely to purchase again, 4 stars. 70-74: A solid dram, but wouldn't go out of my way to get it, 3.75 stars. 55-69: Drinkable, 3.5-2.75 stars. Below 55: Suitable for cooking or direct contribution to the kitchen sink drain, 2.5 stars or less.

The newest Glenmorangie is quite the experiment, is this "A Tale of Cake", which was made by Dr. Bill Lumsden after getting the idea from his daughter when having a pineapple cake. Pretty interesting story, but, is it good? Bottled at 46%abv, golden color. Matured in bourbon barrels and finished in Tokaji wine casks from Hungary, which is a very sweet wine. Ok, let's talk about this dram: it is a Pineapple. Thank you very much, that is my review on it. Lol. On the nose IT IS AN ACTUAL CAKE. Starts with pineapple pulp, Oily amd lots of Vanilla. Cherry syrup. It actually smells like cake; A dry vanilla cake. After a couple minutes, there you have the inner part made of dulce de leche of any vanilla cake. Everything is delivered perfectly om the nose, No alcohol note. If you were smelling it blindfolded, you would believe it is a cake you are nosing. It has become exactly a three milk cake. The pineapple you nose, is that typical Glenmorangie pineapple. Really something amazing. On the palate it is pretty much the original 10yo with a prolongued peppery spiciness and a hint of vanilla, maybe due to the higher abv. Lots of pineapple juice. I am writing this while holding the first sip in my mouth; you can have it forever, it is harmless. Second sip is more about toffee and dulce de leche with the pepper rising after 4 seconds. Still some pineapple present. Very white winey. Finish has a grassy tobacco dry note, but leaves you some cloying effect that resembles eating something rather sweet. A little citric and dusty. Maybe sider or some apple liquor. Feels a little young on the finish. Overall, this whisky has an amazing aroma, that actually delivers the promise of a Cake. The palate is very easy drinkable but way too similar to the Glenmorangie original. Finish feels different when comparing it to the nose and palate. It is like having an enhanced 10yo Glenmorangie (this can also be said about almost every other expression from this distillery). My score for it is a good 88 over 100. You must definitively try it, but i doubt you will buy more than one bottle of it, since there is a lot to see in the whisky world and this one is interesting but not memorable.

I was looking for a bit of variety in my Scotch selection and landed on this as something new to try. This taste is neat from a glencairn. It was allowed to rest for several minutes after the pour. The bottle has been open for a few weeks and is about 3/4 full. In the glass this shows as a burnished brass. A swirl shows thick sheeting and slow large tears. The nose on this is delightful. It is quite fruity. I get elements of tangerine, pineapple, some green apple, and strong hints of confectioners sugar. There's a lot going on in this glass. This whisky is finished in tokaji wine casks. I have no idea what tokaji wine tastes like, I have never seen it nor heard of it before this bottle. What I can say is that it brings a complex sweet fruitiness to the nose that is simply addicting. On the palate this is not quite as rich as it appeared. Slightly creamy, but certainly not over the top in any way. The mouthfeel is silky, but perhaps just a little bit thin in comparison to my expectations. The flavor profile includes sweet citrus fruits, ripe orchard fruits, confectioners sugar, yellow cake with vanilla frosting, a slight bitter golden oak note, and just a touch of white pepper. The finish is satisfying if perhaps just a bit short. There is a good barrel note, a bit of vanilla - the ghost of the bourbon barrels it was aged in no doubt. This is a lovely homage to a speyside profile. Consider it a playful Highland malt and you'll understand. This is quite a treat. The nose over delivers, but the taste profile is solid. Easily approachable, honey and complex fruit, nice mouthfeel, and a good sense of presence. The only thing that keeps this from being a truly world-class quaff is the curtailed finish. I most assuredly recommend this.

Nose - cinnamon, nutmeg, pineapple, powdered sugar, cherry, marshmallow, brown sugar, grass, apple, prepared caramel, honey, fresh oak, cereal grain, pear, vanilla frosting, mild to moderate ethanol burn. Taste - spiced honey, pineapple, brown sugar, caramel, creamy vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, black pepper, baked apple, lemon zest, pear, cereal grain, sweet floral notes, sweet wine, barrel spice, mild to moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium length with honey, pineapple, and baking spice flavors. If Glenmorangie was trying to create liquified pineapple upside-down cake, they definitely succeeded. This is a dessert dram to its core. The nose hits with pineapple, honey, strong baking spices, and citrus zest. The palate is similarly sweet and decadent. Again though, there’s some youthful graininess and sourness, which seem to be an unwelcome hallmarks of this series of Glenmorangie expressions. Overall, I like this one better than the other releases I tasted this week, but not enough to raise the score. I’d be interested in tasting a more aged Glenmorangie to see if some of that bright graininess is subdued. Maybe the Glenmorangie profile just isn’t for me. Many thanks to @jonwilkinson7309 for the sample. This concludes my Glenmorangie tasting series. I’m not sure what I’ll be tasting tomorrow, so it’ll be surprise for us all.

(WoodWinters Glenmorangie/Ardbeg Online Zoom tasting, 9th December 2020. Hosted by Brendan McCarron, Head of Maturing Whisky Stocks at Glenmorangie). Nose: Vanilla, citrus, syrup. There is a hint of Victoria sponge about the nose! Palate: Citrus, quite tart. Vanilla, white chocolate, nutty/marzipan, salt & butter, dark dried fruit. Finish: Long, pleasantly bitter finish. Citrus, light fruit, pastry. A little woody. Overall, a clean, salty and biscuity dram. Sours on the aftertaste, but with the residual sweetness it's very pleasant for it! Water adds more bright fruit notes. It does make it less complex and adds some wood at the very end, The spirit is their standard 10y/o which is then finished 'for a number of years' on Tokaji casks. I was a bit wary of this whisky. I didn't like the 'Cake' branding as I expected it to be much sweeter than it actually is. This is a lovely dram. The casks are from Royal Tokajo barriques from a range of different vintages (mostly 225L, with some 300L).

When I first heard about this release, I laughed in my head about a scotch aiming to make the whisky taste like cake, so let’s see if Glenmorangie was able to bake/blend this into something a pastry chef would be proud to serve. On the nose, it really smells like a cake with caramelized pineapple, peaches, pears, vanilla cream cheese frosting, white chocolate sheet cake, light baking spices. So, the nose is cake; let’s see about the taste… yep, also cakey. The taste starts with a very creamy mouthfeel that reminds me of whipped vanilla cream cheese frosting followed by fruits of caramelized pineapple, peaches, pears then white chocolate sheet cake leading to a baking spices and medium oak tannins to a short finish with those fruits, a light alcohol bite and those baking spices lingering. Overall this is a fun experiment and interesting whisky, but I would rather just drink the 18 along with a piece of cake to get my cake fill on for the same price and have a better whisky.