Glenmorangie Milsean

Stop number 8 on the SDT is Glenmorangie. I have had all 4 of their core range offerings; the Original 10 YO, Lasanta, Nectar D'Or, and one of my favorites, the Quinta Ruban. I enjoyed all four of these, let's see if the Milsean (pronounced mill-shun, which is Gaelic for "sweet things") can hold its own. This Highland single malt is a NAS, but I suspect it is in the 10-12 year old range. It is finished for two and a half years in Portuguese red wine barriques, not to be confused with Port wine. What's the difference? Glad you asked. Both are made using the same type of grapes, but port wine is a fortified wine, meaning it has brandy added to it to raise the ABV. This scotch comes in at 46% ABV, is non chill filtered and natural color of honey gold. The nose is rather light and subdued with a surprising alcohol presence on the first sniff. Nothing too bad, but more than expected for a Glenmorangie. Faint cotton candy and sugary toffee are the first real notes I detected. Flat cola comes in next. There is a definite bourbon type presence, but more like an empty glass after finishing a cheap bourbon. Some light stone fruits in there as well like apricots and nectarines. Really a weak nose and not too exciting. The palate could not be any different than the nose. Incredible how intense and robust it is after struggling with the scents. Spicy at first, a spice that really intensifies in the first few seconds on the tongue. After swallowing the spice quickly changes to a fruity sweetness. Wonderful fruit juices like mango, plums and sugary grapefruit. Some light alcohol harshness on the back end but nothing to really detract from the experience. I don't want these tastes to end! Sadly they do end, and somewhat abruptly. The finish is fairly short. Dry but sweet and a bit spicy. The mouthfeel is lightly oily and a little creamy and quite mouthwatering. This is much like the Nectar D'Or in that the palate is much more intense and interesting than the nose, however the nose on this Milsean is weaker. Tough to score this one. 3 for the nose, nice but weak. 2.75 for the finish, too short but otherwise good. 4.25 for the palate, intense and unexpectedly fruity. 3.5 overall. Although if I were to factor in the price ($100 locally) I would drop it down to 3.25. A big thanks to Pranay for this and the other two samples he provided for round one of the Scotch Distillery Tour. Cheers

Whiskey club, March 2017

Cloyingly sweet. Aftertaste of artificial sweetener. Grateful to Pranay for the sample but sadly it confirmed my suspicion that it would be too sweet for my taste.

Mild med kant, sherry

Nose - Sweet candied apples, honey toasted granola, candied ginger and orange peels, creme brulee crisp topping. Taste - Sweet candied apple shell, rock candy ginger and orange peels, toasted and sugared peaches/nectarines, faint apple peel/seed bitterness at the end. Finish - Lingering peach/nectarine sweetness mixes and lingers with the apple seed/skin bitterness. Candied ginger spiciness lingers followed with a tiny bit of bitter oak. Score - 76/100 Final Thoughts - This definitely had a nice nose, nice toasted sugar notes as if you could smell someone making creme brulee or a toasted/burnt sugar topped peach/nectarine. The taste on the palate matches the nose except that like my previous experience with Glenmorangie, I get this apple seed/peel bitterness that kind of pops out at you. Finish is pretty pleasant, minus the lingering bitterness. I'd say this is more of a dessert dram paired with a fruit pie or cobbler, or creme brulee.