Glenmorangie Spìos

Release number 9/10 of the now complete Glenmoramgie Private Collection. It’s the only one I managed to nab, though I think I can still get my hands on the Allta. Either way, this one is a cool get. Aged exclusively ex-rye barrels, I think that’s a personal first as for as Scotches go. Let’s check it out. Nose: Honey, toffee, vanilla, and butterscotch. Almond. Apple, pear, and apricot. Orange citrus. Black licorice. Black pepper, clove, nutmeg, a touch of rye spice, and oak. Palate: Apple, pear, and apricot. Banana. White grape and red grape. Golden raisin and fig. Orange citrus. Vanilla frosting, caramel, milk chocolate, and toffee. Brown sugar. Almond and macadamia. Floral notes. Cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and oak. Finish: Vanilla, caramel. Gala apple, pear, and apricot. Orange citrus. Vanilla, sugar cookie, milk chocolate, and toffee. Cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and oak. Moderate length finish, bordering on long. This was a great find. I was late to the party on getting this one when I found it a couple years back, and it was absolutely worth the purchase at $90. It’s a balanced profile yet earns its name as the spicy release in the edition. Ex-rye cask Scotch was a great idea. I forget what the Allta’s schtick was, but this was good enough to warrant a purchase on sight and find out later. 4.5/5.

Took a gamble on this since I loved the Tusail. The nose brought some heavy spice (duh lol) and rye notes. Pears, sawdust, vanilla, tea, tobacco, dried banana chips, and chocolate notes. Powerful palate without dill, and you do not need any water for this one. Dark chocolate, mint, white and red peppers, star anise, and wood. Well balanced, and a real treat. The medium finish brings out orange marmalade with pith and sweet gumdrops. The spice dissipates and is thankfully not dry. This is a well done 4.25 and I can't wait to try more from Glenmorangie's Private Editions. The theme of this dram is gotta be something spicy, like "Pioneer to the Falls" by Interpol.

By Jove, he’s done it. The good Dr. Lumsden has pulled off a rye maturation that tastes exactly like you’d hope: an integrated melange of Scotch with an overlay of zesty spice. The rye influence introduces itself with aromas of pepper and clove. The spirit itself is more robust than the original Glenmorangie (**), more nutty than creamy. The finish is spicy and sweet, pulling back just before it gets into the cloying territory of the Lasanta (*) or Milsean (*). It’s an idea 20 years in the making, Dr. L told me at this evening’s tasting event, and it was worth the wait for him to find the right barrels.

NOSE Honey, orchard fruit, spice, buttery graham, tangerine, vanilla, Fun Dip and a bit of frosting and malt. Baking spice slowly goes from amorphous to cinnamon and nutmeg lead as it opens. PALATE Dried orchard fruit, baking spice, graham, malt, banana, cocoa and a bit of oak, tobacco and a slight herbal character. Fruity and spicy in a way that does remind me, a bit, of a young rye whiskey. FINISH Medium -> Apple heavy fruit, malt, cocoa, spice and oak. But not like a bourbon oak, but like a small-barrel-craft-rye-whiskey kind of oak.

[LOOK] 7% Mead [NOSE] Chaussons aux pommes, grape juice, warm pastry, light oak/vanillin, bit of earthy nutmeg & fresh cinnamon [PALETTE] Beautiful story that starts with pale malts, buttery scratch biscuits, and wanders through gentle spices, lemongrass, fennel lozenges, wisps of smoke, and ends with ginger chews and bitter lemon peel, Anjou pear slices [FINISH] More lemongrass, ginger, and asiatic herbs dominate, long and pleasantly floral, pungent [MOUTHFEEL] Firm airy structure, dynamic and well developed, elegant interplay of predominate notes

Glenmorangie is one of my favorite distilleries. Smooth sweet Malt. Great stuff. When I heard the new private edition was entirely aged in American Rye whiskey barrels I had to have a bottle. Nose is characteristic of Glenmorangie with a hint of a woody spice. Palate enters smooth and sweet like the 10, but on the finish the rye starts coming through. It's scotch, don't mistake me. But it definitely has a woody spicy finish that lingers. Excellent stuff, a must buy for any Glenmorangie fan. 90-92