Glenmorangie 23 Year Old – Dr Bill Lumsden X Azuma Makoto – Hard To Find Whisky News
DR BILL LUMSDEN X AZUMA MAKOTO
23 YEARS OLD
70cl | 46% ABV
This rich, elemental, and extraordinarily rare limited edition is born from a partnership between Glenmorangie’s Director of Whisky Creation, Dr Bill Lumsden, and Japanese botanical artist, Azuma Makoto.
With such a whisky in mind, Dr Bill first tasted Glenmorangie long aging in bourbon casks where he found scents of jasmine sprigs, lemon balsam, armfuls of orchids and peaches fresh from the tree. Then imagining how he would ground those flavours in the depths of deliciousness, Dr Bill picked out his first ever malt finished in Chardonnay white wine casks from Burgundy. Before 2006, such casks had never been used at Glenmorangie. That year, fascinated to discover how their wood might shape Glenmorangie, he had filled a small handful with aged whisky. Long finished in this way, his experimental casks revealed notes of burning oak bark, moss dampened by rainfall and the earthy scents of the forest floor.
£1049.95
TASTING NOTES:
NOSE: Rich, heady, pungent and fragrant. A burst of syrupy fruits (peach, pineapple, damson and plum), followed by some more savoury notes like burning oak bark, roasting chestnuts, baking sourdough and some hints of the forest floor. Water releases some herbal and floral notes with a touch of scented incense, aromatic orchids and even some grapey, vinous notes.
TASTE: Rich, sweet and fruity, with an almost waxy mouthfeel. There are flavours of lemon balsam, honeycomb, poached pears with a dusting of cocoa powder, followed by some gentle woody/balsamic notes.
FINISH: The aftertaste is lingering and mellow, with hints of eucalyptus, lemon and toasty oak.
