Glenmorangie X

Appearance: Pale golden hue, not unlike a medium IPA. Nose: Citrus! Orange peel stuck in my head once I noticed it; also present is fresh clementine, caramel candy, sweet orange candy. Palate: Light and subtle on the front palate, but the middle opens up with sweet orange candy and ripe stone fruit, plus caramel hard candies approaching the back palate. Perhaps also some more toasty wood and sweet oak underneath it all. Finish: Slight heat going down, but the vague medicinal finish takes over with more caramel candy, followed by something approaching tobacco. Overall: I’m no Scotch whisky expert, far from it, but this is tasty enough on its own. I can tell it would bring all the right flavors to any drink that calls for a single malt. Very mixable, if not just a tad light in body and proof to hold its own in a drink with many competing flavors. High marks in my book for its clearly intended purpose. Surprisingly tasty just to sip. 3.5 (Trying out a more abbreviated format for spirits outside my usual frame.)

Очень простой виски. Обычно используется в коктейлях, но и чистым он достаточно неплох. Очень базовый со вкусом ириски, ванили, сухофруктов.

Because I write long reviews, I feel like I start off a good many where I don't think I have a lot to say with the words, "This will be my shortest review ever." I feel like I want to start this one off that way, but we'll see. Glenmorangie X. A few things come to mind. Jason X was the Friday the 13th movie where they moved the setting to space and tried to switch it up because they'd run out of idea. Should have sucked, and it kind of does suck, only it's also kind of fun. It's better than a lot of 10th entries in a series deserve to be. But saying that, how many series get to X? Of course, this could have been the hip rebranding of the Glenmorangie 10. Glenmorangie X! Is that why they reversed the order and put X Glenmorangie on the bottle? Because they could get sued if they called it Glenmorangie X? It hasn't stopped the distiller listing from putting it that way, but on the bottle, it does say, X by Glenmorangie. "Made for Mixing." It even comes with a rubber banded to the bottle flip book of simple-minded mixing recipes. Like Scotch and tonic? Did we really need you to provide that as a recipe? So I guess this review isn't so short. Sue me! I see I'm not in the minority here when I read other reviews: why buy this at $36 when the 10 goes for $40, but of course, the 10 now goes for $45, but it also goes on sale for $40, so you just wait and you get it for the old SRP. But wait, this is for mixing and marketed as an entry level dram for those who don't go in for scotch? OK, but like, why not Monkey Shoulder? It's been a while since I've had Monkey Shoulder, but the profiles are similar in that they lean toward citrus and cream. So while I appreciate what they're trying to do, the only way I was going to buy this was the way I did: it went on clearance for 50% off, and I got it for $18.50. At $18.50, this is a steal. If Glenmorangie could find a way to sell this for $20, it would fly off the shelves! Why? Well, it's simple but it's tasty. The nose is oranges mashed with marshmallows. The palate is alcoholic creamsicle. The finish is a slightly astringent but nevertheless short lived graham cracker goodness. At 80 proof, it's thin with not much of a mouthfeel, but if it were $20, that wouldn't matter much. At $36, I can't help but feeling there are better ways to spend your money. At $20, this would punch at its weight. I haven't tried it in a mixed drink yet, like most of you, I judge the dram on its own merits, and are we missing the point? Well, when you mix mixing and single malt, you're crossing our wires. This was always a gamble. Did it pay off? I don't think so at SRP. This is a clearance whisky, through and through.