The folks over at Glenmorangie have been very busy. Over the last few months the Highland distillery has released two new expressions.
In February, they introduced the ninth release in their Private Edition series – Glenmorangie Spìos (Scots Gaelic for ‘spice’ and pronounced ‘spee-oss’) – the first single malt whisky fully matured in American ex-rye whiskey casks. Dr. Bill Lumsden, Glenmorangie’s Director of Distilling, Whisky Creation & Whisky Stocks, was intrigued by the character of American rye whiskey when travelling to the United States in the 1990s. Inspired by the few remaining rye distilleries he visited, Dr. Lumsden determined to one day bring a hint of American rye whiskey’s elegant past to a future Private Edition.
Dr. Lumsden sourced the finest first-fill casks from American rye whiskey makers in Kentucky and arranged for these hand-selected oak casks to be shipped to the Glenmorangie Distillery. There they began to impart their flavors to the pure and smooth spirit that emerges from Glenmorangie’s signature copper stills – the tallest stills in Scotland. The result is a full-bodied single malt that offers rye’s subtleties as well.
“I have always loved American rye whiskey’s spicy character and believed our distillery’s smooth house style would perfectly complement the nuances of ex-rye casks,” says Dr. Lumsden. “Glenmorangie Spìos is a full-bodied, savory single malt whisky, that recalls American rye whiskey’s golden age, which fittingly is beginning to regain its former popularity. I hope connoisseurs and collectors will enjoy this latest innovative release in our Private Edition series – a single malt whisky that is unmistakably Glenmorangie, yet exquisitely different.”
Then, Glenmorangie’s Bond House No. 1 Vintage collection celebrated the second limited release from its the Bond House No. 1 Vintage collection last month. The Glenmorangie Grand Vintage Malt 1989 Glenmorangie’s first expression to be part-matured in ex-Côte-Rôtie casks.
The collection takes its name from the largest of Glenmorangie’s 19th century Bonded Warehouses. For generations, Warehouse No. 1 was home to Glenmorangie’s casks of maturing spirit, but in 1990 as the distillery grew, Warehouse No. 1 was transformed into a new still house, revered today as Glenmorangie’s Highland Cathedral. The story of Glenmorangie Grand Vintage Malt 1989 began with some of the last spirit to ever to emerge from the Distillery’s former still house.
Dr. Lumsden decided to honor the legacy of Warehouse No. 1 with select parcels of the 1989 spirit, a highly sought-after cask assemblage. He arranged for the parcels of the 27-year-old single malt to be finished in a handful of casks, the most prestigious of which once contained Côte-Rôtie wine from the northern Rhône wine region of France. Since wine from the Côte-Rôtie appellation (French for roasted slopes) is created from the rare co-fermentation of Shiraz and Viognier grapes, Dr. Lumsden was interested in the character it would bring to Glenmorangie’s soft and smooth spirit. As the Côte-Rôtie-aged parcels reached their prime, Dr. Lumsden reunited them with spirit from the same vintage finished in the finest ex-Oloroso sherry and superior ex-bourbon casks.
“The Bond House No. 1 Vintage collection invites single malt whisky collectors to explore some of Glenmorangie’s most rare and prized vintage whiskies, marked for greatness from their year of origin,” says Dr. Lumsden. “After 27 years of maturation, I knew that Glenmorangie Grand Vintage Malt 1989 was ready to share. Connoisseurs will delight in the beautiful balance of subtle finesse, richness, and intensity of the expression, which is extraordinarily varied for a whisky of such age.”
Glenmorangie Spìos, which retails for $99, is now available worldwide. Glenmorangie Grand Vintage Malt 1989 is also available globally but retails for $665.
