Last year, this Glenmorangie was announced as an ‘exquisite recreation of Glenmorangie based on a recipe dating back to 1903’. Let us face it: that sounds very exclusive (and sets off my ‘premiumisation’ alert). It is slighty peated, even, like Glenmorangie was made at the end of the 19th Century (really?). I tasted it last year at a festival in Belgium and brought home a sample to retry it today.
The nose is definitely a far cry from anything Glenmo I have tried before. It has a lot of depth and is rather dry. Almond paste, camphor, roasted nuts, chicory. Is this even Glenmorangie? What a disguise! Leather, white pepper and a touch of caramel. White chocolate. And peat? Well, maybe. With some good will. Be that as it may, this is a very atypical but rather enticing nose!
The attack is creamy and round. Very feisty now, with a whole mixed bag of peppers (you know, like the little flask that allows you to mill yourself, containing white, red and black peppers) and ginger. Some orange marmalade, touch of bitterness and something sharp. Like lemon eau-de-vie. Something dusty also, that transports me to the attic.
The finish is medium in length and drying, with an emphasis on ginger.
The nose was outstanding, the palate more or less ok. All in all a rather unusual, but pleasant Glenmorangie. The name Finealta, by the way, is Gaelic for ‘Elegant’. It will set you back about 70 EUR though, which I find somewhat expensive.
This quite closely matches my first impression after finally getting my hands on some. Thanks for this review; my review will come but probably not add too much more!