Glenmorangie on the table once more


April 4, 2023

Glenmo rangie on the table once more

We're having the latest edition of Glenmorangie's Signet and we'll take this opportunity to add a rare old Vintage version of pretty good reputation.

(Magazine ad, 2003. Peace on Earth! What went wrong?)

Glenmorangie 'Signet 2022' (46%, OB)

Some might remember that Signet's made out of 'chocolate malt', which is barley that's been exposed to higher temperatures when it got malted. I think it's used to make stout and porter beers. I have to confess I've only ever formally tried Signet once, back when it came out. I liked it a lot (WF 87 in 2008). Colour: gold. Nose: very enjoyable. I know anoraks do not like the packaging too much (it's clearly over-the-top and oh-so 1980) but it's what's inside that counts, and I do enjoy these earths, mushrooms, black woods, sour and sweet breads (rye bread, pumpernickel) and just, indeed, stouts. I used to quaff Mackeson's when in Scotland but that was some decades ago. Mouth: it really tastes 'black', like coffee and, indeed, chocolate. Heavy toffee, wood… There's also some molasses and something clearly sweet, as if someone would have added prune juice or, indeed, molasses. Which cannot be! I have to say some parts remind me of Loch Dhu but naturally, we're in a higher league here. Finish: rather long, sweet, with some chicory coffee and even Nescafé (decaf – I am joking). Some marmalade in the aftertaste. Comments: more on coffee than on chocolate, I would say. It's also much sweeter than I remembered.
SGP:651 - 84 points.

Glenmorangie 1972/1994 'Single Barrel Vintage' (46%, OB, cask #1840)

There were around forty 1972s 'Single Barrel Vintage', all bottled in the early to mid-1990s. I've never formally tried any, possibly because of some unreasonable reason (!), Glenmorangie's never really been a geek's malt whisky. I always love to read the burbs on old labels or back labels, in this very case they were reminding us that 'Glenmorangie's always been distilled in limited quantities at one of Scotland's smallest and most northerly distilleries' (yet it's been #1 malt in the UK for a number of years), while naturally, maturation was 'long and slow' (that was pretty r&b, right). Colour: gold. Nose: very fragrant, much more so than any contemporary Glenmorangies. Wonderful floralness, with dandelions leading the pack, then mead and lighter honeys (acacia), a little beeswax that they may have borrowed from their neighbour in the north that year (Clynelish 1972, that rings a bell – but don't Diageo own 1/3 of Glenmorangie anyway?) then some liquorice wood. There's also something Meursaulty mind you, some very ripe gooseberries, and biscuits. Absolutely lovely. Mouth: really powerful, but it's true that they were bottling these at 46% already, starting all on honeys and overripe apples, going on with our beloved mirabelles and quinces, and getting then very floral once again. Nectars, pansies… Then we have touches of butterscotch and crumbles of speculoos. More and more 'American oak'. Finish: rather long, a tiny tad oaky, otherwise full of mirabelles, citrus and meadows honey. Rather early grey and soft liquorice in the aftertaste. Comments: excellently balanced, floral yet firm. I gather that most casks were very close to each other. As for the fragrant side and before you ask, this was bottled quite some years before LVMH bought 2/3 of Glenmorangie (while indeed, the other 1/3 went to Diageo). One of the greatest Glenmorangies for sure.
SGP:551 - 90 points.

(Thank you Jeroen!)

Check the index of all Glenmorangie we've tasted so far