Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban 14 Year

GLENMORANGIE SHOWDOWN Glenmorangie 10 Glenmorangie 14 Quinta Ruban Port Cask Finish Glenmorangie 18 I was inspired to revisit some Glenmorangie following @DjangoJohnson’s review of the Glenmorangie 12 Lasanta Sherry Cask Finish a couple days ago. I don’t have a lot of experience with this producer, but I do have three bottles in my collection, so I decided to break those out. Glenmorangie 10 Color is a clear version of Pantone 130 (I have no affiliation with Pantone, but am using it in an attempt to achieve a little more visual precision). Muted nose (I came back to it 20 minutes later and it was still not showing; it reminds me of a wine in a “dumb” phase); I’d recalled honey and apricot but I’m not getting much of anything on the nose after a few minutes in the glass. The honey does show on the palate, with some glycerin mouthfeel. Vanilla commingles with some bitterness on the finish. Due to the “youthful” (for scotch whisky) 10-year age statement, I would not think this would be attributable to wood-sourced tannins. 43% ABV. Disappointingly simpler than I’d recalled; 3.0 on the Distiller scale—but a 3.0 that nevertheless I’d keep onhand. Glenmorangie 14 Quinta Ruban Port Cask Finish A crystal-clear Pantone 167 color; far darker than the 10-year-old expression, due to the aging in ruby port casks. Welcoming nose of chocolate covered cherries, candied ginger, brown sugar, and orange oil. Sweet palate entry, with a slightly viscous mouthfeel and dark caramelized sugar leading to a pleasant bitter note of café Cubano, dark orange, and white pepper on the medium-to-long finish. Typical 43% ABV very much kept in check. Non-chill filtered. 43% ABV. Wonderful, and better than I’d recalled. 4.0 on the Distiller scale. Glenmorangie 18 Pantone 138 in color. Nose emits braised peaches, white chocolate hazelnut cookies, cocoa, spearmint. Later, concord grape juice (a first for me). Sweet palate shows bittersweet chocolate and mulled apple cider. Some espresso bitterness on the finish, similar to the Quinta Ruban, along with some vanilla and lingering mild chiles. The bitterness, while pleasant, detracts from the smoothness often experienced with other 18-year-old whiskies. With air (more commonly stated when tasting wine), it does seem to acquire additional smoothness, and even sweetness. 43% ABV. Very nice, but not enough “wow” to break into the 4.0 class; 3.75 on the Distiller scale. The WOTN (whisky of the night) for me was the Quinta Ruban. Both the 10- and 18-year expressions showed worse than I’d remembered. But the wallet speaks the loudest: I’d definitely keep the Quinta Ruban on hand, as well as the 10-year; but I’m not sure about the 18. The gargantuan fancy packaging and “Extremely Rare” verbiage on that bottle is too suggestive, and amounts to more sizzle than steak. It has its merits, and is something of a “value” at around $120 for an 18-year-old whisky; certainly “nice to have,” but not a “must-have” (insofar as “must” is even applicable to a luxury such as a whisky collection). None of these are undesirable, and the Quinta Ruban is in fact quite desirable. N.B.: All spirits tasted neat in a Glencairn glass.

When I found out Glenmorangie was revamping their core range, I wasn’t quite sure how to feel. I thought the concept of having different 12-year old variations of the standard 10-year was a fantastic idea. Toying with that was a risky idea. This is my first foray into the new line. The Quinta Ruban was arguably my favorite of the original line, but fortunately for me, this was the only one that got a boost on paper. Looking forward to seeing what an extra two years in the barrel can do for the port variant. Nose: Strawberry and blackberry jam. Raisin, Vanilla, toffee, malt, and honey. Vanilla frosting and custard. Raspberry. Apple, pear, apricot, and floral notes. Honeydew. Orange citrus and milk chocolate. Cola. Black currant. Black pepper, ginger, cinnamon, and oak. Palate: Blackberry and strawberry jam. Raisin, Apple, fig, date, some dried apricot, raspberry. Vanilla, milk chocolate, toffee, malt. Orange citrus. Pomegranate and honeydew. Walnut and pecan. Black currant. Black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and oak. Finish: Blackberry and raspberry. Black currant. Walnut and pecan. Vanilla, toffee, and caramel. Black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and oak. Moderate to long finish, leaning toward the former. Excellent. Not only does that edge out the 12-year QR in terms of quality, but it is my favorite Glenmorangie that I’ve reviewed to date. And that includes the 18. This 14 is, unsurprisingly, very similar to the original 12, with a few note substitutions here and there and a tad more depth. It is exactly what you’d expect if you were promised two extra years in the cask and no other modifications. I am very glad that Glenmoramgie not only kept this is tact but improved it. At $57, this was a $4-5 price increase, which I’m pretty sure beats the combination of tariffs and inflation that has affected prices within the time span. Either way, it’s fantastic VFM. Looking forward to checking the new Sauternes cask; my experience here has all but assured me the Lasanta will be unblemished considering there was no change on paper there. Awesome stuff. 4.5/5.

Review #49 - Whisk(e)y #33 Bought as 100ml, as part of Glenmorangie 12, 14, 15 tasting set, thus not the best price per ml. However, it is my first non-chill filtered, natural colour, 46% whisky...it was indeed about time! Aspect - Orange-pink colour, very viscous, medium-long legs. Nose - Most unique whisky smell I have encountered this far! Very port forward, I wouldn't even guess it was whisky if it was watered down. Sweet, sour, slightly acidic, round, barely distinguishable alcohol, subtle spice, rich, oily, honey, ripe fruit (red apple, but also something more unique...grape? apricoty mango?) perhaps, buttery, milk - milk chocolate, creamy, slight nutty-almondy. Palate - very oily, mouthcoating, great texture, then with sharp oak spice, slight sour note, more alcohol, oak. Finish - medium, mouthcoating, oily, buttery, sharp spice dissipates, sweet, oaky, with some dryness towards the end. Very subtle dried fruit after-taste...raisins in the very background. I feel oiliness very deep on the back end of the palate, must be because the NCF. So strange in a good way! Surprisingly water sharpens the nose, and brings forward this apricot and red fruit. However, it mellows out the palate and brings forth the sweetness and evidentiates the back-end oiliness. Ok, this was an interesting experience. The nose is by far the most intriguing and complex, the taste letting me down quite a bit...it is not my cup of tea overall, but intriguing and unique. It gets better as it opens up with time though. Rating System: 5.0 - Perfect 4.5 - Exceptional 4.0 - Very Good 3.5 - Good 3.0 - Decent 2.5 - Average 2.0 - Below Average 1.5 - Barely Drinkable 1.0 - Undrinkable 0.5 - JB

The nose starts off a bit sharp with charred oak, straw, along with a very nice mingling of honey and port. The wine influence is there, but is not overwhelming. It gets a little creaminess to it as it opens up, with faint notes of dark chocolate coming out as well. The palate is easy to swirl around the mouth as port, creamy oak, dark chocolate and hints of straw coat the mouth. It's got a bit of a chew, with the port finish imparting a wonderful dessert like quality. It is a fantastic marriage of wine and whisky, with the best qualities of each on display. The finish is medium long with lingering wine tannins, while oak and dark chocolate balance it out. Undertones of straw fade nicely in the background. An absolutely great example of finished Scotch. When wine won't do, this makes for a perfect dessert whisky. Everything about it is great, until you realize its gone.

I don't see anything fresh in this aroma... (correction - I didn't see it at first). On the contrary - very sweet nectar, fig jam, fruit cake and more sugar for the finish. Very fruity feeling, which is normal for a 4-year finish of a total minimum of 14. You can also catch quality malt among all this fruit. Then a compote of strawberries, cherries and fresh cranberries came out. On the palate, the fruits give way to malt at the beginning. Lots of golden malt, a hint of demerara flavored coffee, which delicately transitions to a delicious exquisite cake with a dark chocolate topping with lots of dried red fruits in it. The finish is medium long, very well balanced between malt and wine notes. Reasonable price-quality ratio and high marks from my side for a relatively easy-to-find and affordable malt whiskey.

An intense, Single Malt Scotch Whisky by Glenmorangie Distillery in Highland, Scotland aged for a minimum of 10 year in American white oak ex-Bourbon cask & then finished for 4 years in Port casks. It has an aromatic birth with notes of cedar, sugar icing, tart summer fruits, milky coffee & almond pastries; while a rich & bold life adds notes of Turkish delight, honeysuckle, dark chocolate mousse, Bourbon biscuits, orange oil, toasted almonds, blackcurrant & raisins; that leads to a long & slightly woody death with notes of pepper, oak, stewed berries, mint chocolate, bitter orange & honey. December 2021 / January / August 2022 / November 2025