- Glenmorangie releases oldest whisky ever at $36,000
- 50-year-old single malt limited to 149 bottles
- Available through Moët Hennessy private client team
- Ceramic vessels handcrafted by Peter Pincus
- Distilled in mid-1970s from last floor maltings
Glenmorangie has released its oldest whisky ever a 50-year-old single malt limited to 149 bottles each housed in a hand-crafted ceramic vessel and priced at $36,000 (€30,780). The spirit is available only through Moët Hennessy’s private client team or at Glenmorangie’s distillery visitor centre in Tain a historic town in the Scottish Highlands. The story of the rare liquid dates back to the mid-1970s and some of the last batches of barley malted on Glenmorangie’s own floor maltings before they closed in 1977. This barley was distilled in tall copper stills and matured in bourbon hogshead casks and first-fill Oloroso sherry butts.
When Dr Bill Lumsden joined Glenmorangie as distillery manager in 1995 it had already been aging for two decades. He set out to sample as much of the stock as he could and identified a very few parcels that he thought could push the boundaries of typical aging. Although he was not looking to create a 50-year-old whisky Lumsden decided to experiment. In 1999 he honed in on a batch of whisky aged in bourbon casks and another smaller portion in sherry butts and combined the two in a refill hogshead barrel. Fast-forward to today 50 years after it was laid down and Lumsden decided it was finally ready to drink.
Given its scarcity the whisky was not sampled but Lumsden describes it as a whisky with a lot of flavour. It has a slightly oily and spicy mouthfeel with some of classic Glenmorangie’s delicacy but also unusual notes such as stewed Assam tea leaves birch tar and cinnamon. The sherry influence brings juicy sun-dried sultanas honeyed notes and a bit of meat. The vessel the whisky is presented in is as distinctive as the spirit itself. American ceramic artist Peter Pincus along with his partner Laurie Pincus spent 1,000 days handcrafting the 149 ceramic vessels.
