Review by: The Muskox
I mentioned offhand to a buddy of mine that I’d never tried any of these “A Tale of…” bottlings from Glenmorangie, and what does he do? He walks right over to his shelf and starts pouring samples for me. What a dude.
First off is A Tale of Cake. Tokaji is a Hungarian dessert wine, sort of the Hungarian equivalent of Sauternes as I understand it.
Glenmorangie A Tale of Cake.
Distillery: Glenmorangie.
Bottler: Official bottling.
Region: Highlands.
ABV: 46%.
Age: 12 years. Bottled in 2022.
Cask type: Ex-bourbon casks.
Price: N/A, sample.
Color: Gold. Natural colour. Non-chill-filtered.
Nose: Sweet and creamy-fruity. Lots of yellow apples and pears, cantaloupe, tangerine, and some plum. Creamy vanilla, some almonds, and a bit of a floral note. Leafiness and a hint of oak.
Palate: Light texture. Arrives somewhat quietly, with a slow build to brioche, honey, and almonds, followed by hints and pineapple and chalk. Very sweet in the middle, with birthday cake (makes sense!), orange crème, and a tiny hint of oak.
Finish: Medium-length. Lingering vanilla, minerality, and lemon and grapefruit peels.
Possible SMWS bottling name: “Dr. Bill likes surprise parties”
Conclusion: It’s solid – pretty standard Glenmorangie, all things considered. There’s the typical creaminess, light malt, and fragrance, but with that extra hit of sweetness from the casks. A slightly better Nectar D’Or, maybe. I don’t think it’s particularly inspired or memorable, but it’s easy to drink and rather tasty.
Final Score: 80.
Next is the very cozy-looking A Tale of Winter. This one has been finished in Marsala casks, and is the only one of these with an age statement.
Glenmorangie A Tale of Winter.
Distillery: Glenmorangie.
Bottler: Official bottling.
Region: Highlands.
ABV: 46%.
Age: 13 years.
Cask type: Finished in Marsala casks.
Price: N/A, sample.
Color: Dark gold. Natural colour. Non-chill-filtered.
Nose: Much darker and sweeter than Cake. Lots of that earthy and marsala cask influence. Very raisiny, with cherries, plums, and raspberries supporting. Spicebox, milk chocolate, and slight leather.
Palate: Medium-light texture. Arrives with spiced apples, dried blueberries, milk chocolate, and sweet malt. Very winey as it develops, with loads of baking spice, some sweet oak, brown sugar, and more earthy hints.
Finish: Medium-length, a bit longer than cake. More rich dark sweet notes – rhubarb crumble, figs, cola syrup, and dark chocolate. Lingering cinnamon and ginger. Almost a sweet-smoky ham note here.
Possible SMWS bottling name: “Tucked into a spice bed”
Conclusion: This isn’t as much my in my preferred style as Cake was, but it’s good as well. I’m still not in love with marsala casks in general, but they certainly give this whisky loads of deep spice and fruit. I really like the finish on this one, especially compared to the two other whiskies in this flight. I’m not sure whether or not I like Cake better than this. An easy comparison for this whisky is that 1991 Grand Vintage, which is way worse and nearly 10 times the price.
Final Score: 79.
Finally, we have Tale of the Forest, easily the most interesting whisky of the trio to me, and the most divisive for whisky nerds at large. It has taken advantage of a rather starting omission from the legal regulations of scotch whisky: though it’s traditional (and ubiquitous) to kiln your malted barley with peat, there’s no regulation stating that that’s the only fuel source you can use. Glenmorangie has gone ahead and swapped the peat for a mix of botanicals, namely juniper berries, birch bark, and heather blossom. …Wait a minute, how do you smoke something with birch bark? That stuff doesn’t exactly smolder, so much as it violently bursts into flame.
Glenmorangie A Tale of the Forest.
Distillery: Glenmorangie.
Bottler: Official bottling.
Region: Highlands.
ABV: 46%.
Age: No age statement.
Cask type: Presumably ex-bourbon casks.
Price: N/A, sample.
Color: Light gold. Natural colour. Non-chill-filtered.
Nose: Wow, that’s different. Spicy smoke dominates. …it smells uncannily like the inside of my grandpa’s liquor cabinet. There’s that particular musty old paper note, as well as evaporated spirits (mostly Canadian whisky from the 70s) and the antique wood of the cabinet itself. I can get the birch and juniper for sure, as well as notes of thyme, celery, lemon zest, flamed fish skin, and some lapsang souchong. A hint of a bubblegum note.
Palate: Medium-light texture. Arrives with green fruit (banana, pear, underripe pineapple) and creamy vanilla, building rapidly to a savoury nuttiness and oily, ashy smoke. Lots of that burnt birch bark here, along with dusty leather and tobacco. A hint of sweet nougat underneath.
Finish: Medium-long, with lingering woodsmoke and odd savoury notes. That Glenmorangie creaminess sits underneath, alongside toasted wood notes and vanilla. It’s almost a cappuccino.
Possible SMWS bottling name: “Vacation house breakfast nook”
Conclusion: I’m shocked at how much I liked this. There’s a really interesting mix of flavours here. Despite the juniper, this tastes nothing like gin to me. It’s more like an ex-Islay-cask Ardmore (ashy smoke, herbs, mineral, greenness) with a bit of the woodsmoke and tart character of certain American single malts. It’s fascinating to drink, so much more memorable than the other two Tales, and pretty tasty to boot. If you’re ever tempted by that famous Glenmorangie Swamp Oak bottling, this will get you some of the way there.
Final Score: 81.
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.
Malt Runners 