Glenmorangie The Cadboll Estate 15 Year (Batch #1)

Glenmorangie is known for their wood finishes, and they always tend to release a lot of special bottlings for the travel retail market, which of course are not the best the distillery can offer. Recently i have tasted the Cadboll, which wss a fairly good dram, nothing to die for; and when i got to visit the distillery on may of this year i was offered a new Cadboll expression, now with a 15yo statement. A 1 litre decanter, at 43%abv. On the nose, it starts with a vanilla spongy cake, lemon pie. Citric lemon notes, almonds and barley. On the palate, a dim orange flavored water, hints of vanilla, very delicate. Ginger. It is very gentle really; lots of orange notes, orange peel. Aftertaste is sweet. Vainilla cookies, ginger and a dim hazelnut. Overall, i believe this has improved in elegance. It is a very gentle dram, but way too "nice" for my palate. I am more inclined in other type of whiskies, and i love other expressions from this distillery, which i find a lot more tasting and aroma notes. My score for this one is 81 over 100. Not the best "Glenmo" out there, not a bad one either.

I'm going to start this off with admitting I'm a huge fan of Glenmorangie in general. So I have a pro-Morangie bias. The 10 is one of the best budget/intro scotches out there. The Lasanta is a beautiful 12 year that, last I checked is still going for around the $50 mark. The 14 year, that Quinta Ruban is only $65, and I hear good things about the 18, though I have yet to partake. The Cadboll 15 was on my wishlist and I was totally willing to purchase a 15 Year at $90, but then lo and behold it appeared as part of our state's 50% of clearance so I was able to score it for $44.50. Yeah, you read that right. $44.50. So even if it didn't live up to some of the hype I've read on the nets here, it really was a no brainer. The nose is apricots and vanilla straight off with a touch of honey. There's a touch of strawberry and lemon in the background. It's a light touch. Not overwhelming. It's overall delicate, fruity and floral. The palate continues the honeyed apricots present on the nose and adds a bit of white pepper spice that lingers into the finish. There's a touch of nutiness and graham cracker mingling in there as well. Overall, I prefer it to the Quinta 14, though the Quinta 14 is solid and a deal at the price it goes for (and I'm giving them the same rating because this edges it out slightly but not enough to go 4.5). Obviously this is worlds elevated from the 10 and even the Lasanta 12, which is my go-to Glenmorangie. It's actually not a bad scotch to give someone if you were trying to cultivate in them an interest in scotch in that it builds its complexity out of the fairly standard Glenmorangie 10 profile. It's like an elevated version of that. Having nabbed this at $44.50 it's a steal. I wouldn't have minded paying $90. It lives up to that price, and I'd be interested in future expressions of this range (I know they released a Batch 2; have they released a 3rd?). With football season over, I decided to host a game night at my place to make sure family is coming together for events in the offseason, and next week, my dad and my brother-in-law will be coming over for that. Honestly, I can't wait to share this with them. I'm hoping they like it just as much as I do. Now I'm wondering, why have I never bothered with their Nectar D'Or?

I am definitely a Glenmorangie fan but this one was a little disappointing for me. It sounds great on paper but its whar ends up in the glass that counts. Its nice but definitely not worth the price tag. It lacks that true Glenmo flavor and nuttiness that I enjoy. Would rather grab a different Glenmo for the price.