Had a tasting today with Eddie Ludlow, the brand ambassador for Glenmorangie and Penny, our lovely Moet-Hennessy account manager. The purpose was to introduce us to the newly re-branded Glenmorangie range in our capacity as Glenmorangie Embassy in the North-West. As you may come to see in the next few months Glenmorangie has undergone a complete transformation, new bottles, new labels and a re-structuring of the line extensions. Gone are the old wood finish ranges and in are three "new" incarnations - Lasanta - which replaces the Sherry wood finish, Quinta Ruban - which replaces the port wood and Nectar d'Or which replaces the 15yo Sauternes wood. The Madiera wood has been abandoned. The 10yo has been re-designed and is now called the Original. Dr Bill Lumsden, Glenmorangie's Master Blender, has also adapted the "blend" of the 10yo to incorporate more of the Artisan cask whisky into the mix, giving the whisky a slightly creamier mouthfeel and a certain richness.
The changes dont end there, the Extra Mature range (Lasanta, Quinta and Nectar) are all sporting a slightly higher ABV (46% up from 43%), they are all non-chill filtered now as well, meaning the whiskies have an added richness and textural body. This is a measure of appeasement to whisky afficianados. Im sure, to make ammends for the drastic redesign of the bottles. Gone are the traditional bottles, and in are more flared, almost cognac like bottles, giving the range an added sexyness that Im sure they hope will make it appeal to a younger, hipper generation of drinkers. In all the products are designed to create a new deluxe market - an area that owners LVMH are well familiar with. Whether this is a good thing, or spells the beginning of the end for the malt category remains to be seen.
Now Im not a whisky drinker, although there are more and more that I am finding myself comfortable with. The highlight of the tasting for me however was the 1990 Single Cask whisky, which isnt part of the new line up, but a very limited bottle that will be made available to Embassies exclusively. Coming from Bourbon cask 5932 it was specially selected by Dr Bill to be bottled for a very limited release of only 288 bottles. Coming in at a whopping 54.7% abv this is bottled directly from the cask without any form of treatment or dilution. It was absolutely fantastic - quite light on the nose, no nose-tingling alcohol, which was quite surprising. On the palate it had a bit of a burn at first, but it finishes with a really smooth fresh mint leaf flavour that was soft and clean. When I added a small drop of water to it, the flavours really opened out. Im going to try and get my hands on a bottle for myself, but its not cheap (apparently only three specialist outlets have access and retail is £100+). Strings will have to be pulled!
Showing posts with label Glenmorangie Embassy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Glenmorangie Embassy. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007
The infamous Bag Game (Part 3 of the Glenmorangie Embassy trip)
We arrived at Cadboll to be greeted by glorious sunshine as the sun was beginning the end of its daily arc across the sky. As the weather was so good, we decided to take a walk down to the beach before dinner. I was later to regret not taking the opportunity to get my head down for an hours kip. Anyway after a gentle stroll down to the beach and lively conversation getting to know Lindsay, Sam, Angela, Max and Frederick it was time to get changed and meet up for Dinner. Cadboll is so very civilised, they have no TVs and dinner is a communal effort around a huge oak table, a chance to converse and rejoin humanity for a while. As we sipped our Veuve Clicquot (well it is now part of LVMH) inevitably we all talked about that which we shared in common, work!!
We enjoyed a fabulous meal that night, a seafood ravioli with Langoustines and bisque reduction, I skipped the Haggis neaps and tatties, then a fabulous duck breast with berries, fondant potato and cabbage. And to finish one of the best souffles that I have ever had, a rich chocolate souffle with bits of chocolate and an Ardbeg ice-cream. The ice-cream was to die for, rich and smokey with a peaty finish with seemed to complement the chocolate perfectly. And having fed us so well, we moved into the Buffalo room for the torture to begin. Anyone who has ever been entertained at Cadboll will know the Bag game. You start off with one paper bag. The object of the game is to lift the bag with your mouth. The only rule is that the only part of your body that is allowed to touch the ground is the soles of your feet. No arms, hands, knees, elbows, foreheads, shoulder etc. Sounds simple? It is. At first anyway. Once everyone has acheived this, then they cut one inch off the top of the bag and everyone plays again. Until you are eliminated. Im quite proud to say that I got down to the last seven, and the bag was a mere two inches above the ground. (the last time I played I managed to make it to the end when all that was left was a piece of paper flat on the floor, but by god did I hurt the next day) I had anticipated that I would hurt something chronic the next day, but to my great relief there was very little pain, beyond a bit of mild stiffness the next morning. In the end it came down to Dr Bill (unfair advantage as we reckon he plays this at least once a week!), Kristelle from MHUK who used a unique side-dipping technique which was even more amazing considering she was wearing a skirt and she managed to preserve her dignity throughout!, and Max from ODG who also used an interesting technique that we thought for sure wouldnt manage it. Max took first prize when it came to the time-trial tiebreaker knocking a full second off Dr Bills time of 4.something seconds. We were all kind of gobsmacked to discover it was barely past midnight by now, so we set about a game of charades. A word of advice, if you ever find yourself at Glenmorangie House dont let the guys there do your cards for Charades unless you want to try and mime out obscure chick-flicks like Fried Green Tomatos at the Whistlestop Cafe. Mind you Graham was a bit gobsmacked when Pauline, his number 2, started her turn with Film, four words, and Lindsay shouted out Gone with the Wind, to take pole position in less than 5 second! Result!! (I was on Paulines team). We won the game, much to Grahams dispute and by now the clock had crept round to 3am. We all started drifting off to bed after a long and thoroughly enjoyable day. It was a shame to have to leave it the next morning, but I did get to enjoy a lovely hot cooked breakfast before being taken off to Inverness airport for my flight home. I was knackered when I eventually got home. I slept the whole flight home from takeoff to landing, waking with a start when the wheels hit the ground at Liverpool airport. Theres no better way to fly!
Id like to say thanks to all the team at Glenmorangie, Dr Bill, Graham, Pauline, Martin and his team at Glenmorangie House and the lovely ladies at LVMH who took us there, Kristelle and Angela. I had a wonderfull time, and I cant wait to take my wife back there for our anniversary later in the year.
We enjoyed a fabulous meal that night, a seafood ravioli with Langoustines and bisque reduction, I skipped the Haggis neaps and tatties, then a fabulous duck breast with berries, fondant potato and cabbage. And to finish one of the best souffles that I have ever had, a rich chocolate souffle with bits of chocolate and an Ardbeg ice-cream. The ice-cream was to die for, rich and smokey with a peaty finish with seemed to complement the chocolate perfectly. And having fed us so well, we moved into the Buffalo room for the torture to begin. Anyone who has ever been entertained at Cadboll will know the Bag game. You start off with one paper bag. The object of the game is to lift the bag with your mouth. The only rule is that the only part of your body that is allowed to touch the ground is the soles of your feet. No arms, hands, knees, elbows, foreheads, shoulder etc. Sounds simple? It is. At first anyway. Once everyone has acheived this, then they cut one inch off the top of the bag and everyone plays again. Until you are eliminated. Im quite proud to say that I got down to the last seven, and the bag was a mere two inches above the ground. (the last time I played I managed to make it to the end when all that was left was a piece of paper flat on the floor, but by god did I hurt the next day) I had anticipated that I would hurt something chronic the next day, but to my great relief there was very little pain, beyond a bit of mild stiffness the next morning. In the end it came down to Dr Bill (unfair advantage as we reckon he plays this at least once a week!), Kristelle from MHUK who used a unique side-dipping technique which was even more amazing considering she was wearing a skirt and she managed to preserve her dignity throughout!, and Max from ODG who also used an interesting technique that we thought for sure wouldnt manage it. Max took first prize when it came to the time-trial tiebreaker knocking a full second off Dr Bills time of 4.something seconds. We were all kind of gobsmacked to discover it was barely past midnight by now, so we set about a game of charades. A word of advice, if you ever find yourself at Glenmorangie House dont let the guys there do your cards for Charades unless you want to try and mime out obscure chick-flicks like Fried Green Tomatos at the Whistlestop Cafe. Mind you Graham was a bit gobsmacked when Pauline, his number 2, started her turn with Film, four words, and Lindsay shouted out Gone with the Wind, to take pole position in less than 5 second! Result!! (I was on Paulines team). We won the game, much to Grahams dispute and by now the clock had crept round to 3am. We all started drifting off to bed after a long and thoroughly enjoyable day. It was a shame to have to leave it the next morning, but I did get to enjoy a lovely hot cooked breakfast before being taken off to Inverness airport for my flight home. I was knackered when I eventually got home. I slept the whole flight home from takeoff to landing, waking with a start when the wheels hit the ground at Liverpool airport. Theres no better way to fly!
Id like to say thanks to all the team at Glenmorangie, Dr Bill, Graham, Pauline, Martin and his team at Glenmorangie House and the lovely ladies at LVMH who took us there, Kristelle and Angela. I had a wonderfull time, and I cant wait to take my wife back there for our anniversary later in the year.
Glenmorangie Tasting (part 2 of the Embassy Trip)
After our fairly in depth tour of the distillery we returned to the conference room next to the offices for a tutored tasting with Dr Bill. On the table in front of us sat seven little tulip glasses with lids and a jug of Tarlogie Springs water. We got a quick slide show about the wood management program before we started tasting.
Sample no 1.
This was a colourless liquid that was revealed to be neat spirit before ageing. On the nose it had a rough pruney aroma about it, that actually put me in mind of some grappas that Ive had in the murky past. But after adding a drop of water to it, the aromas became more floral - acacia and white roses with a touch of oriental spices. The taste was surprisingly clean with a sort of sweetness about it that I hadnt expected.
Sample no 2.
10 year Glenmorangie. Quite apple like aromas with spicy floral notes. With the addition of water the aromas became more like Verbena with a touch of Geranium and honey, like a trendy herbal tea. Without water the taste was quite harsh and prickly on my tongue, but after a dash of water the whisky was really smooth with a kind of unroasted almond and honey flavour with exotic herbs. Im getting to appreciate this more as I get older I think.
Sample no 3.
This was the Artisan Cask sample, there was quite a dominant aroma of mint with bitter chocolate and pain epice, but I think I also found a touch of cobnut in there too. After adding a drop of water it had a more creamy nose, almost white burgundy in character, with a buttery toffee essense to it. Tasting it before the water was added I found it quite aggressive with rich warming spices and caramelised nuts, but with a touch of Tarlogie water in it became more minted with pineapple like fruit flavours and a creamy finish. I really liked this one with water.
Sample no 4.
Much darker colour, to be expected for an 18year old. I was instantly reminded of Crunchies by this one, chocolate and honeycomb, but more cinder toffee than Cadbury's. There were hints of white flowers in the nose too, but they seemed to be shy. With water it became more Baklava in character, nuts drenched in honey with some chopped dates throughout. I didnt taste this because I was beginning to feel a bit pissed by this stage.
Sample no 5.
Slight pinkish tinge gives this away as the Portwood finish. This was easy - proper turkish delight, dusted with icing sugar with pastilles of 90%+ cocoa mass. There was also a slightly aftershave like aroma that Bill identified as Sandalwood. I was pissed by now.
Sample no 6.
Im getting a bit confused because I think this was the last sample that I made notes for, but Im sure there were a few more. This was a cask sample from a special cask of the Sherry wood that has had somewhere in the region of 7 years extra maturation in the Sherry buts. The colour was a rich golden amber. On the nose it was a touch sulphurous with strong aromas of honeycomb and ginger spices. Almost gingerbread like flavours, the sherry has really dominated the character of the whisky and you would struggle to identify the Glenmorangie underneath.
Head swimming we came to the end of the tasting and we had a quick question and answer session before being driven down to Glenmorangie house where we would spend the night being tortured in Glenmorangies unique way!
Sample no 1.
This was a colourless liquid that was revealed to be neat spirit before ageing. On the nose it had a rough pruney aroma about it, that actually put me in mind of some grappas that Ive had in the murky past. But after adding a drop of water to it, the aromas became more floral - acacia and white roses with a touch of oriental spices. The taste was surprisingly clean with a sort of sweetness about it that I hadnt expected.
Sample no 2.
10 year Glenmorangie. Quite apple like aromas with spicy floral notes. With the addition of water the aromas became more like Verbena with a touch of Geranium and honey, like a trendy herbal tea. Without water the taste was quite harsh and prickly on my tongue, but after a dash of water the whisky was really smooth with a kind of unroasted almond and honey flavour with exotic herbs. Im getting to appreciate this more as I get older I think.
Sample no 3.
This was the Artisan Cask sample, there was quite a dominant aroma of mint with bitter chocolate and pain epice, but I think I also found a touch of cobnut in there too. After adding a drop of water it had a more creamy nose, almost white burgundy in character, with a buttery toffee essense to it. Tasting it before the water was added I found it quite aggressive with rich warming spices and caramelised nuts, but with a touch of Tarlogie water in it became more minted with pineapple like fruit flavours and a creamy finish. I really liked this one with water.
Sample no 4.
Much darker colour, to be expected for an 18year old. I was instantly reminded of Crunchies by this one, chocolate and honeycomb, but more cinder toffee than Cadbury's. There were hints of white flowers in the nose too, but they seemed to be shy. With water it became more Baklava in character, nuts drenched in honey with some chopped dates throughout. I didnt taste this because I was beginning to feel a bit pissed by this stage.
Sample no 5.
Slight pinkish tinge gives this away as the Portwood finish. This was easy - proper turkish delight, dusted with icing sugar with pastilles of 90%+ cocoa mass. There was also a slightly aftershave like aroma that Bill identified as Sandalwood. I was pissed by now.
Sample no 6.
Im getting a bit confused because I think this was the last sample that I made notes for, but Im sure there were a few more. This was a cask sample from a special cask of the Sherry wood that has had somewhere in the region of 7 years extra maturation in the Sherry buts. The colour was a rich golden amber. On the nose it was a touch sulphurous with strong aromas of honeycomb and ginger spices. Almost gingerbread like flavours, the sherry has really dominated the character of the whisky and you would struggle to identify the Glenmorangie underneath.
Head swimming we came to the end of the tasting and we had a quick question and answer session before being driven down to Glenmorangie house where we would spend the night being tortured in Glenmorangies unique way!
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Visiting the distillery (part 1)
You know things are going to get off to a bad start when they involve getting up early. No good ever comes of getting up early. In this case I had to be up at the ungodly hour of 5:30am, to get myself to John Lennon Airport for a 9:05 flight. Due to the ridiculous "security" restrictions you now have to turn up two hours before your flight is due, so I had to be at the airport for 7:05am. Which was almost pointless because the damn check in didnt open till nearly 7:30, but who am I to complain. However after a fairly uneventful flight and an hour in a chauffeur (how the hell do you spell that word??!!) driven Jaguar I found myself in the Glen of Tranquility itself - the Glenmorangie distillery, nestling on the banks of the Dornoch Firth just a few minutes drive north of Tain.
I was met by Graham Eunson who has been the Distillery manager since 1999 when Dr Bill moved down to head office in Broxburn. In the office where I was to wait until the others arrived I was introduced to Bill Lumsden who I suppose is Mr Glenmorangie, for he is the public face of the whisky and the man responsable for their innovative wood management program that has seen them "experimenting" with finishing the whisky in different barrels to add extra dimensions to the flavour. I also meet Pauline, the assistant distillery manager. So now they are going to have to change the strapline of the whisky to made by the 15 men and 1 woman of Tain. Doesnt quite have the same ring to it eh? After a short wait and a very pleasant lunch we were ready to start the Embassy trip to Glenmorangie. We began by taking a quick drive up to the Tarlogie Springs, the source of Glenmorangies water.
Glenmorangie are quite unique in the fact that the Tarlogie Springs are bubbled up through layers of limestone and chalk, which are somewhat out of place in the Granitic hills and mountains of Scotland. As a result the water is quite "hard" - ie has high levels of dissolved minerals and salts especially Calcium salts. So they guard the springs quite jealously. The water was cristal clear and when we looked we could see the water bubbling up through the sandy soil at the bottom of the spring. After walking around the spring we headed back to the distillery for a guided tour of the operation. Starting at the old malting house where in days gone by they would have malted the barley themselves, these days the barley comes from a central maltings who toast the grains to a specification laid down by Glenmorangie. The barley passes through the mills to grind it into a course flour before being added to the mash tun. Here it is soaked in 60degree water to break open the starch cells and allow enzymes to start the process of breaking down the long chain starches into short molecule sugars which the yeasts can then convert to alcohol. Once all the sugars have been extracted the solution is then passed into the washbacks where the yeast is added at nature takes its course. They aim for a quick ferment to convert all the sugar into alcohol. Once this is done the result is called the low wines, and is approximately 9 % abv. It then goes into a low wines reciever before being pumped into the first still for the first distillation. The stills at Glenmorangie are amongst the highest in Scotland and this allows the purest alcohols to reach the top where they travel down into the condensers to be collected for the second distillation. The second set of stills are slightly smaller than the first ones and again here the aim is to purify the spirit and remove the harmful alcohols like methanol. So the foreshots are the first cut, and they get re-cycled back into the process to be endlessly refined. The middle cut is the sweetest and purest ethanol and it is this that will end its days maturing in an oak cask to be become Glenmorangie. The feints or end cut is the roughest and again it is re-cycled back to be redistilled.
We were then taken round to see the place where the spirit is filled into oak casks where it must mature for a minimum of three years before it can legally be called whisky. It is in the selection of the casks that for many years Glenmorangie has led the market. Dr Bill then took us into Warehouse number three to show us the Artisan casks.
Specially selected from trees grown in the Ozark mountains of America these casks are quite special. The exceptionally slow growth of the trees means that the rings are quite tightly packed and so the wood is quite dense and tightly grained. This interacts with the spirit in a way that I cant quite understand, but it seems to have a profound difference to the "standard" Glenmorangie. Must be pixie magic! Anyway as you can see from the picture Bill gets quite excited about these casks. While in the warehouse we got the opportunity to taste the differences between first fill casks and second fills. The first fills have a much richer, more caramelised character to them, with toasty coconut flavours being dominant. The second fills were much lighter in colour with a lighter nose, more minty floral with hints of lighter nuts - hazel, cobnuts. After a bit of a nosey in there and a cracking atmospheric photo it was time to return to the offices for our tutored tasting.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Glenmorangie rhymes with Orangey
Ive got to be up at five am on Monday. Five bloody am in the morning!!! All because I need to be at Liverpool Airport for 7am for a 9am flight to Inverness. Im off to Glenmorangie, the Glen of Tranquility, according to their strapline on the adverts that were aired on TV a few years ago.
LVMH (Louis Vitton, Moet Hennessy) the multinational conglomerate that now owns Glenmorangie has decided to develop a brand Embassy for Glenmorangie. They have picked folks from around the country to represent the brand in key regions and I was invited to be selected to cover the Northwest. So this little jolly is by way of an introduction to the Embassy and a chance for us to have a guided tour of the distillery by the legendary Dr Bill Lumsden. I have been fortunate enough to have a guided tour by the man himself many years ago when Glenmorangie was part of Bacardi. He even took us into the bonded warehouse were we sampled a cask of the first limited release, the Claret wood finish Glenmorangie. Now I confess that Im not really a whisky kind of guy, but this was the first whisky I had tried that I found I could drink. So much so that when it was eventually released over a year later I managed to track down a bottle and bought it for £60. Last year a bottle sold at McTeers whisky auction for just over £500. Thats a nice healthy return!! So I look forward to seeing what joys and sneak previews we will get this time!!
Pictures and write up to follow upon my return on Tuesday.
LVMH (Louis Vitton, Moet Hennessy) the multinational conglomerate that now owns Glenmorangie has decided to develop a brand Embassy for Glenmorangie. They have picked folks from around the country to represent the brand in key regions and I was invited to be selected to cover the Northwest. So this little jolly is by way of an introduction to the Embassy and a chance for us to have a guided tour of the distillery by the legendary Dr Bill Lumsden. I have been fortunate enough to have a guided tour by the man himself many years ago when Glenmorangie was part of Bacardi. He even took us into the bonded warehouse were we sampled a cask of the first limited release, the Claret wood finish Glenmorangie. Now I confess that Im not really a whisky kind of guy, but this was the first whisky I had tried that I found I could drink. So much so that when it was eventually released over a year later I managed to track down a bottle and bought it for £60. Last year a bottle sold at McTeers whisky auction for just over £500. Thats a nice healthy return!! So I look forward to seeing what joys and sneak previews we will get this time!!
Pictures and write up to follow upon my return on Tuesday.
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