Your favourite 'basic' Glenmorangie

[The Third Dram]

I feel there are often pros and cons when it comes to many of the various expressions (especially the cask finished ones) of Glenmorangie. That said, the distillery is obviously an innovator when it comes to cask management regimens and marketing.

Sidestepping some of the more costly bottlings (such as the 18-year old, Signet, etc.), I'd be interested in hearing of others' impressions, as well as their 'prime picks', of and from the above-mentioned releases.

So fire away, Glenmorangie drinkers!

[jazz lover]

For everyday drinking;
1.Sonnalta
2.Astar
3.Nectar d'Or
4.Original

[bredman]

Astar for me.

[MoreDalmore]

Apart from the Astar I know all of these Glenmo's; so for now I will not put my vote in.

But I can tell you the Astar has a lot to do as I both adore the Quinta Ruban and the Sonnalta PX.

I am not quite sure which 1 I prefer; the Sonnalta with the bigger nose and outspoken taste or the Quinta Ruban for the very tasty mint and choclate aroma's and silky mouthfeel.

[Muskrat Portage]

I still have the Sherry, Port and Madeira finishes from the first time around. Wish they were in the poll as I prefer them over the new offerings.

Musky

[steveblack]

I have had all of them except the Sonnalta and I voted for Original.

I thought of the dram that worked for me every time or most of the time. Actually it would be a tie between Astar and Original, but on tie, I gave the vote to the less expensive one.

Nectar was right up there, but the last bottle I bought in November seemed so unlike the one I had before and did not enthuse me. Quinta Ruban is good too.

[hyperfuji]

nectar

[Drammed]

Sonnalta
Nectar D'or
Astar


I would also include the old portwood finish as that was quite excellent.

[MoreDalmore]

Ok; I voted Quinta Ruban; also based on price/quality ( QR for € 43,- per liter and Sonnalta € 65,- ).

And I love liter bottles as the whisky is getting better when the bottles are opened for a while. In the Quinta Ruban the chocolate aroma's are getting much stronger to me after a couple of weeks.

[The Third Dram]

The bottles of the finishes don't carry age statements so its really impossible to tell, but I assume they are not as old as the 15yo (or it would be stated)...

Not as old as the 15YO, for certain.

If I'm not mistaken, my one remaining unopened bottle of the Port Wood Finish (it's a VERY early release of that whisky) actually states on the back label that the whisky had spent 12 years in ex-Bourbon wood and another couple of years in Port wood.

Guess I'll have to dig the bottle out of the rear of the cabinet to verify this.

And as a postscript, I don't find the newer Quinta Ruban version nearly as good overall. Lots of flavour impact, to be sure. But it just seems a little rough around the edges. I ascribe this at least partially (and notwithstanding the increased alcohol and lack of chill filtration) to a shortening of the total maturation time in comparison to the older Wood Finish edition.

[Knolly]

I still have the Sherry, Port and Madeira finishes from the first time around. Wish they were in the poll as I prefer them over the new offerings.

Musky

Hum - that's funny - I think the exact opposite! I like some of the newer expressions and never really took to any of the previous ones (apart from the Madeira IIRC which was pretty good) as much.

My current favourites are the the Nectar D'or, Sonalta and Astar: I also quite like the Lasanta as well. Don't really care for the Quinta Ruben that much...

[lincoln imp]

The 15 year is definately the best of the lower end Glenmo offerings.

[Muskrat Portage]

Gee, I prefer the Portwood Glenmo and it's not on the list.
Musky being difficult again.

[The Third Dram]

Gee, I prefer the Portwood Glenmo and it's not on the list.

Then I'm NOT alone here, Musky.

[Drammed]

Gee, I prefer the Portwood Glenmo and it's not on the list.

Then I'm NOT alone here, Musky.

Nope. I believe I mentioned it in my previous post as well. It was a lot better than the current Qunita ruban.

[Muskrat Portage]

It's a reasonable point though. The bottles of the finishes don't carry age statements so its really impossible to tell, but I assume they are not as old as the 15yo (or it would be stated) which gives a bit of height to the potential tasting.

By the way, I wouldn't open the Burgundy finish first as it might put you off opening the others.

Sorry I didn't notice this before Willie. I understand the old Glenmo Portwood, Sherry finish and so forth were 10 years old and after that were placed in port, sherry "pipes "for two more years to take on the nature of those containers.

Musky

[Lawrence]

I think they are starting to tranistion back to age statements, I have several bottles here of the Nectar D'Or and they have the 12yo age statement.

Years ago I asked a Glenmo excecutive why the USA had age statement on the finished whiskeis and the rest of the world was NAS. His answer was that the US market demanded an age statement but this was at least 10 years ago and things have changed in the mean time. Still, interesting.

Lawrence

[bscepter]

perhaps i'm a philistine... but i quite like the bog-standard 10yo. it's light and very peachy, which can be a nice change - though i wouldn't drink it every day. but for a $40 whisky, it's pretty great.

[danthepoetman]

The Nectar d'Or really does it for me. Its French pastry, pate feuillete, cream perfumes are just fabulous. First time I had a bottle I practically had the whole thing all at once... Just a delight!

[Leorin]

I voted for the Nectar D'or. I love it for the well integrated Sauterne wine. It is quite unique or at least I don't know many 'basic' malts from other distilleries with a similar profile.
When it comes to sherrymatured malts, there are lots of great competitors in this category from other distilleries and some of them even have a better price/quality-ratio in my opinion.

[ZacRob76]

I still have the Sherry, Port and Madeira finishes from the first time around. Wish they were in the poll as I prefer them over the new offerings.

Musky

I do as well!!! I really enjoyed the short-lived burgundy wood finish. Thinking that Nectar would be similar, I was sorely disappointed. I don't know whether it was the let-down of the comparison experience or the fact that it was $75 and I ended up giving it away because it was taking up valuable shelf space