{"product_id":"glenmorangie-11-year-old-1995-smws-single-cask-125-8-highly-scoffable-highland-single-malt-scotch-whisky-2006-75cl","title":"Glenmorangie 11 Year Old 1995 SMWS Single Cask 125.8 Highly Scoffable Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2006) 75cl","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 28px;\"\u003eGlenmorangie 11 Year Old 1995 SMWS Single Cask 125.8 Highly Scoffable Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2006) 75cl\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e1 of 292 bottles produced\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis Glenmorangie was distilled in June 1995 and matured in a single refill cask for 11 years. It was bottled by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society in September 2006 for the American market.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe oldest label format from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society which ran from 1983 until 2006.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis was only released in USA so a little more whisky at 75cl instead of 70cl. It is a cask that we did not get to enjoy in the UK.\u003cbr\u003eIt is such a delight to see some of the really early editions of the SMWS single cask bottlings. Even better to drink them!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003eScotch Malt Whisky Society\u003c\/em\u003e was founded in Edinburgh in 1983 by Phillip 'Pip' Hills who, while travelling around Scotland in the 1970s, fell in love with whiskies drawn straight from the cask. After he expanded his syndicate the Society was purchased by Glenmorangie PLC in 2004. In 2015, the Society was sold back to private investors. In June 2021, the private owners floated the holding company The Artisanal Spirits Company plc on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt has a unique code system where the first number refers to the distillery and the second refers to the cask from which the bottle comes. SMWS also offers the largest range of distilleries of any independent bottler. These curiously named drams really do have something for every whisky lover!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe SMWS are one of the Britain's most revered independent bottlers with a worldwide network of partner bars with one mission of getting as much whisky at natural cask strength without water to different nations including USA, Canada, Switzerland, UK, Austria, Germany and many others.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThese older labels from the first runs are mostly with distillation methods that include direct heat which was replaced with steam for many distilleries for environmental reasons changing the taste of whisky forever. It'll get real interesting when nuclear fusion is used to distil whisky. We might glow green for a few weeks after we drink the stuff. Who knows.... but all we know is that the old stuff has a musky taste that is VERY welcomed by people nowadays trying to time travel through whisky's past.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 20px;\"\u003eTASTING NOTES\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWater from the Targolie Springs, near Tain, has been transformed into this yellow gold sample from a first fill designer hogshead. The neat nose is melliferous and bourbon-like with white chocolate, vanilla custard and orange peel. Water brings out apple and ginger. At full strength, the flavour is sweet and smooth, with Grand Marnier hints and a sustained nip of ginger and cinnamon. Water diminishes the sweetness, leaving juicy clementines, and chewy cinnamon sticks dipped in whisky nectar. Allowing this to sit a while, improves it even more but sadly (being moreish and scoff able) it may not get a chance. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 20px;\"\u003eAbout Glenmorangie \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe attention paid to its pioneering work in wood management has resulted in Glenmorangie’s distillation regime being slightly overlooked.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe process at Glenmorangie starts with mashing unpeated barley with water from the distillery’s Tarlogie Springs – making this one of a small number of hard water sites in Scotland. Although there is no smoke, once a year some chocolate malt is added to the mash for use in the firm’s Signet brand – another of the distillery’s many innovations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFermentation is long, while distillation takes place in the tallest stills in Scotland, all of which retain the same long-necked design of the pair which were brought from John Taylor’s gin distillery in 1887. This extra height allows a long interaction to take place between alcohol vapour and copper and, while the new make is decidedly high-toned (the cut points here are quite high), there is still a little note of cereal, adding a dry counterpoint.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe vast majority of Glenmorangie’s make is aged in ex-American oak casks, many of which have been made to the distillery’s exacting specifications: slow-growth American white oak from north-facing slopes in Missouri, which is then air-dried. The firm’s Astar bottling uses 100% of these ‘bespoke’ casks.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe casks are only used twice, with the second-fill casks all ageing in damp ‘dunnage’ warehouses to increase oxidative-driven flavours. As the whisky matures, it picks up more lush fruits, some honey and mint, as well as notes of vanilla, crème brûlee and, in the oldest expressions, chocolate.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSome of the mature spirit is then transferred to ex-fortified wine (Port, Sherry) and still wine (Sauternes, Burgundy, Super-Tuscan etc) casks for a period of finishing. Glenmorangie was one of the pioneers of this technique.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSituated next to the Dornoch Firth in a series of handsome red sandstone buildings, the Glenmorangie distillery started life as the local brewery for the town of Tain. In 1843, William Matheson converted it to a distillery and it remained in the family until 1887, when it was sold to the Glenmorangie Distillery Co, co-owned by the Maitland brothers and Duncan Cameron.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter the First World War, the business was sold to a partnership between two blending and broking firms, Macdonald \u0026amp; Muir and Durham \u0026amp; Co, soon passing entirely to the former, which used the whisky for blends such as Highland Queen. Although it was bottled in small quantities from the 1920s, a change of strategy in 1959 saw Glenmorangie revived as a single malt that soon became Scotland’s biggest seller.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis was not the first time that this had happened, however. Records show that at the end of the 19th century Glenmorangie was being sold at The Savoy and other top-end London hotels, as well as being exported.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEarly success in the infant single malt category resulted in two more stills being added to the original pair in 1976, a number which was doubled again in 1990. In 2009, four more were added, along with a larger mash tun and extra washbacks.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFive years previously, French luxury goods firm Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH) had bought the firm (also including Ardbeg) for £300m. More recently, extra warehousing has been built, the result of a decision to mature and vat all the production on-site.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn January 2018, it was announced that a new stillhouse would be built, housing two more of Glenmorangie’s distinctive, long-necked stills, plus a new mash tun and washbacks. The new facility will enable more experimental runs, with indications that innovations such as the use of stainless steel condensers will be explored.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003e57.8% ABV\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e75cl\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Glenmorangie","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52787376357714,"sku":"000713","price":599.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1052\/9737\/9666\/files\/4840144445.jpg?v=1771942764","url":"https:\/\/whiskysituation.co.uk\/products\/glenmorangie-11-year-old-1995-smws-single-cask-125-8-highly-scoffable-highland-single-malt-scotch-whisky-2006-75cl","provider":"Whisky Situation","version":"1.0","type":"link"}