Glenmorangie Signet

46% abv

Score:  88.5/100

Ever seen Terry’s Chocolate Oranges?  Those sweet little baseball-sized chunks of orange-infused chocolate you hammer on the table to break into slices?  Imagine that delectible little confection distilled and sensuously wrapped around threads of fine old scotch whisky.  Decant that all in a snazzy over-the-top and over-seized perfume bottle and…voila!  Glenmorangie Signet.

A mate of mine referred to this as the dram he would pour non-whisky drinkers.  I can see why.  Much like the vast majority of the Glenmorangie line, this is a whisky that seems to be serupticiously sneaking over the fence into dessert territory.  No shame in that really.  Sweet and refined suits the palate at times.

I’ll not dither away on the marketing hype here, but very quickly…this is said to be built on a bedrock of ‘chocolate’ barley malt and ‘designer casks’.  (Sigh…only LVMH would term soemthing ‘designer’ in regards to whisky production).

Nose:  Terry’s Chocolate Orange.  Coffee and biscuits with marmalade.  Smells bigger than the abv admits to.  Wine and some rather bold perfume-y notes.  More chocolate and ground nutmeg.  Soft fluffy white baking notes.  Sugary.  Millionaire’s shortbread.  Framed in oak.  Very smooth and sensual.

Palate:  Creamy milk chocolate meets otherworldy spice (clove, maybe?  Nutmeg?).  Think Wonka’s waterfall.  Wine-soaked fruits.  Vanilla cream and orange liqueur.  Coffee again.  VERY drinkable.  Rather pleasant through the gentle denouement towards finish.

Age?  20ish, if I had to guess.  (Though I’ve heard maybe older stuff in here too.  In it’s 30s, even)

– Reviewed by:  Curt

– Photo:  Curt