Glenmorangie A Tale of Cake

The newest Glenmorangie is quite the experiment, is this "A Tale of Cake", which was made by Dr. Bill Lumsden after getting the idea from his daughter when having a pineapple cake. Pretty interesting story, but, is it good? Bottled at 46%abv, golden color. Matured in bourbon barrels and finished in Tokaji wine casks from Hungary, which is a very sweet wine. Ok, let's talk about this dram: it is a Pineapple. Thank you very much, that is my review on it. Lol. On the nose IT IS AN ACTUAL CAKE. Starts with pineapple pulp, Oily amd lots of Vanilla. Cherry syrup. It actually smells like cake; A dry vanilla cake. After a couple minutes, there you have the inner part made of dulce de leche of any vanilla cake. Everything is delivered perfectly om the nose, No alcohol note. If you were smelling it blindfolded, you would believe it is a cake you are nosing. It has become exactly a three milk cake. The pineapple you nose, is that typical Glenmorangie pineapple. Really something amazing. On the palate it is pretty much the original 10yo with a prolongued peppery spiciness and a hint of vanilla, maybe due to the higher abv. Lots of pineapple juice. I am writing this while holding the first sip in my mouth; you can have it forever, it is harmless. Second sip is more about toffee and dulce de leche with the pepper rising after 4 seconds. Still some pineapple present. Very white winey. Finish has a grassy tobacco dry note, but leaves you some cloying effect that resembles eating something rather sweet. A little citric and dusty. Maybe sider or some apple liquor. Feels a little young on the finish. Overall, this whisky has an amazing aroma, that actually delivers the promise of a Cake. The palate is very easy drinkable but way too similar to the Glenmorangie original. Finish feels different when comparing it to the nose and palate. It is like having an enhanced 10yo Glenmorangie (this can also be said about almost every other expression from this distillery). My score for it is a good 88 over 100. You must definitively try it, but i doubt you will buy more than one bottle of it, since there is a lot to see in the whisky world and this one is interesting but not memorable.

Medium deep golden brilliant colour. Round and quite intense aroma of vanilla wafers and wood lacquer. Burnt barley and spicy curd. Sweet, but woody aroma. Soft attack with a touch of sweetness and vanilla. Followed by great warmth and some firmness. The notes of cream cake become apparent in the second sniff. Approachable and well rounded with good identify, but lacking in the middle and some length at this price point.

(WoodWinters Glenmorangie/Ardbeg Online Zoom tasting, 9th December 2020. Hosted by Brendan McCarron, Head of Maturing Whisky Stocks at Glenmorangie). Nose: Vanilla, citrus, syrup. There is a hint of Victoria sponge about the nose! Palate: Citrus, quite tart. Vanilla, white chocolate, nutty/marzipan, salt & butter, dark dried fruit. Finish: Long, pleasantly bitter finish. Citrus, light fruit, pastry. A little woody. Overall, a clean, salty and biscuity dram. Sours on the aftertaste, but with the residual sweetness it's very pleasant for it! Water adds more bright fruit notes. It does make it less complex and adds some wood at the very end, The spirit is their standard 10y/o which is then finished 'for a number of years' on Tokaji casks. I was a bit wary of this whisky. I didn't like the 'Cake' branding as I expected it to be much sweeter than it actually is. This is a lovely dram. The casks are from Royal Tokajo barriques from a range of different vintages (mostly 225L, with some 300L).