Glenmorangie Signet

By Barry Bradford on August 30, 2014 • ( Leave a comment )

Glenmorangie Signet (46%, OB, White Oak & Oloroso Finish, 2008)

46% ABV,
£125
Score: 90/100

What they say:

A fusion of unique and rare elements, and clouded in secrecy, Signet is the culmination of a lifetime’s experience. A blend of our oldest whisky – distilled over thirty years ago when malting still occurred on site – and spirit matured in a selection of the world’s finest casks, this undoubtedly is the richest whisky in our range. Of course, whilst the exact secrets of its production are known only to our whisky creators, we can tell you that Signet’s melting sweetness and explosive spiciness is, at least in part, caused by our unique roasted ‘chocolate’ barley malt and the ‘designer casks’ made bespoke for Glenmorangie from American white oak. Non chill-filtered

Tasting Notes

Aroma: A strong Aruba espresso fused with a treacly plum pudding, rich with sherry, and candied orange peel.

Taste: A contrast of rich sweetness with an explosive crackle of sizzling spices and bitter mocha.

Finish: A fresh spring-like breeze of mint with a bright citrus lemony-green quality.

What I say:

So on the 21st August 2014 TheWhiskyphiles.com was officially 1 year old. Unfortunately as the main protagonist of the blog I was incumbent at the Scottish Immunology Group meeting in St. Andrews for a couple of days and unable to celebrate our blog birthday in true whiskystyle. To make up for this and for several other more spurious reasons (such as visiting Royal Mile Whiskies to offload my Whisky Fringe £10 off voucher before it expired), Mrs (actually Miss!) Whiskyphiles decided to make good on her promise to return us to Michael Neave’s Kitchen and Whisky Bar (scene of The Edinburgh Whisky Blog 5th Birthday Bash). After a truly fantastic meal I opted for something from the whisky list for dessert (a habit I am rapidly becoming accustomed to!). I opted for the Glenmorangie Signet – a bottle I am unlikely ever to buy due to its super-£100 price tag (~ £125 at current reckoning). Reportedly constructed from some casks aged over 30 years, distilled at a time when floor-maltings still took place at Glenmorangie, and including some whisky distilled from roasted chocolate malt (a method more commonly used in the brewing industry), mixed together with some rather unusual and mysterious cask maturations. Perhaps this should have been named the Glenmorangie Enigma…

Colour:

Full coppery gold

Nose:

Heather and orange blossom honey, chocolate coated cinder toffee, Terry’s dark chocolate orange, fresh pine wood shavings

Taste:

Silky smooth molten toffee butter, heather honey, ginger and orange marmalade, cinnamon, candied peel, brandy butter and Scottish tablet

Finish:

Long sweet oak and honey

Would I buy it:

By the dram again probably yes, a whole bottle sadly not at this price. Really very little to gripe about with this whisky (other than the price). This ticked all boxes and rang all bells. Complex but well-constructed and so infinitely drinkable, almost far too easily-drinkable it made my wallet twitch. An interesting experiment this delivers oodles of chocolate and signature Glenmorangie flavours with only a hint of possibly virgin oak casks? The end result was a perfect dessert and matched beautifully with a small selection of sweet treats and chocolates including tablet and dark chocolate mint crisp – the sort of attention to detail we just love in our food and drink here at TheWhiskyphiles.com! Happy Birthday to us.