Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban 12 Year

Nose - Chocolate covered raisins, dried dark stone fruits, hint of orange zest. Taste - Cinnamon & anise mulled red wine with dark fleshed stone fruits, dark raisins, moist spiced cake, hint of black/white pepper spice. Finish - Lingering pepper spice, dark stone fruit sweet, light citrusty pith bitterness. Score - 85/100 Final Thoughts - Of the Glenmorangies that I have tried to date, I think this is my favorite so far. The port finish seems powerful enough to overcome the weird unpleasant Glenmorangie bitterness that I usually get. It's still present in this one but I think it seems to work with the port finished flavors. Maybe the chill filtering of the others creates the weird bitterness that I don't get in this offering. Maybe I just like the chocolate & dark dried stone fruit flavor enough that I can look past the bitterness? Who knows, but I wouldn't mind having this bottle on my shelf as a regular.

Port being my favorite fortified wine, I was fairly confident I would enjoy this scotch. Its aromas are heavenly and present a nice array of dessert scents, including (as expected) port, glazed donut, marzipan, and peach cobbler. The palate is a bit of a letdown because it's almost too easy drinking, if that makes any sense. It feels a smidgen too gentle and thin, and it's hard to believe it's 46%. This is a real dessert scotch, with light vanilla, cream, and a fresh fruit taste (as opposed to the stewed or dried fruit flavors characteristic of sherry aging). The finish is sweet honey, syrup, and a hint of baking spices. This scotch is similar to, perhaps a slightly better version of, Balvenie DoubleWood.