Review #166 - Glenmorangie A Tale of the Forest

Another experimental twist on Scotch, from a distillery that has about every sort of age and cask maturation scheme in its repertoire: Glenmorangie. This, time, though, instead of another age statement or a strange cask mix, it's the base spirit that's been meddled with - the barley used to create the whisky was kilned with an unusual mixture of fuels. Instead of typical air drying, or the often seen heavy peat smoke, this barley was dried using a mixture of 'woodland botanicals.'

Those botanicals include juniper berries (a key gin ingredient), birch bark, heather flowers, and some peat as well, which could add a layer of smoke. There's no mention of casks on the packaging, but on Glenmorangie's website, the brand describes the scheme as 'ex-bourbon and refill' casks, so that the underlying spirit can be allowed to shine through without too much interference.

Glenmorangie A Tale of the Forest

Scotland/Highlands - Single Malt

Price Paid: USD 100 (2023)

Current Locally Available Price: USD 100 (2023)

Age Statement: NAS

Strength: 46% ABV

Cask Makeup: Ex-bourbon and refill casks

Details: Barley kilned with woodland botanicals (juniper berries, birch bark, heather flowers, and peat)

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times over 2 months; bottles at 100%, 90% (blind tasting), and 70% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes

Nose: Definitely unusual: herbal and floral, with eucalyptus, anise, strong juniper, and some soft woody smoke. Quite a few flavors, actually - this pulls us in a lot of direction. Fruits of raisins and berries, even moldy lemons, but also sweetness from caramel and brown sugar. There's another side, as well, with fish oil and salt, almost a clammy scent.

Palate: Medium thickness mouthfeel, quite a lot of wood smoke and actually a decent peat kick. Quite a lot of dark flavors at first: fig and blackberry, dark chocolate, treacle, root beer. There's still a floral side to this as well, with juniper (bordering on gin flavor), purple flowers, peppermint, a slightly effervescence. Decent sweetness, with vanilla and cinnamon orange later.

Finish: Medium length - peat and woody notes linger, along with flowers and a fizzy feeling. Soft baking notes of pepper and caramel, before pine wood and cigar smoke arrive. There are still some fruity notes, too: berries, orange, and a bit of rhubarb.

Final Note: Well, this certainly was interesting. We liked the overall experience, but the flavors were quite unusual overall, and it reminded us of an aged gin at times. The somewhat soft peat influence was a nice additional to the Glenmorangie spirit, and the subtle casks did a good job of highlighting the distillate. Interesting mix of fruits, herbs and floral notes - this is a good one to dive into if you have some time.

Our Average Rating: 7.2 / 10

In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.

Value Rating: 6.18