GLENMORANGIE SHOWDOWN Glenmorangie 10 Glenmorangie 14 Quinta Ruban Port Cask Finish Glenmorangie 18 I was inspired to revisit some Glenmorangie following @DjangoJohnson’s review of the Glenmorangie 12 Lasanta Sherry Cask Finish a couple days ago. I don’t have a lot of experience with this producer, but I do have three bottles in my collection, so I decided to break those out. Glenmorangie 10 Color is a clear version of Pantone 130 (I have no affiliation with Pantone, but am using it in an attempt to achieve a little more visual precision). Muted nose (I came back to it 20 minutes later and it was still not showing; it reminds me of a wine in a “dumb” phase); I’d recalled honey and apricot but I’m not getting much of anything on the nose after a few minutes in the glass. The honey does show on the palate, with some glycerin mouthfeel. Vanilla commingles with some bitterness on the finish. Due to the “youthful” (for scotch whisky) 10-year age statement, I would not think this would be attributable to wood-sourced tannins. 43% ABV. Disappointingly simpler than I’d recalled; 3.0 on the Distiller scale—but a 3.0 that nevertheless I’d keep onhand. Glenmorangie 14 Quinta Ruban Port Cask Finish A crystal-clear Pantone 167 color; far darker than the 10-year-old expression, due to the aging in ruby port casks. Welcoming nose of chocolate covered cherries, candied ginger, brown sugar, and orange oil. Sweet palate entry, with a slightly viscous mouthfeel and dark caramelized sugar leading to a pleasant bitter note of café Cubano, dark orange, and white pepper on the medium-to-long finish. Typical 43% ABV very much kept in check. Non-chill filtered. 43% ABV. Wonderful, and better than I’d recalled. 4.0 on the Distiller scale. Glenmorangie 18 Pantone 138 in color. Nose emits braised peaches, white chocolate hazelnut cookies, cocoa, spearmint. Later, concord grape juice (a first for me). Sweet palate shows bittersweet chocolate and mulled apple cider. Some espresso bitterness on the finish, similar to the Quinta Ruban, along with some vanilla and lingering mild chiles. The bitterness, while pleasant, detracts from the smoothness often experienced with other 18-year-old whiskies. With air (more commonly stated when tasting wine), it does seem to acquire additional smoothness, and even sweetness. 43% ABV. Very nice, but not enough “wow” to break into the 4.0 class; 3.75 on the Distiller scale. The WOTN (whisky of the night) for me was the Quinta Ruban. Both the 10- and 18-year expressions showed worse than I’d remembered. But the wallet speaks the loudest: I’d definitely keep the Quinta Ruban on hand, as well as the 10-year; but I’m not sure about the 18. The gargantuan fancy packaging and “Extremely Rare” verbiage on that bottle is too suggestive, and amounts to more sizzle than steak. It has its merits, and is something of a “value” at around $120 for an 18-year-old whisky; certainly “nice to have,” but not a “must-have” (insofar as “must” is even applicable to a luxury such as a whisky collection). None of these are undesirable, and the Quinta Ruban is in fact quite desirable. N.B.: All spirits tasted neat in a Glencairn glass.