Review #277 - Glenmorangie 18 Year
Owned by Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey, the Glenmorangie distillery produces a huge range of whiskies, with just about every age statement and cask finish imaginable. This is one of the older expressions in their core range - the 18 Year Old.
Maturation takes place in a combination of ex-bourbon casks and Oloroso sherry casks (one of the more tame cask regimens from Dr. Bill Lumsden), so we're looking forward to a nice mixture of flavors. Strength is only 43% ABV, but we're hoping the extra time spent aging has added some oily texture to the dram.
Glenmorangie 18 Year
Scotland/Highland - Single Malt
Current Locally Available Price: USD 120 (2024)
Age Statement: 18 Years
Strength: 43% ABV
Cask Makeup: Ex-bourbon and ex-Oloroso sherry casks
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times over 3 months; bottles at 90%, 60%, and 50% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes
Nose: Two main themes: milk chocolate and older, polished oak. Rather sweet, even syrupy, with honey and brown sugar; hints of raisin and orange add a soft fruit side. Malt, perfume, white chocolate, and burnt sugar are accent notes. Overall, a bit elegant and reserved.
Palate: A medium thickness mouthfeel, quite syrupy for the strength - lots of confectionary notes like caramel, chocolate, brown sugar, and natural honey. Little hints of ripe orange can be found, and there's soft chalky malt; more cocoa or mocha come later, along with perfumed oak. Rounded and relatively rich.
Finish: While still sweet, there's the prickle of baking spice in the early finish: white pepper, some clove as well. Syrupy chocolate, molasses, and a hint of lemon come later; then it's chocolate orange candies, rich malt, cinnamon spice from the oak, and a slight floral character.
Final Note: A more reserved whisky - a good whisky - with all of the soft chocolatey character you could ask for. Elegant, and while there's still a bit of malty character from the distillate remaining, this is mostly a story about the casks, which have come together to create a rounded, mellow experience.
Tasty flavors, and for an 18 year old whisky, this is one of the better values still available. It does have some nice oak notes, so if you're looking to branch out into slightly older whisky, this could be a good stepping stone.
Our Average Rating: 7.3 / 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: 6.05
