Tag Archives: Oloroso Finish

Glenmorangie Signet (46%, OB, White Oak, Oloroso Sherry Finish, Circa 2012)

I never was a big fan of Glenmorangie. Early on in my explorations of Single Malt Whisky I came across the litre bottle of the 10yo. Good value, looked great. Wow a litre bottle even. I didn’t like it. I had bought some other expressions but when I had the chance to taste them elsewhere I was quick to sell them off. Never regretted it since and in fact never came across a Glenmorangie I really liked. Well one I did like, a 30yo 1972/2004. Rare stuff. Ten years I didn’t look back and never got interested in Glenmorangie again. Just one of those malts that didn’t suit my tastes I thought. Recently I got a sample of the extremely rare 18yo and yes, that one was so nice and drinkable that I got myself a bottle of that. Great golden box too. If you ever going to bury a small pet, look no further than Glenmorangie 18yo. After that I accidentally had a blind tasting of the new 10yo and again didn’t like it. Back to the Whisky. Glenmorangie’s Dr. Bill (Not Dr. Phil) was experimenting a lot at Glen Moray, and when all lessons were learned, Glen Moray got obsolete (and sold off). Maybe not entirely for that reason. Glenmorangie started to churn out great designer Malts. Maybe not the 18yo, which still has an age statement and is more old school I guess, but probably true for this Signet. Just look at the design of the packaging here! Signet is a NAS Whisky and besides the white oak and the Oloroso finish, is known for the usage of heavily roasted chocolate malt. Glenmorangie SignetColor: Light copper gold. Nose: Malty and fresh. Citrus lemonade with a burnt caramel twist. Fruity and very likeable. Am I going to be surprised with another decent Glenmorangie? The white oak is discernible, but not very up front. Also some toasted wood, or maybe the toast comes from the chocolate malt? The white oak is masked just like the peat in good old Laphroaig 10yo was masking the heavy sweetness of the Malt. The masking agent in this Glenmorangie being sweet-smelling Oloroso Sherry. I have to say it is what you would expect considering “the ingredients”. Well crafted stuff. I hope this is what it is by design then and not trial and error at Glen Moray. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. Taste: Sweet Sherry, petrol and nice warming wood. Fresh untreated oak (not the toasted oak from the nose). Vanilla creaminess grows stronger in the finish and has great staying power, where the body seemed to be light at first. Silky burnt notes or silky tannins, are accumulating in my cheeks and are a pretty nice complement to the creaminess. Better finish even as the 18yo, which should have been bottled at 46% too. Both the nose and the taste are nice and both are about aroma. However if you are looking for development and/or complexity, not the case. You quickly understand how this Malt tastes and that’s where it stays. probably the reason this is a NAS bottling. Don’t get me wrong, Dr. Bill did a great job making this, designing this Whisky. It is really good and a must try if you get the chance. Its different from the 18yo and twice the price. I hope one day a Signet with more age will see the light of day. A version with more complexity and foremost more development in the glass.

Points: 88

Tomatin 18yo (46%, OB, Oloroso Finish)

This is number three in Tomatin’s true affordable core range. If you’re new to Tomatin and don’t want to break the bank, Tomatin offers you the 12yo, 15yo and this 18yo. This 18yo is matured in Refill Bourbon Barrels and finished in Oloroso Butts (and maybe even some Puncheons and/or Hogsheads, who knows). A Oloroso Sherry cask used to be thé cask to age your whisky in, but here the whisky was only finished in Oloroso casks.

Color: Gold with a slight pinkish hue.

Nose: Full, creamy and fruity. Immediately very likeable. New oak, and the typical tropical fruit is here again! Forget about tomatoes, Tomatin is all about tropical fruits! After some breathing, notes of licorice whiff by, a little bit of toast and maybe even a slight hint of tar. Hard powdered candy is in there too.

Taste: Fruity and creamy, with mocha or milk chocolate even. The wood is in here, and it is a little bit sour. Powdered coffee creamer. A little bite from the Oloroso cask. Sweet. The Oloroso is pretty up front and reminds me a bit of A’bunadh. Long finish that tends to be dry, so maybe some hidden wood influence in there.

Again Tomatin have made a quality Whisky that is balanced and dangerously drinkable. The influence from the Oloroso Butts keep you from drinking the whole bottle when playing cards. For me, going up the range from the 12yo to the 15yo and the 18yo, it gradually gets better. Although we know the 15yo has big fans too. I’ll have to wait untill I get my hand on some of the 15yo. When I did a head to head between this 18yo and the deleted 25yo, the 18yo has some harsh tones, which isn’t the case when I taste the 18yo on its own. Again the 25yo is great and very smooth, and will be missed. Get one as long as they are still around, because soon only the 15yo will be a true Bourbon matured Tomatin. Obviously there are a lot of single Bourbon Cask Tomatin’s around. From independents, but also from the distillery itself. On its own this 18yo is a great Whisky, especially considering it’s price. Well done (again).

Points: 87

Thanks go out (again) to Erik for the sample.