Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban 12 Year

Wonderful nose, smells like a blend of sherry and port, port in the front, sherry in the background. I can taste the port, but it is balanced by smoke. Quite spicy with a fairly long finish - smoke, black pepper, port, with a bit of dry wood hiding in the back. Lemon zest pops up along the way. A little bit of tannin, but it's surrounded and smoothed over with so many other flavors. Just a faint hint of green apple at the end.

The nose was originally a Riesling. I thought of a delicious white wine. On second smell I got apricot and cherry, but not overly much. The palette was a little oily at first but the barley was strong and really made this delicious. I like the finish it's sweet but not overly sweet.

Color has a slight pinkish hue. Aroma is quite nice with lots of fruits and some toffee. Has slight hints of fruit, but taste is much more bland than I expected. The finish is quite nice with oak and vanilla notes. Some water enhances the sweetness and brings in some hints of smoke.

Pleasantly smokey, much more than I expected. I can taste the port, but it's nicely blended, it doesn't dominate or overpower like port often does - it really works here, it's balanced by the smoke. This whiskey is much spicier than I expected, I get a nice warm pepper. There is a sweet center, it has some port, but something else I can't quite put my finger on. A little dark chocolate in the finish, a bit of wood, but not too much. It's nice and oily. Raisins toward the end. This is MUCH better than I expected, it's been years since I had Glenmorangie, and I felt that it was average - nice, but it didn't stand out. Well, this stands out!

Wonderful aromas and flavours