Jose-Massu-Espinel
Glenmorangie X
Single Malt — Highlands, Scotland
Reviewed
July 5, 2022 (edited May 27, 2023)
A single malt, "made for mixing"?
We all know that Glenmorangie has this scientific craving, where they try a lot of cask maturations, roasted barleys, outter-space maturation and NFTs. One of their craziest statements is this Glenmorangie "X", which is intended to end in cocktails around the world.
Not very expensive, ready to be served with a mountain of ice in a nightclub, i had to review it, and of course i did it neat, as the Gods of whisky demand. Bottled at 40%abv, Amber color.
On the nose, it starts with a peachy syrup, cotton candy and pineapple. Corn flakes, bananas and fruit salad. Milk chocolate. Not bad.
On the palate, it is not your best dram. Pineapple, peaches, milk with sugar. The tropical orange notes from any Glenmo' are here. Hay has appeared.
Aftertaste is where it falls apart. Spicy pepper, salty, very dry and short.
Overall, i get how this one can make a great cocktail, and i also see why they are not selling you this single malt to be drunk neat. It is an under the average whisky, not bad, and better than most spirits that are used in cocktails. Cheap and easy drinkable, my score for it is 76 over 100.
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@cascode if they ever create a blended malt from ardbeg and Glenmo, i would buy it!
@Ctrexman i agree, but the 10 original is better
@Ctrexman I just looked - the difference in price here is a little over 3 dollars.
@cascode this one baffled me. Why would a single malt put their name on a bottle meant for blending? The average person who uses whisky for blending into cocktails probably doesn’t reach for a Glenmo.
@Ctrexman Glenmorangie 10 is a little more expensive here - the standard price is AUD$85 as compared $70 for the "X". However both are often on special with the 10 selling for $75 and the X for $60. I picked it up today for $55, which is less than any blended malt. I take your point, however - in terms of neat drinking the 10 has better balance but I'd still score them similarly.
Ha! Coincidence – I bought a bottle of this on the way home from work. Review incoming in a few days when I get to know it better, but I suspect I’ll be giving it something like 3 stars. This stuff makes perfect sense if you think about it. Moet Hennessy likes to have a product in every market, but they had no middle-shelf blended malt, which is a class that has grown exponentially over the last 5 years. They only own two distilleries (Ardbeg and Glenmorangie) so they did not have the capability to create a blended malt. Instead Bill Lumsden was obviously tasked with creating a malt that would compete directly against Monkey Shoulder, Naked Grouse, Copper Dog, Sheep Dip and the like. The sweet profile will create distinctively sweet cocktails and it has the cachet of being a single malt. Pretty clever, really.
Glenmo 10 is not much more which can easily be enjoyed neat and of course be mixed so this is just marketing bullshit for the most part