Review by: The Muskox

My local whisky club managed to put together a truly interesting Glenmorangie tasting. This 1991 Grand Vintage release is the first of three Grand Vintages we poured on the night, followed by two rather rare single casks. This release has a shockingly high score on Whiskybase – 90.8 on 38 reviews! Let’s see how reasonable that is.

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Distillery: Glenmorangie.

Bottler: Official bottling.

Region: Highlands.

ABV: 43%.

Age: 27 Years. Distilled in 1991. Bottled in 2018.

Cask type: Finished in a mix of Burgundy red wine casks and Oloroso sherry casks, as well as a small fraction of virgin charred American oak casks.

Price: N/A, tasting sample.

Color: Light gold. Natural Color. Non-Chill Filtered.

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Nose: Wine-forward, off-dry and luscious. Shiny red apples, sauteed berries, blood orange, strong perfume. A strong clayey powdered-makeup smell, or maybe lipstick waxiness. Smells like red lipstick looks like it should taste. Milk chocolate and nuts – peanut butter cups! Some savoury sherry funk underneath. Dark varnished oak and an earthy malt character.

Palate: Medium texture. Arrives sweet-tart, deep, and earthy. Soft of a candy-citrusy zing – Sweet-Tarts. More berries, cassis, creamy dark fruit and vanilla. Milk chocolate and deep oak in the middle, followed by dry red wine.

Finish: Winier and winier. Dark chocolate now. Orange zest. Lightly malty, and a hint of tropical fruit.

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Possible SMWS bottling name: “Shameful secret lipstick-eating habit”

That’s a meh. I’m not a huge fan of these very dark dry red-winey whiskies to start with, especially when that kind of cask is paired with such a light spirit as Glenmorangie. At 43%, this one doesn’t have a lot of power to make up for the lightness of the spirit, either. The tasting was nearly unanimous in agreement that this was the worst of the three Grand Vintages of the night. Still a fine whisky, but it certainly falls short of expectations and marketing, not to mention that ludicrous Whiskybase score.

…Wait a minute, zSolaris gave this a 94? Maybe I’m way off then.

Final Score: 74.

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Scoring Legend:

• 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
• 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
• 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
• 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
• 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
• 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
• 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
• 50-59: Save it for mixing.
• 0-49: Blech.