Glenmorangie Singel Malt Scotch 1977

This rare limited bottling of Glenmorangie has the most distinctive rich aroma of any Glenmorangie ever produced. Glenmorangie new spirit was first laid down in 1977 in American oak barrels and left to mature slowly. The result is a serioulsy exceptional malt~beautiful on the nose and balanced on the palate with a rich oakiness at the finish and a delightful thread of smoke meandering throughout. Tasting Notes Nose: Revels in the Glenmorangie style of delicacy and complexity entwined. Here, though, there is much more oak to the fore giving a big vanilla, almost custardy, depth. Just a sprinkling of pepper, hints of a touch of smoke and soft peats. Essentially a dry nose but subtly countered by an occasional glimpse of something grassy, fresh and sweet-not a character you might expect of a whisky at this age. Taste: Teasingly sweet from the start with a fabulously intense maltiness. The oak cuts in quite fast but that enormous maltiness, crisp and deliciously clean, holds its own throughout. Hints of barley sugar and toffee apple again point towards age but something less than 21 years. Finish: The oak is dry but it is the exceptionally clean barley and even perhaps a lingering trace of smoke which holds sway. The finale is sturdy, attractive and decliciously more-ish with the most tantalising hints of smoke and spice seeming to linger to the very last. Because of the great age, the complexity of the incredibly beautiful nose evens out to a beautifully balanced taste on the palate. At 43% abv the oak is curiously intense in this genuinely delicious whisky and remains strongly evident to the finish. Few Highland malts can offer so much at this age.