Glenmorangie Unveils Moscatel-Matured Whisky Exclusively For New Zealand And Australia

Glenmorangie has released a Moscatel-matured single malt whisky exclusively for whisky drinkers in New Zealand and Australia, with no release planned for the rest of the world.

The whisky, Glenmorangie 13 Year Old Moscatel Cask, was produced in partnership with The Whisky Club and will only be available to Club Members.

The expression was created by Director of Distilling, Whisky Creation & Whisky Stocks Dr Bill Lumsden, seven-time World’s Best Master Distiller and one of the most influential figures in modern Scotch whisky. To create the whisky, Dr Lumsden selected a previously secret parcel of casks comprising the first dessert wine Moscatel casks ever filled at the distillery.

Distilled in 2009, the tiny parcel of dessert Moscatel casks existed only as a one-off part of a pilot program to evolve and deepen the acclaimed Nectar d’Or recipe (now the 16 year old The Nectar). The barrels were deemed a success and allowed to age on to reach their full potential.

After a seven-year secondary maturation in those Moscatel casks, Dr Bill has delivered a whisky where the majority of the expression is pushing 16 years old, despite the label saying 13.

“What you have here is the original prototype and the original experiment,” said Dr Lumsden.

“Instantly there’s a lot of fruit in there, there’s the syrupy sweetness but there’s also a little bit of structure there from the French oak that these barrels are made out of.”

It has been bottled non-chill filtered, with no added colour, at 48.2% ABV.

“I’m not doing anything like this again because obviously we’re giving this to you with this guarantee of exclusivity,” said Dr Lumsden.

The resulting single malt displays Glenmorangie’s characteristic elegance alongside Moscatel-derived flavours of strawberry creams, chocolate orange, vanilla custard, baked apples, dark spice and light floral aromatics.

“It’s an absolute honour to work with Dr Bill and the Glenmorangie team for this release,” said Seamus Carroll, General Manager of The Whisky Club.

“A Whisky Club release gives the world's best whiskymakers the chance to create something unprecedented. It's these hidden parcels of casks, personal projects or superlative barrel selections that become Club releases. This is a whisky that will remind long-time whisky drinkers why they fell in love with Glenmorangie and deliver newcomers a truly unrepeatable single malt.”

Glenmorangie 13 Year Old Moscatel Cask will be released by The Whisky Club, launching Friday 9 January to Members in New Zealand and Australia.

© Scoop Media