Glenmorangie Tayne

PRICE: $50-105. This is a 1L bottle typically found only for travel retail (Duty Free). I bought my bottle for 50 USD at Piarco International in Port-of-Spain, Trinadad and Tobago. Expect some mark up in secondary markets, and fancier Duty Free shops. INFO: Single malt Scotch whisky from the North Coastal Highlands. This has no age statement. I am guessing this takes young ex-bourbon matured Glenmorangie and finishes it in Spanish Amontillado sherry casks. Don’t be fooled: this is not exclusively sherry matured. Bottled at 43% ABV. NOSE: 73/100. Sweet and rich. Gingerbread, raisins, dark chocolate. Clashes with the clean, floral, fruity characteristic of typical Glenmorangie, which is still there. Some sawdust notes that I don’t like. PALATE: 57/100. First the good: chocolate sherry arrival. Then it falls apart. Deeeeez nuts! Almonds, walnuts, and so forth, but unpleasant and raw. And then there’s all these weird flavors like burnt caramel popcorn, and free DMV coffee. I don’t get it. This can’t decide if it wants to be sweet or dry. In the end, it’s trash. FINISH: 51/100. Yuck. A cacophonous assortment of bitter apples, milk chocolate, rotten limes, rotten eggs, generic spices, and maple syrup. Thankfully it doesn’t linger and dies a quick death. OVERALL: Why do I get suckered into travel retail exclusives that I can foresee are going to be terrible? Anytime you have the trinity of trash Scotch – NAS, TRE, and low ABV (less than 46%), you should not purchase it. But, but, but – I was thinking – one liter for $50? Can’t go wrong with that? And wrong I went. This is a beginner Scotch for those who do not nitpick bad flavor combinations, or bad flavors period; maybe for those who like Scotch on ice. And I left this in Trinidad with someone who drinks Scotch with Coke and ice – nothing wrong with that, but it’s not my style. If you want to have a sherried Glenmorangie, La Santa is easier to find and much better. If you think the tropical climate of Trinidad changed my experience of this Scotch, I bought Talisker 10 at the same shop. It tasted like Talisker 10, and I loved it. MARK: 61/100. VALUE FOR MONEY: I’ll drink it over poison (or Toki). But this bottle’s appropriate value for me is $0.