Glenmorangie was founded in 1843 and has gone through numerous permutations over time. Boasting the tallest stills in Scotland, they produce 6.5 million liters of single malt whisky a year fed from the nearby Tarlogie Springs. For the past few decades, Glenmorangie has also been one of the best selling single malts in Scotland itself and expanded into the luxury international market, driven by cask finishing started in the 1980s. This history of cask management is evident in the “Barrel Select Release” Series, where this Glenmorangie 13 Year Cognac Finish was released in 2021. A little different than many finishes that occur at the very end of maturation (hence the term “finishing”), the initial maturation in ex-bourbon casks lasted 8 years before being transferred to ex-cognac casks that had been used already several times for the remaining years.
Distillery: Glenmorangie
Region: Highland
Age: 13 years
Strength: 46%
Price: $93.99
Maturation: ex-cognac
Location: Tain
Nose: Latex, cognac, stone fruit, apricot, plume, oak, turf, wintergreen, vanilla, white pepper, caramel, cherry, brine, floral, heather, alfalfa
Palate: Vanilla, spice, cherry
Finish: Oak, vanilla, cognac
Comments: Let this benefit from time in the glass. Water is not needed.
Adam – The nose of the Glenmorangie 13 shimmers, like a mirage in the desert. It’s never exactly the same each time you go to it and the more you try to hold onto it, the more elusive it becomes. Don’t rush to sip this one, take your time and explore the sensation of smell here. There’s a fruit and flower overlaid on the sweetness and oak of the base spirit. Reach for those associations, and reach for them you must because they do not exactly explode out of the glass. Be patient. There’s a tartness when it immediately hits the palate before unrolling into delicate fruit and perfume. I wish that fruit would stick around as the finish is more oak with the cognac finally rearing at the end after you swallow, reminiscent of a white wine almost. I had perhaps hoped for an echo of the Brenne because of the cask finish but the cognac feels much subtler and this is just a different animal altogether.
Kate – The longer it sits in the glass, the more the nose opens up and the less of the base of the Glenmorangie comes to the fore. There’s almost a floral, soapy quality to it. And nothing but bitter cherry at the end. If I take a sip with an open mouth, I get a big hit of vanilla. The finish is decently long and warm. I don’t like how they blend the flavors. I want my scotch to be balanced and beautiful and this is not exactly that.
Henry – Oak complexities on the nose – vanilla and wintergreen – play with sweetgrass, clover flowers, and fresh-cut turf. Let it sit in the glass and don’t rush it. You will be rewarded with even more dried-fruit-soaked-in-liqueur and honey notes. The palate introduces assertive drying tannins, almond oil, and dark honey. The cognac cask comes through with more oak, dried apricots soaked in brandy, and a lingering musky sweetness.
Ben – Different parts of your tongue are getting different flavor elements. The wintergreen, the apricot, the crest of the wave hits you and then comes back down after that. I love how it goes from sweet on the front of the palate to bitter at the end. I like that journey.
The more you try to hold onto it, the more elusive it becomes.
Bill – The wintergreen in the nose has a pepper element that almost makes it reminiscent of peppermint. There’s a honey, like a manuka honey not like regular store honey. I like how mellow the Glenmorangie 13 is, kind of gently transitions when it does transition.
Mike – The nose has sugar, stone fruit and that’s about it for me. The typical maltiness that you get from malted barley. Nothing but sweetness and fruit. The Glenmorangie 13 is kind of one-note for me. I don’t hate it but nothing excites me about it.
Sam – The finish is like a champagne, smoky and meaty. On the palate it’s sweet, like an Ace bandage smells, fresh out of the package.
Kim – Initial Apricot and wintergreen on the nose. Transitions nicely but is almost too complex that it becomes bland. Still, a nice summer sipper.
