Every year since 2010, Glenmorangie’s ever inventive master distiller Bill Lumsden has been enthralling us with his annual Private Edition release, a special expiremental bottling of Glenmorangie matured in special casks selected by Bill.
Over the last few years we have seen an astonishing variety of whiskies from the Private Edition series, from the peated (!) Glenmorangie Finealta to the Glenmorangie Ealanta, a 19 year old vintage from 1993 matured exclusively in virgin American oak casks, which Jim Murray promptly crowned best whisky in the world in his Whisky Bible 2014.
Bill decided to name this year’s Private Edition Milsean (pronounced “meel-shawn” and means “sweet things” in Gaelic), as the inspiration for the whisky was his childhood memories of sweet shops – even the bottle label is modelled on the old striped sweet bags. After an initial maturation in bourbon casks, the whisky was transferred to Portuguese red wine casks, which Bill unusually heavily charred without scraping the barrels in order to maximise the rich sweet notes from the caramelised wood sugars. After around two and a half years, the casks were married for a final six month maturation period and then bottled at 46% ABV and non-chill filtered.
The result is a superb single malt with an enthralling bouquet of ripe oranges, lemon sherbet and fudge. On the palate there is a delightful balance of sweet and spice with flavours of cherry, plums, grapefruit, lemon sherbet, coconut and ginger. An absolutely delightful whisky and a perfect treat for Easter!
Glenmorangie Milsean is available from both our shops while stocks last for £85.
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