Glenmorangie 15yo (43.0%): I found this bottle a few years ago by pure coincidence on a top shelf of an obscure liquor store all covered in dust sitting by itself. I brought it home, tucked into my whisky cabinet and kinda forgot about it later... This November when Southern California Whiskey Club decided to put an "Old vs. New" Glenmorangie tasting together I thought it would be a good time to pop it open and share it with fellow members. Glenmorangie 15 is discontinued with a bunch of fan favorite wood finishes in 2007 when the entire line-up got revamped and can be found on auction sites only these days unless you get incredibly lucky like me. It is aged in ex-bourbon barrels and then transferred to new oak casks for an additional maturation. That night I saved a sample for myself and poured it today into my glass to scribble down some notes. Here we go:
Color: Light amber, dark yellow foliage color with nice thick and slow moving legs.
Nose: Mexican flan, vanilla and dried apricots. Jonquils, sweet hazelnut paste and underripe white peaches. Orange blossom honey and spearmint leaves. Coconut milk chocolate and nutmeg. There is a lot going on here...
Palate: Toasted oak, cinnamon, cloves and golden raisins. Peaches, custard and allspice. It's creamy, viscous and oily... I suspect some sherry cask influence here actually... Milk chocolate, red pepper flakes and cognac. Great balance of sweet and spicy notes with a beautiful texture.
Finish: Long with paprika, cloves and hint of salt. Even after it leaves the top of your tongue you can still feel it on either sides of your mouth fading out slowly for a long time.
Overall: Great whisky... Especially if you compare the prices in the market today with what I have paid for this bottle there is no match I can think of. It has an old school dusty, luscious and weighty palate without trying to be edgy on the nose or on the palate. It's perfectly balanced, shows it age gracefully and like the old timers would say: "It tastes like a good whisky should taste..." Funny that more and more I am being attracted to whiskies with less extremities when I get older. I actually am very afraid that the days I will be complaining out loud: "They don't make them like they used to anymore..!" are not so far away...
Price: N/A
Finish: Long with paprika, cloves and hint of salt. Even after it leaves the top of your tongue you can still feel it on either sides of your mouth fading out slowly for a long time.
Overall: Great whisky... Especially if you compare the prices in the market today with what I have paid for this bottle there is no match I can think of. It has an old school dusty, luscious and weighty palate without trying to be edgy on the nose or on the palate. It's perfectly balanced, shows it age gracefully and like the old timers would say: "It tastes like a good whisky should taste..." Funny that more and more I am being attracted to whiskies with less extremities when I get older. I actually am very afraid that the days I will be complaining out loud: "They don't make them like they used to anymore..!" are not so far away...
Price: N/A
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