cascode
Glenmorangie Signet
Single Malt — Highlands, Scotland
Reviewed
September 14, 2020 (edited November 17, 2021)
Nose: Spiced orange (not unlike an orange pomander ball), espresso coffee, pleasantly deep oak notes reminiscent of polished wooden dressers. Over time in the glass it gains body and as the bottle level drops and the whisky oxidizes the nose gains further woody notes and a definite sherry presence. There is an aromatic almost incense or perfume-like note that took me ages to pin down. It's freshly grated nutmeg. Adding water emphasizes the orange and nutmeg notes considerably. [Weirdly, on the dry glass I smell oil-paint. That smell of linseed oil you get when walking into a gallery that is showing recently finished artworks. There is an accompanying note of coffee, like the cold dregs of a cappuccino].
Palate: Spicy dark fruits, espresso and ginger lead the way on the arrival. The development sees a definite dark chocolate note emerge together with some cinnamon, and cocoa persists through into the aftertaste. There are also grassy and herbal flavours - mint, licorice and mustard - and the profile is woody and grassy throughout. The texture is good, with a light creaminess. There is a sweet foundation to the palate that is hidden on first tasting, but with each subsequent sip you sense it more. Adding water softens the overall presentation, but does not markedly change the character.
Finish: Medium. Ginger, a hint of vanilla, unsweetened cocoa, and mild oak tannin. The aftertaste is dry with little waves of mocha and oak.
A pleasant nose that only fails for me in that it seems somehow "over-polished". I prefer my whisky to be a little less engineered, but this is still very good. The palate has complexity and an interesting balance between spicy/sweet and bitter/dry. It is equal to the nose but again seems calculated and does not hold my attention or excite me.
I certainly don't hate this whisky, on the contrary it is good, but I did feel a bit underwhelmed by it on first tasting and time has not changed that impression. I can't gather the enthusiasm to describe it as "very good" and the official rating here seems a little inflated to me.
In the final analysis this is a good, but overpriced and over-hyped highland whisky. I paid AUS$180 for this a few years ago but now it is up to $240, and even at the original price I can think of many expressions I would prefer to buy. I won't be replacing this bottle when it is finished.
"Good" : 84/100 (3.75 stars)
180.0
AUD
per
Bottle
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@cascode That's really interesting! I would have thought that by now distillation would be a substantial enough industry to convince somebody to produce more traditional malt whiskey ingredients. I've noticed a lot of American single malts using brewer's yeast, but I assumed that was a stylistic choice. It's unfortunate that Australian distilleries don't have more options available to them, but it's very cool that this local whiskey style has emerged as a result!
@ContemplativeFox Our whisky industry is young and small and there is limited support for it from local maltsters, yeast cultivators, cooperages, etc. because distillation is economically insignificant here in comparison to beer and wine production. Distillers must use what they can get, so that often means lightly toasted brewer’s malt and dried brewer’s yeast. Even the artisanal maltsters with traditional malting floors that have appeared recently are producing brewers’ malt, not distiller’s malt. Some of the larger distilleries have been importing malted grain from Simpsons and Bairds in the UK, and when they do it is generally peated because no-one in Australia is producing proper peat-dried malt. It has inadvertently led to a domestic whisky style that is generally quite hefty and robust, particularly when maturation is done in fresh apera (sherry) and tawny (port) barrels bought from local wineries, which is a common practice. A good deal of Australian whisky is half-way between a sherried Speyside and a soft rye in character, but there are also many that are more akin to a bourbon-matured highland whisky.
I really liked this one, but I can definitely understand your complaint about it being over-engineered. It isn't a great choice in terms of value, but I found it to be unique and quite a nice sipper. I wasn't aware that roasted malt was so common in Australia though! You're quite right that the uniqueness here is deliberately achieved through machinations that are unusual for scotch. Now I want to try some Australian malts and compare :)
@CKarmios Dammit! You're right! And the stopper alone weighs about 200g and would make an awesome paperweight - or a weapon of mass destruction, if properly propelled 😁
@cascode @cascode Yes but you’re forgetting the free table lamp base. ;-)
@CKarmios When I look at my tasting notes yes it does read like an unusual profile, but when I'm sitting back with a dram just chilling and sipping it seems *really* generic. Its novelty is the use of a small amount of chocolate-malt, of course, which gives it the coffee characteristics. However while roasted malt is hardly ever used by Scottish distillers it's commonplace in Australia. Most of our local whisky is made with up to 100% brewers' malt, sometimes with high roasts, so it seems very familiar to my palate. Yikes, 180Euro - that's about AUS$280 at current exchange rates - just the price of a bottle of Springbank 18 out here. Hmm. For that matter I could buy a Springbank 10, a Talisker 10 and an Ardbeg 10 for the same. See ya later Signet, don't let the door hit you on the way out.
Retails for €170 here. From your description I gather it presents quite the unusual whisky profile. That bottle would make for a nice table lamp base too.