Scotch Reviews #57 & 58: A Glenmorangie Double (Lasanta 12 Year & Quinta Ruban 12 Year)
Distillery:Glenmorangie
Region: Highland
Price: $2 each for a 50 mL sample
A few years ago, I got myself a gigantic 1.75L of the Glenmorangie 10 year old from Costco. It took me a while to finish it and I haven’t wanted to look at a Glenmorangie bottle since then. However, seeing these two little samples at $2 apiece, I really couldn’t resist.
Review #57: Glenmorangie Lasanta 12 Year Sherry Cask Finish
ABV: 43%
Age: 12
Color: 1.2, Chestnut/Oloroso Sherry. It is unchillfiltered but has had color added.
Nose (according to the wife): It’s a sweet one! The sherry comes through a little bit along with a lot of wild honey. It warms up the nose and prickles just a bit too.
Palate: Palate is about average in mouthfeel. The main note is of some tropical fruit. I’m mostly reminded of Dole canned pineapple slices more than anything. There’s a bit of oak and some black pepper on the back end. With a bit of water, something else comes out that I can’t quite narrow down. It might be a bit of chocolate, espresso, or maybe some raisin challah bread. It’s pretty faint though. Not a lot of sherry, which is disappointing.
Finish: Short. There are some mulled winter spices that remind me a lot of mulled wine. Once you add even the smallest amount of water, all of it disappears though.
Conclusion: It’s an easy drinker but overall I don’t think I cared for it. The nose starts out alright in really teasing the sherry in the dram however, the palate really fails to deliver. There isn’t any sherry and the canned pineapples just don’t do it for me. The subtle notes after some water was introduced might have saved this but they were just too subtle. In the finish, while the mulled wine was nice, it just didn’t go particularly well with the rest of the dram. I’ll stick to the original Glenmorangie over this.
Final Score: 74
Review #58: Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban 12 Year Port Cask Finish
ABV: 46%
Age: 12
Color: 1.6, Mahogany/Henna Notes. It is unchillfiltered but has had color added. It might be the added color, but this guy has a nice ruby tint to it that I’d like to think is from the port.
Nose (according to the wife): Lots of oak (not particularly fresh oak but not really aged either) followed by a bit of celery, port, and date/currant jam.
Palate: Palate is about average in mouthfeel. The date/currant jam is front and center. Some raisins and dark chocolate shavings follow it. With a bit of water, more of the raisin notes come out. Not bad.
Finish: Short and dry. There is a bit of bitterness that reminds me a lot of floral tea.
Conclusion: Not bad at all. It’s a definite improvement on the Lasanta. While the flavor palate is a bit straightforward, all of the notes go well together. The port influence can be noted but I wish it was a bit stronger as this dram could use a bit of sweetness to lift it up.
Final Score: 77
Scotch whisky review #57 & 58, Highland review #16 & 17, Whisky Network Review #75 & 76
Scoring Legend:
- 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
- 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
- 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection.
- 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
- 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
- 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
- 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
- Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.
Scotch & Sheen 
