Glenmorangie’s “A Tale of the Forest”

A Tale of the Forest is the new release from Glenmorangie, and is the third in their “A tale of…” series, following A Tale of Cake and A Tale of Winter.  A Tale of the Forest is aptly named, for its aromas, flavours, style – and even its production – are all closely linked to the forest.  Yes, really!

Let’s get the big and obvious feature of this whisky out of the way first:  This is unlike any Glenmorangie you’ve previously tried.  It’s an altogether different style, and – whilst it’s got that signature Glenmorangie depth, complexity, and mineralic note – it offers aromas and flavours that will have you thinking you’re a long way from Tain.

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Glen Moray – The emerald of Elgin

If you’re relatively new to the whisky scene, you’ll most likely have seen a few different expressions of Glen Moray at your local retailer and perhaps wondered what the brand is all about.  Conversely, you may have been into your whiskies for a while now…and also wondered what the brand is all about!  That said, what you’ll undoubtedly have noticed in recent times is that the brand is making a bigger splash these days and is more prevalent about the place.  That’s no accident or stroke of luck, but as we’ll explore in just a moment, it’s a distillery that’s well and truly grown into its own skin and forged new frontiers.  So what’s the Glen Moray story, and why should you be exploring its whiskies?  

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Matching a whisky to every James Bond film

James Bond and whisky? Whisky has been paired with food for decades, although in more recent years we’ve seen whiskies paired and matched to cigars, watches, music, and even movies!   If you’re going to sit down in your comfy sofa and pass away a few hours being entertained by 007, then having a good dram in your hand goes a long way to enhancing the James Bond experience.

Of course, Bond’s drink of choice may be a vodka martini, but we can shake and stir things up for the whisky drinkers out there who are James Bond fans: Here is our effort to pair and match the perfect whisky to every (official) James Bond film.

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Glenmorangie – A Tale of Cake

You can never accuse Glenmorangie of standing still.  In fact, they remain – consistently – one of the more innovative distilleries in Scotland, always putting out something new that presents their prized spirit in a new and interesting light.  The new release, A Tale of Cake, is further evidence.

It’s one of the reasons why the distillery has such appeal.  Their core range of The Original (a 10yo), the extra-matured releases (Lasanta, Quinta Ruban, and Nectar d’Or), and the 18yo are all hard-hitters and right up there in the quality stakes, contradicting anyone who believes the mass-production whiskies can’t be any good.  But, never resting on their laurels, Glenmorangie entertains its fans by regularly putting out limited release or special project editions that tweak the character of the spirit and showcase the whisky’s DNA in a different light.

The Private Edition range was one such avenue for these special releases, although this came to an end with 2019’s Allta.  Stepping into the void towards the end of 2020 is the aptly named, A tale of cake”. 

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The most beautiful distilleries in Scotland

It’s a question often asked:  Which is the most beautiful distillery in Scotland?  But if beauty is in the eye of the beholder, how does one assemble a definitive list of Scotland’s most beautiful distilleries that adequately captures all the subjectivity from amongst the whisky community?  And when it comes to distilleries – which are nothing more than factories to produce alcohol – what metrics do we use to define beauty?  Is it architectural flair?  Aesthetic lines and symmetry?  And how do we compare architectural and construction fashions across timelines?  Many would suggest that the classic, quaint, stone-built distilleries of the Victorian era have a romantic advantage, but purists are correct to assert there is beauty in the functional architecture of modern behemoths such as Roseisle or Dalmunach.

There are further complexities:  How much does the surrounding environment impact our assessment of a distillery’s beauty?  For example, Lagavulin is, in reality, just a clump of relatively plain, white-washed buildings nestled together.  However, put them in a coastal location on the water, add some colour from the local vegetation, and throw in the ruins of a medieval castle nearby for good measure, and you have one extremely beautiful distillery.

A further difficulty arises when you look at the many distilleries that have been bastardised over the years with unsympathetic expansions, often resulting in clashing, jarring visuals.  There are many such examples that mix their original old-world Victorian charm with 1960’s modernism or 1970’s brutalism.   

Following a poll that Whisky & Wisdom ran on Twitter a few weeks ago to gauge public opinion, we offer you – in no particular order – the following list of Scotland’s most beautiful distilleries:

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Ardbeg Grooves

Groovy is a term that disappeared from common vernacular. In fact, were it not for Mike Myers and the Austin Powers films, there would be several generations now that would be completely unaware of its application. Groovy became cool; cool became hot; and hot became cool again. Meanwhile, some distilleries got on with churning out delicious whisky.

“Grooves” is the name of this year’s annual Ardbeg Day release, and the marketing and imagery that accompanies it is the 1960’s hippy era of peace and love. “Peat and love” is thus the key phrase here and Ardbeg Day celebrations around the world will be based on this very theme.

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Glenmorangie Spios

The whisky calendar is blessed these days to have annual events and annual releases that we all look forward to.  For example, Islay-philes hang out each year for the Feis Ile bottlings, and Ardbeg fans are always keenly anticipating May for Ardbeg Day and the release of the special Ardbeg limited edition that accompanies it.   For those who prefer a more typical “Highland” style of whisky, there is always huge interest in the annual release of Glenmorangie’s Private Edition bottling.  This year’s release – Private Edition No. 9 – is called Spios.  Glenmorangie Spios.

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Glenmorangie 1990 Grand Vintage Malt

It doesn’t seem that long ago that the core-range of many distilleries consisted of a ubiquitous 12yo, followed by an 18yo and a 25yo.  The really daring distilleries would then inject something colourful into the portfolio, such as a vintage release or something with an exotic name.

Glenmorangie is a remarkable distillery for many reasons, but one of its most impressive aspects is its huge and diverse core range.   The humble (yet sensational) Original continues to underpin the line up, but the flavour profile and offerings rapidly then diversify with the likes of the Extra Matured range (Lasanta, Quinta Ruban, and Nectar d’Or), followed by the older age statements – namely the 18yo and 25yo.   The latter two – in particular – were notable for being exceptionally rich and luxurious.

But in today’s whisky world, nothing is constant for too long and there was a touch of sadness when we heard that the Glenmorangie 25yo was effectively being discontinued.  However, any sadness you experience will instantly evaporate once you taste its replacement:  The Glenmorangie 1990 Grand Vintage Malt.

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Glenmorangie Bacalta

At the start of every year, we all sit down with our calendar and enter all of our annual events and occasions: The public holidays.  Your partner’s birthday.  Your dentist appointment.  Your wedding anniversary.  The release of the next Glenmorangie Private Edition bottling.  The excitement this year revolves around Bacalta.

Glenmorangie’s Private Edition range is a special once-off release that comes out each year to showcase a new variation of the Glenmorangie flavour profile.   Through the use of different casks or wood regimes during maturation, or by using different varieties of barley (or different peating levels), the usual Glenmorangie DNA is given a tweak and a nudge to explore new and – without fail – delicious flavour territories.  Some  within Glenmorangie (including Dr Bill Lumsden himself) have hinted or suggested that the Private Edition range showcases experimentation but, to my palate, the results are consistently too successful and too good to be mere experiments.  No, this is a product line that knows what it’s doing.  And for those who are curious, in terms of volume, the Private Edition range makes up less than 1% of Glenmorangie’s total annual production, so it is genuinely a very limited product.

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Bringing balance to the foreshots

A joint essay & publication by Matthew Fergusson-Stewart of Whisky Molecules, and Whisky & Wisdom.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, your two correspondents were co-hosting a tasting event together and explaining the distillation process to the audience, going into detail about the fractioning – better known as the foreshots, middle cut, and feints.  We explained that the foreshots was heavy in methanols and other undesirable elements, which everyone was happy to accept.  We also explained how the foreshots and feints are never wasted, but are mixed back in with the next batch of low wines, and the process continues repeatedly. Everyone was happy to accept that, too.  Well, almost everyone.  One chap sitting near the front objected: “If the foreshots keep being recycled and mixed back in, won’t you get a continually increasing build-up of methanol in the spirit?”   Ummmm……

It’s a vexing question that’s since been posed to us both many times.  What do they do with the methanol and where does it go?

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